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4 @settitle Red Gnus 0.20 Manual
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176 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
183 \thispagestyle{empty}
185 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
187 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
188 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
189 are preserved on all copies.
191 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
192 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
193 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
194 permission notice identical to this one.
196 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
197 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
206 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
208 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
210 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
211 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
212 are preserved on all copies.
215 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
216 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
217 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
218 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
221 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
222 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
223 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
224 permission notice identical to this one.
226 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
227 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
233 @title Red Gnus 0.20 Manual
235 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
238 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
239 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
241 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
242 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
243 are preserved on all copies.
245 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
246 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
247 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
248 permission notice identical to this one.
250 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
251 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
260 @top The Red Gnus Newsreader
264 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
265 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
266 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
274 \thispagestyle{empty}
277 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
278 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
280 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
281 being accused of plagiarism:
283 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
284 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
285 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
286 even read news with it!
288 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
289 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
290 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
291 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
292 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
299 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
300 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
301 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
302 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
303 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
304 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
305 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
306 * Various:: General purpose settings.
307 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
308 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
309 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
310 * Key Index:: Key Index.
316 @chapter Starting Gnus
321 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
322 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
325 @findex gnus-other-frame
326 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
327 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
328 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
330 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
334 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
335 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
336 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
337 * Slave Gnusii:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
338 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
339 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
340 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
341 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
342 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
343 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
344 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
348 @node Finding the News
349 @section Finding the News
351 @vindex gnus-select-method
353 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
354 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
355 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
356 native method. All groups that are not fetched with this method are
359 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
360 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
363 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
366 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
369 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
372 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
373 certainly be much faster.
375 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
377 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
378 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
379 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
380 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
381 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
382 that fails as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is
383 running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long-shot, though.
385 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
386 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
387 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
388 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
390 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
391 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
392 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
393 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
394 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
395 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
397 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
399 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
400 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
401 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
402 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
403 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
404 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
406 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
408 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
409 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
410 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
411 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
412 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
413 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
416 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
417 would typically set this variable to
420 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
425 @section The First Time
426 @cindex first time usage
428 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
429 be subscribed by default.
431 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
432 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
433 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
434 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
437 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
438 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is here
439 defined as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
441 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
442 help you with most common problems.
444 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
445 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
449 @node The Server is Down
450 @section The Server is Down
451 @cindex server errors
453 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
454 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
455 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
457 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
458 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
459 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
460 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
461 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
462 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
463 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
465 @findex gnus-no-server
466 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
468 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
469 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
470 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
471 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
472 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
473 1 and 2. (You should preferrably keep no native groups on those two
478 @section Slave Gnusiï
481 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
482 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (eg., if you
483 are using the two different Gnusiï to read from two different servers),
484 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
486 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusiï that use the same
489 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
490 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
491 @dfn{servants}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
492 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
493 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
494 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
495 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
497 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
498 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusiï should be started with
499 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
500 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contains information only
501 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
502 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
503 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
504 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
506 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
507 information in the normal (i. e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
510 @node Fetching a Group
511 @section Fetching a Group
513 @findex gnus-fetch-group
514 It it sometime convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
515 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
516 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
517 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
518 It takes the group name as a parameter.
525 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
526 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
527 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
529 This variable should contain a function. Some handy pre-fab values
534 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
535 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
536 Make all new groups zombies. You can browse the zombies later (with
537 @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly, or subscribe to them.
540 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
541 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
542 Subscribe all new groups randomly.
544 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
545 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
546 Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.
548 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
549 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
550 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
551 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
552 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
553 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
554 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
555 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
556 up. Or something like that.
558 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
559 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
560 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
561 you about @strong{all} new groups.
563 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
564 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
569 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
570 A closely related variable is
571 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
572 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
573 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
574 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
577 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
578 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
579 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
581 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
582 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
583 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
586 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
589 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
590 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
591 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
592 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
593 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
594 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
595 subscribing these groups.
596 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
597 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
599 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
600 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
601 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
602 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
603 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
604 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
605 and if the the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
606 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
608 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
609 Yet another variable that meddles here is
610 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
611 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
612 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
613 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
614 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
615 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
616 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
617 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
619 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
620 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
621 you could set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
622 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
623 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
624 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
625 is @code{t} by default.
627 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
628 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
629 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
630 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
631 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster &
632 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
633 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
634 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
635 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
636 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
638 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
639 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
640 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
641 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
642 few days. If any do, then it works. If any don't, then it doesn't
643 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
644 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
645 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
646 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
647 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
648 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
650 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
651 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
652 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
653 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
654 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
655 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
658 @node Changing Servers
659 @section Changing Servers
661 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
662 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
663 very flake and you want to use another.
665 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
666 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
670 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
671 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
672 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
673 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
676 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
677 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
678 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
679 functions more than absolutely necessary.
681 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
682 @findex gnus-change-server
683 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
684 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map
685 reads and article marks. The @kbd{M-x gnus-change-server} command will
686 do this for all your native groups. It will prompt for the method you
689 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
690 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
691 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
692 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
693 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
695 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
696 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
697 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
698 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
699 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
700 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
704 @section Startup Files
705 @cindex startup files
708 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
709 information is traditionally stored in this file.
711 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
712 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
713 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
714 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
715 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
716 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
717 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
719 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
720 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
721 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
722 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
724 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
725 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
726 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
727 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
728 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
729 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
731 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
732 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
733 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
734 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
735 will also means that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
736 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
737 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
738 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
739 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
740 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
741 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
742 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
744 @vindex gnus-startup-file
745 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
746 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
747 file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
749 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
750 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
751 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
752 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
753 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
754 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
755 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
756 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
757 control on or off. Version control is off by default when saving the
760 @vindex gnus-init-file
761 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file} (default
762 @file{.../site-lisp/gnus.el}) and @code{gnus-init-file} (default
763 @file{~/.gnus.el}) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files and can be
764 used to avoid cluttering your @file{.emacs} and @file{site-init} files
773 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
774 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
775 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
776 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
777 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
780 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
781 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
784 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
785 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
786 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
788 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
789 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
790 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
791 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
792 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
793 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
796 @node The Active File
797 @section The Active File
799 @cindex ignored groups
801 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
802 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
803 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
805 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
806 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
807 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
808 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
809 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
810 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
811 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
814 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
815 @c if you set it to anything else.
817 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
819 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
820 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
821 reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
823 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
824 you actually subscribe to.
826 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
827 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
828 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
829 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
831 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
832 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
833 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
834 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
835 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
836 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
838 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
839 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
840 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
841 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
842 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
843 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
845 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
846 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
849 @node Startup Variables
850 @section Startup Variables
855 @vindex gnus-load-hook
856 A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
857 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
858 times you start Gnus.
860 @item gnus-startup-hook
861 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
862 A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.
864 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
865 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
866 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
867 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
868 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
869 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
870 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
871 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
873 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
874 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
875 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
876 your boss might not notice that you are reading news instead of doing
879 @item gnus-no-groups-message
880 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
881 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
885 @node The Group Buffer
886 @chapter The Group Buffer
889 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
890 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
891 long as Gnus is active.
894 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
895 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
896 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
897 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
898 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
899 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
900 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
901 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
902 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
903 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
904 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
905 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
906 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
907 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
908 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
909 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
913 @node Group Buffer Format
914 @section Group Buffer Format
915 @cindex group buffer format
918 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
919 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
920 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
924 @node Group Line Specification
925 @subsection Group Line Specification
927 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
928 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
930 Here's a couple of example group lines:
933 25: news.announce.newusers
934 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
939 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
940 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
941 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
942 asterisk at the beginning of the line?)
944 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
945 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
946 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
947 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
948 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
949 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
951 The default value that produced those lines above is
952 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n}.
954 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
955 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
956 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
957 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
960 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
961 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
962 instead of wasting time reading news.)
964 Here's a list of all available format characters:
969 Only marked articles.
972 Whether the group is subscribed.
975 Level of subscribedness.
978 Number of unread articles.
981 Number of dormant articles.
984 Number of ticked articles.
987 Number of read articles.
990 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
991 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
994 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
997 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1006 Newsgroup description.
1009 @samp{m} if moderated.
1012 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1021 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1025 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1028 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1029 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1030 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1031 The default is @code{1}.
1034 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1035 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
1036 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1037 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current headers as
1038 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
1039 into the buffer just like information from any other specifier.
1043 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1044 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1045 group, or a bogus (or semi-bogus) native group.
1048 @node Group Modeline Specification
1049 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1051 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1052 The mode line can be changed by setting
1053 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). It
1054 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1058 The native news server.
1060 The native select method.
1064 @node Group Highlighting
1065 @subsection Group Highlighting
1067 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1068 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1069 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1070 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1071 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1073 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1077 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1079 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1080 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1081 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1083 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1085 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1087 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1091 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1098 The number of unread articles in the group.
1102 Whether the group is a mail group.
1104 The level of the group.
1106 The score of the group.
1108 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1110 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1113 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1114 topic being inserted.
1117 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1118 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1119 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1121 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1122 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1123 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1124 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1125 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1128 @node Group Maneuvering
1129 @section Group Maneuvering
1130 @cindex group movement
1132 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1133 expected, hopefully.
1139 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1140 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1141 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1148 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1149 Go to the previous group group that has unread articles
1150 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1154 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1155 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1159 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1160 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1164 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1165 Go to the next unread group on the same level (or lower)
1166 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1170 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1171 Go to the previous unread group on the same level (or lower)
1172 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1175 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1181 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1182 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1183 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1188 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1189 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1190 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1194 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1195 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1196 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1199 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1200 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1201 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1202 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1206 @node Selecting a Group
1207 @section Selecting a Group
1208 @cindex group selection
1213 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1214 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1215 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1216 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1217 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1218 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1219 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, Gnus
1220 will fetch @var{N} number of articles. If @var{N} is positive, fetch
1221 the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is negative, fetch the
1222 @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1226 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1227 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1228 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1229 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1230 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1234 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1235 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1236 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1237 minimum amount off fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1238 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1239 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1240 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1241 (i. e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer.
1242 This might be useful if you want to toggle threading before entering the
1246 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1247 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1248 This is yet one more command that does the same as the one above, but
1249 this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1250 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1254 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1255 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1256 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1257 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1258 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is when catching up a group from
1263 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1264 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1265 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1269 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1270 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1271 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1273 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1274 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1275 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1276 If you have switced from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1277 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1278 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1283 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1284 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1285 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1286 unread articles than this, Gnus will query the user before entering the
1287 group. The user can then specify how many articles should be fetched
1288 from the server. If the user specifies a negative number (@code{-n}),
1289 the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it is positive, the
1290 @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will be fetched.
1292 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1293 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1294 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1295 automatically when entering a group.
1300 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1301 full summary buffer.
1304 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1307 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1311 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1312 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1313 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1317 @node Subscription Commands
1318 @section Subscription Commands
1327 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1328 Toggle subscription to the current group
1329 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1335 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1336 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1337 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1338 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1344 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1345 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1351 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1352 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1355 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1356 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1357 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1358 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1359 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1365 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1366 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1370 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1371 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1374 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1375 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1376 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1377 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1378 be used with some caution. The only thing where this command comes in
1379 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1380 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level @code{7} will
1381 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1382 @file{.newsrc} file.
1386 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1390 @section Group Levels
1393 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1394 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1395 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1396 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1397 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1399 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1405 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1406 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1407 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1408 prompted for a level.
1411 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1412 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1413 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1414 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1415 Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
1416 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1417 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1418 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1419 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1420 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default 9),
1421 completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
1422 the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
1423 articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
1424 living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
1425 for reasons of efficiency.
1427 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1428 low levels (eg. 1 or 2).
1430 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1431 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1432 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1434 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1435 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1436 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1437 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1438 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1439 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1440 relevant legal ranges.
1442 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1443 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1444 will only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower). In
1445 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1446 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1447 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1450 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1451 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1452 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1455 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1456 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1457 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1458 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1461 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1462 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1463 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1464 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1466 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1467 Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
1468 @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to activate
1469 unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to
1474 @section Group Score
1477 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1478 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1479 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1482 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1483 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1484 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1485 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1486 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1487 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1488 part and the score is the least significant part.)
1490 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1491 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1492 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1493 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1494 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1495 action after each summary exit, you can add
1496 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1497 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1498 slow things down somewhat.
1501 @node Marking Groups
1502 @section Marking Groups
1503 @cindex marking groups
1505 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1506 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1507 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1508 bidding on those groups.
1510 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1511 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1512 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1520 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1521 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1527 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1528 Remove the mark from the current group
1529 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1533 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1534 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1538 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1539 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1543 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1544 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1548 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1549 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1550 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1553 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1555 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1556 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1557 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1558 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1559 the command to be executed.
1562 @node Foreign Groups
1563 @section Foreign Groups
1565 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1566 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1567 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1568 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1575 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1576 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1577 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1578 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1582 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1583 Rename the current group to something else
1584 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some
1585 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1590 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1591 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1592 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1596 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1597 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1598 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1602 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1603 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1604 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1608 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1609 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1610 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1614 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1615 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1619 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1620 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1621 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1622 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1623 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1624 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1625 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1629 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1630 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1631 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1632 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1633 @xref{Kibozed Groups}
1637 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1638 Read an arbitrary directory as if with were a newsgroup with the
1639 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1640 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1644 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1645 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1646 Make a group based on some file or other
1647 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1648 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1649 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1650 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs}, and
1651 @code{forward}. If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will
1652 guess at the file type. @xref{Document Groups}.
1656 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1660 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1661 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1662 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1663 search engine type and the search string. Legal search engine types
1664 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1665 @xref{Web Searches}.
1668 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1669 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1670 This function will delete the current group
1671 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1672 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1673 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1674 absolutely sure of what you are doing.
1678 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1679 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1680 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1684 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1685 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1686 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1689 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1692 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1693 If the @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1694 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1695 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1696 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1699 @node Group Parameters
1700 @section Group Parameters
1701 @cindex group parameters
1703 Gnus stores all information on a group in a list that is usually known
1704 as the @dfn{group info}. This list has from three to six elements.
1705 Here's an example info.
1708 ("nnml:mail.ding" 3 ((1 . 232) 244 (256 . 270)) ((tick 246 249))
1709 (nnml "private") ((to-address . "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
1712 The first element is the @dfn{group name}, as Gnus knows the group,
1713 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
1714 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
1715 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
1716 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
1717 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
1718 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
1720 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
1721 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
1722 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
1724 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1729 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1730 @code{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1731 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1732 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1733 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1734 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1735 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1736 copies of your followups.
1738 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1739 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1740 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1741 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1742 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1743 list address instead.
1747 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1748 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1749 doing a @kbd{a} in any group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1750 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1751 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1753 @item broken-reply-to
1754 @cindex broken-reply-to
1755 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1756 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1757 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1758 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1759 broken behavior. So there!
1763 If the group parameter list contains an element like @code{(to-group
1764 . "some.group.name")}, all posts will be sent to that group.
1768 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list and set to
1769 @code{t}, new composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current
1770 group. If it is present and set to @code{none}, no @code{Gcc:} header
1771 will be generated, if it is present and a string, this string will be
1772 inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header (this symbol takes precedence over
1773 any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later).
1777 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, all articles that
1778 are read will be marked as expirable. For an alternative approach,
1779 @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
1782 @cindex total-expire
1783 If this symbol is present, all read articles will be put through the
1784 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
1789 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
1790 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
1791 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
1792 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
1793 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
1794 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
1797 @cindex score file group parameter
1798 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
1799 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. This
1800 means that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.
1803 @cindex adapt file group parameter
1804 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
1805 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
1806 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
1809 When unsubscribing to a mailing list you should never send the
1810 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
1811 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
1812 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
1815 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} says which articles to
1816 display on entering the group. Legal values are:
1820 Display all articles, both read and unread.
1823 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
1828 This parameter allows you to enter a arbitrary comment on the group.
1830 @item @var{(variable form)}
1831 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
1832 are entering. Say you want to turn threading off in
1833 @samp{news.answers}. You'd then put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in
1834 the group parameters of that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be
1835 made into a local variable in the summary buffer you enter, and the form
1836 @code{nil} will be @code{eval}ed there.
1838 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
1839 If you want to hear a beep when you enter the group
1840 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, you could put something like
1841 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
1842 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the @code{(ding)}
1843 form, but who cares?
1847 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group.
1849 Also @xref{Topic Parameters}.
1852 @node Listing Groups
1853 @section Listing Groups
1854 @cindex group listing
1856 These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
1864 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
1865 List all groups that have unread articles
1866 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
1867 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
1868 only lists groups of level five or lower (i.e., just subscribed groups).
1874 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
1875 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
1876 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
1877 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
1878 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
1879 unsubscribed groups).
1883 @findex gnus-group-list-level
1884 List all unread groups on a specific level
1885 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
1886 with no unread articles.
1890 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
1891 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
1892 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
1893 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
1898 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
1899 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
1903 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
1904 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
1905 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
1909 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
1910 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
1914 @findex gnus-group-list-active
1915 List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
1916 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
1917 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
1918 to do a @kbd{A m} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
1919 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list group that
1920 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they are killed groups.
1921 Take the output with some grains of salt.
1925 @findex gnus-group-apropos
1926 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
1927 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
1931 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
1932 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
1933 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
1937 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
1938 @cindex visible group parameter
1939 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
1940 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
1941 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
1942 get the same effect.
1944 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
1945 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
1946 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
1947 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
1948 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
1951 @node Sorting Groups
1952 @section Sorting Groups
1953 @cindex sorting groups
1955 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
1956 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
1957 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
1958 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
1959 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
1960 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
1965 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1966 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1967 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
1969 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
1970 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
1971 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
1973 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
1974 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
1975 Sort by group level.
1977 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
1978 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
1979 Sort by group score.
1981 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1982 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1983 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
1984 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
1986 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1987 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1988 Sort by number of unread articles.
1990 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
1991 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
1992 Sort by alphabetically on the select method.
1997 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
1998 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2002 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2003 some sorting criteria:
2007 @kindex G S a (Group)
2008 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2009 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2010 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2013 @kindex G S u (Group)
2014 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2015 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2016 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2019 @kindex G S l (Group)
2020 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2021 Sort the group buffer by group level
2022 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2025 @kindex G S v (Group)
2026 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2027 Sort the group buffer by group score
2028 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
2031 @kindex G S r (Group)
2032 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2033 Sort the group buffer by group level
2034 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
2037 @kindex G S m (Group)
2038 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2039 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2040 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2044 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
2047 @node Group Maintenance
2048 @section Group Maintenance
2049 @cindex bogus groups
2054 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2055 Find bogus groups and delete them
2056 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2060 @findex gnus-find-new-newsgroups
2061 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-find-new-newsgroups}). If
2062 given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server for
2066 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2067 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2068 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2069 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2072 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2073 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2074 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2075 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2080 @node Browse Foreign Server
2081 @section Browse Foreign Server
2082 @cindex foreign servers
2083 @cindex browsing servers
2088 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2089 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2090 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2091 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2094 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2095 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2096 will be use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit
2097 (well, a lot) like a normal group buffer, but with one major difference
2098 - you can't enter any of the groups. If you want to read any of the
2099 news available on that server, you have to subscribe to the groups you
2100 think may be interesting, and then you have to exit this buffer. The
2101 new groups will be added to the group buffer, and then you can read them
2102 as you would any other group.
2104 Future versions of Gnus may possibly permit reading groups straight from
2107 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2112 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2113 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2117 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2118 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2121 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2122 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2123 Enter the current group and display the first article
2124 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2127 @kindex RET (Browse)
2128 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2129 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2133 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2134 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2135 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2141 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2142 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2146 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2147 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2148 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2153 @section Exiting Gnus
2154 @cindex exiting Gnus
2156 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2161 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2162 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2163 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2164 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2168 @findex gnus-group-exit
2169 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2173 @findex gnus-group-quit
2174 Quit Gnus without saving any startup files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2177 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2178 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2179 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2180 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2181 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2186 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2187 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2188 trying to customize meta-variables.
2193 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, feels her feet go
2194 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2195 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2201 @section Group Topics
2204 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2205 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2206 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2207 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2208 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2209 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2211 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2213 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2214 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2215 is a toggling command.)
2217 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2218 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2219 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2220 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2223 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2224 the hook for the group mode:
2227 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2231 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2232 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2233 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2234 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2238 @node Topic Variables
2239 @subsection Topic Variables
2240 @cindex topic variables
2242 Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2243 really neat, I think.
2245 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2246 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2247 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2260 Number of groups in the topic.
2262 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2264 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2267 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2268 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2269 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2270 The default is @code{2}.
2272 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2273 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2275 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2276 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2277 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2280 @node Topic Commands
2281 @subsection Topic Commands
2282 @cindex topic commands
2284 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2285 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2286 definitions slightly.
2292 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2293 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2294 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2298 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2299 Move the current group to some other topic
2300 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command understands the
2301 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2305 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2306 Copy the current group to some other topic
2307 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command understands the
2308 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2312 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2313 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2314 This command understands the process/prefix convention
2315 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2319 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2320 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2321 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2325 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2326 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2327 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2331 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2332 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2333 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2336 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2337 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2338 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2339 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2343 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2345 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2346 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2347 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2348 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2349 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2350 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2353 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2354 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2355 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2356 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2357 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2361 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2362 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}).
2366 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2367 Yank the previously killed group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}).
2368 Note that all topics will be yanked before all groups.
2372 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2373 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2376 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2377 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2378 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2382 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2383 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2384 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2388 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2389 @cindex group parameters
2390 @cindex topic parameters
2392 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2393 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2398 @node Topic Topology
2399 @subsection Topic Topology
2400 @cindex topic topology
2403 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2409 2: alt.religion.emacs
2412 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2414 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2415 13: comp.sources.unix
2418 So, here we have one top-level topic, two topics under that, and one
2419 sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always just one (1)
2420 top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as follows:
2424 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2425 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2429 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2430 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2431 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2432 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2433 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2434 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2436 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2437 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2438 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2441 @node Topic Parameters
2442 @subsection Topic Parameters
2444 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2445 ancestor) topic parameters. All legal group parameters are legal topic
2446 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2448 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2449 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2450 know. Normal inheretance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2451 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2457 2: alt.religion.emacs
2461 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2463 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2464 13: comp.sources.unix
2468 Now, the @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter
2469 @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic
2470 parameter @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc}
2471 topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In
2472 addition, @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter
2473 @code{(score-file . "religion.SCORE")}.
2475 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2476 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2477 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2478 score file. If you enter @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll get the
2479 @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2481 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2482 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2483 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2484 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2485 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2486 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2487 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2488 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2491 @node Misc Group Stuff
2492 @section Misc Group Stuff
2495 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2496 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2497 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2504 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2505 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}). @xref{The
2510 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2511 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). The current
2512 group name will be used as the default.
2516 @findex gnus-group-mail
2517 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2521 Variables for the group buffer:
2525 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2526 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2527 @code{gnus-group-mode-hook} is called after the group buffer has been
2530 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2531 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2532 @code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} is called after the group buffer is
2533 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2536 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2537 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2538 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2539 whether they are empty or not.
2544 @node Scanning New Messages
2545 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2546 @cindex new messages
2547 @cindex scanning new news
2553 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2554 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2555 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2556 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2557 command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
2562 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2563 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2564 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2565 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}). The
2566 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} variable controls whether
2567 this command is to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t}
2570 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2571 @cindex activating groups
2573 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2574 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2579 @findex gnus-group-restart
2580 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}).
2584 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2585 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2587 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2588 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2592 @node Group Information
2593 @subsection Group Information
2594 @cindex group information
2595 @cindex information on groups
2601 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2602 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
2605 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2606 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2607 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2608 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
2609 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
2610 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} will be used for fetching
2613 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
2614 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
2618 @cindex describing groups
2619 @cindex group description
2620 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2621 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2622 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2626 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2627 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2628 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2633 @findex gnus-version
2634 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
2638 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
2639 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
2642 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
2645 @findex gnus-info-find-node
2646 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
2651 @subsection File Commands
2652 @cindex file commands
2658 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
2659 @vindex gnus-init-file
2660 @cindex reading init file
2661 Read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
2662 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
2666 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
2667 @cindex saving .newsrc
2668 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
2669 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
2670 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
2673 @c @kindex Z (Group)
2674 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
2675 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
2680 @node The Summary Buffer
2681 @chapter The Summary Buffer
2682 @cindex summary buffer
2684 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
2685 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
2688 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
2689 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
2690 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
2691 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
2692 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
2693 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
2694 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
2695 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
2696 * Threading:: How threads are made.
2697 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
2698 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
2699 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
2700 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
2701 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
2702 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
2703 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
2704 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
2705 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
2706 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
2707 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
2708 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
2709 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
2710 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
2711 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
2712 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
2713 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
2717 @node Summary Buffer Format
2718 @section Summary Buffer Format
2719 @cindex summary buffer format
2722 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
2723 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
2724 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
2727 @findex mail-extract-address-components
2728 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
2729 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
2730 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
2731 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
2732 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
2733 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
2734 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
2735 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
2736 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
2737 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
2739 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
2740 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
2741 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
2742 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{}.
2745 @node Summary Buffer Lines
2746 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
2748 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
2749 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
2750 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
2751 lines a a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
2752 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2754 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
2756 The following format specification characters are understood:
2764 Subject if the article is the root or the previous article had a
2765 different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
2766 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @samp{}.)
2768 Full @code{From} header.
2770 The name (from the @code{From} header).
2772 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
2773 spec in that it uses @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is
2774 slower, but may be more thorough.
2776 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
2779 Number of lines in the article.
2781 Number of characters in the article.
2783 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
2785 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
2786 pushes everything after it off the screen).
2788 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{\[}, but can also be @samp{<}
2789 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
2791 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{\]}, but can also be @samp{>}
2792 for adopted articles.
2794 One space for each thread level.
2796 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
2804 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
2805 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
2806 default level. If the difference between
2807 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
2808 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
2816 The @code{Date} in @code{YY-MMM} format.
2818 The @code{Date} in @code{YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS} format.
2824 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
2825 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
2827 A single character will be displayed if the article has any children.
2831 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
2832 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
2833 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
2834 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
2835 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
2836 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
2839 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
2840 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
2841 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
2842 that. This means that it is illegal to have these specs after a
2843 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
2844 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
2846 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
2847 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
2849 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
2852 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
2853 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
2855 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
2856 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
2857 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. Here are the
2858 elements you can play with:
2864 Unprefixed group name.
2866 Current article number.
2870 Number of unread articles in this group.
2872 Number of unselected articles in this group.
2874 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
2875 either as @samp{<%U(+%u) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
2876 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
2877 and no unselected ones.
2879 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
2880 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
2882 Subject of the current article.
2886 Name of the current score file.
2888 Number of dormant articles.
2890 Number of ticked articles.
2892 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
2894 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
2898 @node Summary Highlighting
2899 @subsection Summary Highlighting
2903 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2904 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2905 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
2906 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
2907 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2909 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
2910 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
2911 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
2912 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2914 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
2915 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
2916 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) that is used to
2917 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
2919 @item gnus-summary-highlight
2920 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
2921 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
2922 list where the elements are on the format @code{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
2923 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
2924 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
2926 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
2927 ((> score default) . bold))
2929 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
2930 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
2934 @node Summary Maneuvering
2935 @section Summary Maneuvering
2936 @cindex summary movement
2938 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
2939 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
2941 None of these commands select articles.
2946 @kindex M-n (Summary)
2947 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
2948 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
2949 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
2950 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
2954 @kindex M-p (Summary)
2955 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
2956 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
2957 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
2958 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
2963 @kindex G j (Summary)
2964 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
2965 Ask for an article number and then go that article
2966 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
2969 @kindex G g (Summary)
2970 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
2971 Ask for an article number and then go the summary line of that article
2972 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
2975 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
2976 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
2977 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
2978 to the group buffer.
2980 Variables related to summary movement:
2984 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
2985 @item gnus-auto-select-next
2986 If you are at the end of the group and issue one of the movement
2987 commands, Gnus will offer to go to the next group. If this variable is
2988 @code{t} and the next group is empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and
2989 return to the group buffer. If this variable is neither @code{t} nor
2990 @code{nil}, Gnus will select the next group, no matter whether it has
2991 any unread articles or not. As a special case, if this variable is
2992 @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
2993 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same will
2994 happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
2995 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
2996 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
2997 @pxref{Group Levels}.
2999 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3000 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3001 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3002 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3003 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3004 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) This variable is not
3005 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3007 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3008 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3009 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3010 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3011 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3013 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3014 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3015 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3016 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3017 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3018 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3019 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3020 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3026 @node Choosing Articles
3027 @section Choosing Articles
3028 @cindex selecting articles
3030 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3031 and they all select and display an article.
3035 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3036 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3037 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3038 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3043 @kindex G n (Summary)
3044 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3045 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3050 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3051 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3056 @kindex G N (Summary)
3057 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3058 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3063 @kindex G P (Summary)
3064 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3065 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3068 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3069 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3070 Go to the next article with the same subject
3071 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3074 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3075 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3076 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3077 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3081 @kindex G f (Summary)
3083 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3084 Go to the first unread article
3085 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3089 @kindex G b (Summary)
3091 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3092 Go to the article with the highest score
3093 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3098 @kindex G l (Summary)
3099 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3100 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3103 @kindex G p (Summary)
3104 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3105 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3106 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3107 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3108 history as you like.
3111 Some variables that are relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3114 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3115 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3116 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3117 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3118 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3119 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3121 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3122 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3123 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3124 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3126 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3127 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3128 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3129 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3130 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3131 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3132 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3133 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3134 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3135 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3136 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3137 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3138 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3139 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3144 @node Paging the Article
3145 @section Scrolling the Article
3146 @cindex article scrolling
3151 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3152 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3153 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3154 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3155 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3158 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3159 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3160 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3163 @kindex RET (Summary)
3164 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3165 Scroll the current article one line forward
3166 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3170 @kindex A g (Summary)
3172 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3173 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3174 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3175 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3176 the way it came from the server.
3181 @kindex A < (Summary)
3182 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3183 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3184 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3189 @kindex A > (Summary)
3190 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3191 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3194 @kindex A s (Summary)
3195 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3196 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3197 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3202 @node Reply Followup and Post
3203 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3206 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3207 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3211 @node Summary Mail Commands
3212 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3214 @cindex composing mail
3216 Commands for composing a mail message:
3222 @kindex S r (Summary)
3224 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3225 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3226 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3231 @kindex S R (Summary)
3232 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3233 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3234 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3235 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3238 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3239 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3240 Forward the current article to some other person
3241 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}).
3244 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3245 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3246 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3247 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
3252 @kindex S m (Summary)
3253 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3254 Send a mail to some other person
3255 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3258 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3259 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3260 @cindex bouncing mail
3261 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3262 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3263 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3264 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3265 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3266 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3267 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3268 very well fail, though.
3271 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3272 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3273 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3274 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3275 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3276 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3277 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3278 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3279 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3280 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3282 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3283 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3284 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3285 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3286 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
3289 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3290 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3291 Digest the current series and forward the result using mail
3292 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3293 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3296 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3297 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3298 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3299 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}).
3302 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3303 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3304 @cindex crossposting
3305 @cindex excessive crossposting
3306 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3307 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3309 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3310 This command is provided as a way to fight back agains the current
3311 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3312 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3313 command understands the process/prefix convention
3314 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3319 @node Summary Post Commands
3320 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3322 @cindex composing news
3324 Commands for posting an article:
3330 @kindex S p (Summary)
3331 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3332 Post an article to the current group
3333 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3338 @kindex S f (Summary)
3339 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3340 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3344 @kindex S F (Summary)
3346 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3347 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3348 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3349 process/prefix convention.
3352 @kindex S u (Summary)
3353 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3354 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3355 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3359 @node Canceling and Superseding
3360 @section Canceling Articles
3361 @cindex canceling articles
3362 @cindex superseding articles
3364 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3365 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3367 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3369 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3371 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3372 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3373 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3374 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3376 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3377 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3380 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3381 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3382 your original article.
3384 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3386 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3387 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3388 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3391 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3392 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3393 have posted almost the same article twice.
3395 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3396 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3397 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3398 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*post-buf*}). There you will
3399 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3400 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3401 header by substituting one of those words for @code{Message-ID}. Then
3402 just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as you would do normally.
3403 The previous article will be canceled/superseded.
3405 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3408 @node Marking Articles
3409 @section Marking Articles
3410 @cindex article marking
3411 @cindex article ticking
3414 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3416 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3417 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3418 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3420 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3423 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3424 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3425 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3429 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3433 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3434 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3438 @node Unread Articles
3439 @subsection Unread Articles
3441 The following marks mark articles as unread, in one form or other.
3443 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3444 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3447 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3448 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3449 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3450 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3451 article forever, you'll have to save it. Ticked articles have a
3452 @samp{!} (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}) in the first column.
3455 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3456 A @dfn{dormant} article is marked with a @samp{?}
3457 (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}), and will only appear in the summary buffer
3458 if there are followups to it.
3461 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3462 An @dfn{unread} article is marked with a @samp{SPACE}
3463 (@code{gnus-unread-mark}). These are articles that haven't been read at
3469 @subsection Read Articles
3470 @cindex expirable mark
3472 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3477 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3478 Articles that are marked as read. They have a @samp{r}
3479 (@code{gnus-del-mark}) in the first column. These are articles that the
3480 user has marked as read more or less manually.
3483 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3484 Articles that are actually read are marked with @samp{R}
3485 (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3488 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3489 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions are now
3490 @dfn{old} and marked with @samp{O} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3493 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3494 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3497 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3498 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3501 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3502 Marked as read by having a too low score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
3505 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
3506 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
3509 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
3510 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
3513 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
3514 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}
3517 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
3518 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
3522 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
3523 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
3524 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}
3528 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
3529 They are interpreted differently by the adaptive scoring scheme,
3532 One more special mark, though:
3536 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
3537 You can also mark articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as
3538 such automatically). That doesn't make much sense in normal groups,
3539 because a user does not control the expiring of news articles, but in
3540 mail groups, for instance, articles that are marked as @dfn{expirable}
3541 can be deleted by Gnus at any time. Expirable articles are marked with
3542 @samp{E} (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
3547 @subsection Other Marks
3548 @cindex process mark
3551 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
3557 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
3558 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
3559 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
3560 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
3561 encounters the article.
3564 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
3565 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
3566 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
3567 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
3570 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
3571 Articles that are stored in the article cache will be marked with an
3572 @samp{*} in the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}).
3575 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
3576 Articles that are ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
3577 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
3578 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}.
3581 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
3582 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
3583 It the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
3584 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
3585 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
3588 @vindex gnus-process-mark
3589 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}. A
3590 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
3591 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
3592 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
3593 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
3597 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
3598 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
3599 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
3601 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
3602 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
3603 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
3607 @subsection Setting Marks
3608 @cindex setting marks
3610 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
3616 @kindex M t (Summary)
3617 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
3618 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
3623 @kindex M ? (Summary)
3624 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
3625 Mark the current article as dormant
3626 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}).
3630 @kindex M d (Summary)
3632 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
3633 Mark the current article as read
3634 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
3638 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
3639 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
3640 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
3645 @kindex M k (Summary)
3646 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
3647 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
3648 and then select the next unread article
3649 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
3653 @kindex M K (Summary)
3654 @kindex C-k (Summary)
3655 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
3656 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
3657 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
3660 @kindex M C (Summary)
3661 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
3662 Mark all unread articles in the group as read
3663 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
3666 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
3667 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
3668 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
3669 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
3672 @kindex M H (Summary)
3673 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
3674 Catchup the current group to point
3675 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
3678 @kindex C-w (Summary)
3679 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
3680 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
3681 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
3684 @kindex M V k (Summary)
3685 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
3686 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
3687 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
3691 @kindex M c (Summary)
3692 @kindex M-u (Summary)
3693 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
3694 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
3695 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}).
3699 @kindex M e (Summary)
3701 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
3702 Mark the current article as expirable
3703 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
3706 @kindex M b (Summary)
3707 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
3708 Set a bookmark in the current article
3709 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
3712 @kindex M B (Summary)
3713 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
3714 Remove the bookmark from the current article
3715 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
3718 @kindex M V c (Summary)
3719 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
3720 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
3721 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3724 @kindex M V u (Summary)
3725 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
3726 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
3727 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
3730 @kindex M V m (Summary)
3731 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
3732 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
3733 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
3734 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3737 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
3738 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
3739 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
3740 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
3741 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
3742 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
3743 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
3744 The default is @code{t}.
3747 @node Setting Process Marks
3748 @subsection Setting Process Marks
3749 @cindex setting process marks
3756 @kindex M P p (Summary)
3757 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
3758 Mark the current article with the process mark
3759 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
3760 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
3764 @kindex M P u (Summary)
3765 @kindex M-# (Summary)
3766 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
3767 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
3770 @kindex M P U (Summary)
3771 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
3772 Remove the process mark from all articles
3773 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
3776 @kindex M P R (Summary)
3777 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
3778 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
3781 @kindex M P r (Summary)
3782 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
3783 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
3786 @kindex M P t (Summary)
3787 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
3788 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3789 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
3792 @kindex M P T (Summary)
3793 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
3794 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3795 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
3798 @kindex M P v (Summary)
3799 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
3800 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
3801 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
3804 @kindex M P s (Summary)
3805 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
3806 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3809 @kindex M P S (Summary)
3810 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
3811 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
3812 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
3815 @kindex M P a (Summary)
3816 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
3817 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3820 @kindex M P b (Summary)
3821 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
3822 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
3823 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
3826 @kindex M P k (Summary)
3827 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
3828 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
3829 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
3832 @kindex M P y (Summary)
3833 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
3834 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
3835 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
3838 @kindex M P w (Summary)
3839 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
3840 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
3841 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
3850 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
3851 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
3852 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
3859 @kindex / / (Summary)
3860 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
3861 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
3862 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
3865 @kindex / a (Summary)
3866 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
3867 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
3868 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
3872 @kindex / u (Summary)
3874 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
3875 Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
3876 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
3877 buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
3878 dormant articles will also be excluded.
3881 @kindex / m (Summary)
3882 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
3883 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
3884 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
3887 @kindex / n (Summary)
3888 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
3889 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
3890 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
3891 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3894 @kindex / w (Summary)
3895 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
3896 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
3897 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
3901 @kindex / v (Summary)
3902 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
3903 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
3904 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
3908 @kindex M S (Summary)
3909 @kindex / E (Summary)
3910 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
3911 Display all expunged articles
3912 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
3915 @kindex / D (Summary)
3916 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
3917 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
3920 @kindex / d (Summary)
3921 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
3922 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
3925 @kindex / c (Summary)
3926 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
3927 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
3928 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
3931 @kindex / C (Summary)
3932 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
3933 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
3934 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
3935 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
3943 @cindex article threading
3945 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put replies to
3946 articles directly after the articles they reply to---in a hierarchical
3950 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
3951 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
3955 @node Customizing Threading
3956 @subsection Customizing Threading
3957 @cindex customizing threading
3963 @item gnus-show-threads
3964 @vindex gnus-show-threads
3965 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
3966 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
3967 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
3968 slower and more awkward.
3970 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
3971 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
3972 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
3973 more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
3974 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
3975 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
3976 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
3977 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
3978 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
3979 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
3980 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
3981 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
3983 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
3984 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
3985 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
3986 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
3987 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
3988 articles that belong in the same thread together. This will leave
3989 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
3990 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
3991 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
3992 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
3993 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
3994 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
3995 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
3996 @code{nil} by default.
3998 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3999 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4000 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4001 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4002 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4003 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4004 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subjects lines. If
4005 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4006 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4007 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4008 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4010 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4011 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4012 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects.
4014 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4015 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4016 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4017 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4018 simplification is used.
4020 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4021 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4022 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4023 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4025 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4027 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4030 (mapconcat 'identity
4032 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4033 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4034 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4035 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4040 (mapconcat 'identity
4041 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4043 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4046 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4049 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4050 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4051 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4052 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4053 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4054 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4055 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
4056 default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4058 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4059 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4060 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4061 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4062 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4063 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4064 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever includes unrelated
4065 articles, but it's also means that people who have posted with broken
4066 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4070 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4071 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4072 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4073 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4075 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4076 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4077 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4080 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4084 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4085 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4088 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4089 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4090 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4091 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4092 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4093 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4095 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4096 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4097 There are four possible values:
4099 @cindex adopting articles
4104 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4105 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4106 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4107 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4110 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4111 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4112 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4113 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4114 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4115 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4116 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4119 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4120 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4121 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4125 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4126 display them after one another.
4129 Don't gather loose threads.
4132 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4133 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4134 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4137 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4138 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4139 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4142 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4143 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4144 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4145 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4146 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4149 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4150 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4151 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4152 The default is @code{4}.
4156 @node Thread Commands
4157 @subsection Thread Commands
4158 @cindex thread commands
4164 @kindex T k (Summary)
4165 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4166 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4167 Mark all articles in the current sub-thread as read
4168 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4169 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4174 @kindex T l (Summary)
4175 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4176 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4177 Lower the score of the current thread
4178 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4181 @kindex T i (Summary)
4182 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4183 Increase the score of the current thread
4184 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4187 @kindex T # (Summary)
4188 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4189 Set the process mark on the current thread
4190 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4193 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4194 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4195 Remove the process mark from the current thread
4196 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4199 @kindex T T (Summary)
4200 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4201 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4204 @kindex T s (Summary)
4205 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4206 Expose the thread hidden under the current article, if any
4207 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4210 @kindex T h (Summary)
4211 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4212 Hide the current (sub)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4215 @kindex T S (Summary)
4216 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4217 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4220 @kindex T H (Summary)
4221 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4222 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4225 @kindex T t (Summary)
4226 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4227 Re-thread the thread the current article is part of
4228 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4229 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4232 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4233 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4234 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4235 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}.
4239 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4240 understand the numeric prefix.
4245 @kindex T n (Summary)
4246 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4247 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
4250 @kindex T p (Summary)
4251 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
4252 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
4255 @kindex T d (Summary)
4256 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
4257 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
4260 @kindex T u (Summary)
4261 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
4262 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
4265 @kindex T o (Summary)
4266 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
4267 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
4270 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
4271 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
4272 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
4273 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
4274 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
4275 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
4276 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If is
4277 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
4278 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
4279 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
4280 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
4281 that have subjects that are fuzzily equal will be included.
4287 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
4288 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
4289 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
4290 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4291 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
4292 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4293 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
4294 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
4295 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
4296 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
4297 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
4298 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
4299 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
4300 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
4302 Each function takes two threads and return non-@code{nil} if the first
4303 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
4304 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
4305 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
4306 in the list. You should probably always include
4307 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
4308 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
4309 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
4310 ascending article order.
4312 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
4313 number, you could do something like:
4316 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4317 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4318 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4319 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4322 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
4323 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
4324 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
4325 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
4326 which the articles arrived.
4328 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
4332 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4334 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
4335 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4338 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
4339 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
4340 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
4341 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
4344 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
4345 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
4346 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
4347 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
4348 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
4349 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
4350 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
4351 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
4352 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
4353 is uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
4354 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
4355 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
4356 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
4358 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
4362 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
4363 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
4364 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
4369 @node Asynchronous Fetching
4370 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
4371 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
4373 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
4374 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
4375 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
4376 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
4377 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
4379 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
4380 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
4382 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
4383 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
4384 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
4385 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
4386 connection is blocked.
4388 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
4389 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
4390 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
4391 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
4393 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
4394 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
4395 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
4396 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
4399 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
4402 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
4403 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
4404 happen automatically.
4406 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
4407 You can control how many articles that are to be pre-fetched by setting
4408 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
4409 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
4410 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
4411 pre-fetch all the articles that it can without bound. If it is
4412 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be made.
4414 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
4415 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
4416 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
4417 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
4421 Remove articles when they are read.
4424 Remove articles when exiting the group.
4427 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
4429 @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
4430 If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
4431 from the next group.
4434 @node Article Caching
4435 @section Article Caching
4436 @cindex article caching
4439 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
4440 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
4441 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
4442 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
4443 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
4445 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
4447 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4448 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
4449 @vindex gnus-use-cache
4450 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
4451 all articles that are ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
4452 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
4453 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
4454 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
4456 When re-select a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
4457 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
4458 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
4459 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
4460 as dormant, and don't worry.
4462 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
4464 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
4465 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
4466 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
4467 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
4468 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
4469 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
4470 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
4471 articles that are marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
4472 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
4473 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
4475 @findex gnus-jog-cache
4476 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
4477 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
4478 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, and store them in
4479 the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this command if 1)
4480 your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really, really slow
4481 and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously.
4483 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
4484 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
4485 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
4486 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
4487 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
4488 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
4489 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
4492 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
4493 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
4494 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
4495 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
4496 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
4497 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
4498 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
4499 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
4500 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
4504 @node Persistent Articles
4505 @section Persistent Articles
4506 @cindex persistent articles
4508 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
4509 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
4510 useful in my opinion.
4512 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
4513 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
4514 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
4515 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
4516 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
4517 the expiry going on at the news server.
4519 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
4520 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
4521 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
4527 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
4528 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
4531 @kindex M-* (Summary)
4532 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
4533 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
4534 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
4538 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
4540 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
4541 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
4542 interested in persistent articles:
4545 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
4549 @node Article Backlog
4550 @section Article Backlog
4552 @cindex article backlog
4554 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
4555 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
4556 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
4557 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
4558 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
4559 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
4560 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
4561 increase memory usage some.
4563 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
4564 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
4565 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
4566 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
4567 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
4568 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
4569 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
4571 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
4574 @node Saving Articles
4575 @section Saving Articles
4576 @cindex saving articles
4578 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
4579 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
4580 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
4581 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
4582 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
4584 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
4585 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
4586 unwanted headers before saving the article.
4588 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
4589 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
4590 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
4591 deleted before saving.
4597 @kindex O o (Summary)
4599 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
4600 Save the current article using the default article saver
4601 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
4604 @kindex O m (Summary)
4605 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
4606 Save the current article in mail format
4607 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
4610 @kindex O r (Summary)
4611 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
4612 Save the current article in rmail format
4613 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
4616 @kindex O f (Summary)
4617 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
4618 Save the current article in plain file format
4619 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
4622 @kindex O b (Summary)
4623 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
4624 Save the current article body in plain file format
4625 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
4628 @kindex O h (Summary)
4629 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
4630 Save the current article in mh folder format
4631 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
4634 @kindex O v (Summary)
4635 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
4636 Save the current article in a VM folder
4637 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
4640 @kindex O p (Summary)
4641 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
4642 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
4643 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
4646 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
4647 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
4648 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
4649 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
4650 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
4651 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
4652 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
4653 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
4654 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
4655 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
4656 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
4657 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
4661 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
4662 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
4663 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
4664 functions below, or you can create your own.
4668 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4669 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4670 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
4671 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4672 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
4673 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4674 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4676 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4677 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4678 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
4679 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
4680 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4681 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4683 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
4684 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
4685 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
4686 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4687 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
4688 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4689 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4691 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4692 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4693 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
4694 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4695 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4697 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4698 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4699 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
4700 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
4701 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
4704 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
4705 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
4706 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
4707 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
4708 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}. The former creates capitalized names, and
4709 the latter does not.
4711 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4712 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4713 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
4714 reader to use this setting.
4717 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
4718 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
4719 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
4720 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
4723 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
4724 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
4725 available functions that generate names:
4729 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
4730 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
4731 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4733 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
4734 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4735 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4737 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
4738 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
4739 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4741 @item gnus-plain-save-name
4742 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4743 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4746 @vindex gnus-split-methods
4747 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
4748 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
4749 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
4750 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
4754 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
4755 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
4756 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
4757 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
4760 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
4761 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
4762 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
4763 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
4764 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
4765 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
4766 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
4767 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
4768 called returns a string or a list of strings.
4770 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
4771 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
4772 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
4773 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
4775 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
4776 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
4777 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
4780 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4781 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
4782 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
4783 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
4784 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
4785 all the files in the toplevel directory
4786 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
4787 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
4788 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
4789 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
4791 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
4792 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
4793 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
4794 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
4795 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
4798 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
4802 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
4803 (setq gnus-default-article-save 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
4806 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
4807 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
4808 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
4809 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
4812 @node Decoding Articles
4813 @section Decoding Articles
4814 @cindex decoding articles
4816 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
4817 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
4820 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
4821 * Shared Articles:: Unshar articles.
4822 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
4823 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
4824 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
4827 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
4828 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
4829 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
4830 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
4831 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
4833 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
4834 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
4835 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
4837 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
4838 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
4839 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
4841 Subjects that are nonstandard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
4842 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
4843 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
4846 @node Uuencoded Articles
4847 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
4849 @cindex uuencoded articles
4854 @kindex X u (Summary)
4855 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
4856 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
4859 @kindex X U (Summary)
4860 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
4861 Uudecodes and saves the current series
4862 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4865 @kindex X v u (Summary)
4866 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
4867 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
4870 @kindex X v U (Summary)
4871 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
4872 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
4873 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
4876 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
4877 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
4878 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
4879 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
4880 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4882 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
4883 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
4884 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
4885 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
4888 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
4889 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
4890 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
4891 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
4892 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
4893 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
4897 @node Shared Articles
4898 @subsection Shared Articles
4900 @cindex shared articles
4905 @kindex X s (Summary)
4906 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
4907 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
4910 @kindex X S (Summary)
4911 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
4912 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
4915 @kindex X v s (Summary)
4916 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
4917 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
4920 @kindex X v S (Summary)
4921 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
4922 Unshars, views and saves the current series
4923 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
4927 @node PostScript Files
4928 @subsection PostScript Files
4934 @kindex X p (Summary)
4935 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
4936 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
4939 @kindex X P (Summary)
4940 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
4941 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
4942 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
4945 @kindex X v p (Summary)
4946 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
4947 View the current PostScript series
4948 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
4951 @kindex X v P (Summary)
4952 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
4953 View and save the current PostScript series
4954 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
4958 @node Decoding Variables
4959 @subsection Decoding Variables
4961 Adjective, not verb.
4964 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
4965 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
4966 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
4970 @node Rule Variables
4971 @subsubsection Rule Variables
4972 @cindex rule variables
4974 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
4975 variables are on the form
4978 (list '(regexp1 command2)
4985 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4986 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4988 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
4989 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
4992 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4993 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
4996 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4997 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4998 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
4999 user and default view rules.
5001 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5002 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5003 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5008 @node Other Decode Variables
5009 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5012 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5014 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5015 All functions in this list will be called right each file has been
5016 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5017 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5018 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5022 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5023 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5026 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5027 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5028 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5031 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5032 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5033 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5035 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5036 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5037 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5038 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5039 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5042 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5043 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5044 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5046 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5047 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5048 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5049 looking for files to display.
5051 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5052 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5053 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5056 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5057 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5058 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5061 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5062 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5063 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5066 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5067 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5068 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5071 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5072 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5073 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark articles that were
5074 unsuccessfully decoded as unread.
5076 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5077 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5078 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5079 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5081 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5082 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5084 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5085 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5086 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5087 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5089 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5090 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5091 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
5092 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
5093 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
5094 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
5095 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
5096 simply dropped them.
5101 @node Uuencoding and Posting
5102 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
5106 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5107 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5108 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
5109 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
5110 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
5111 for you when you post the article.
5113 @item gnus-uu-post-length
5114 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
5115 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
5116 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
5118 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
5119 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
5120 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
5121 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen are able
5122 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
5123 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
5124 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
5126 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5127 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5128 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
5129 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
5130 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
5131 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
5132 Default is @code{t}.
5138 @subsection Viewing Files
5139 @cindex viewing files
5140 @cindex pseudo-articles
5142 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
5143 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
5144 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
5145 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
5146 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
5147 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
5148 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
5150 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
5151 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
5152 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
5153 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
5155 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
5156 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
5157 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
5159 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
5160 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
5161 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
5162 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
5163 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
5165 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
5166 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
5167 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
5168 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
5169 a list of parameters to that command.
5171 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
5172 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
5173 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
5175 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
5176 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
5177 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
5180 @node Article Treatment
5181 @section Article Treatment
5183 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
5184 object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
5185 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
5186 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
5187 these articles easier.
5190 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
5191 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
5192 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
5193 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
5194 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
5195 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
5199 @node Article Highlighting
5200 @subsection Article Highlighting
5203 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
5204 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
5209 @kindex W H a (Summary)
5210 @findex gnus-article-highlight
5211 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
5214 @kindex W H h (Summary)
5215 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
5216 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
5217 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
5218 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
5219 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
5220 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
5221 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name and
5222 @var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
5223 match made will be used. Note that @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^}
5224 prepended---Gnus will add one.
5227 @kindex W H c (Summary)
5228 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
5229 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
5231 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
5234 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5236 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5237 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
5238 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
5240 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5241 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5242 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
5244 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
5245 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
5246 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
5248 @item gnus-cite-face-list
5249 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
5250 List of faces used for highlighting citations. When there are citations
5251 from multiple articles in the same message, Gnus will try to give each
5252 citation from each article its own face. This should make it easier to
5255 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
5256 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
5257 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
5259 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5260 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5261 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
5263 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5264 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5265 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
5266 that it's a citation.
5268 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5269 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5270 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
5272 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5273 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5274 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
5276 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
5277 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
5278 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
5279 cited text belonging to the attribution.
5285 @kindex W H s (Summary)
5286 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
5287 @vindex gnus-signature-face
5288 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
5289 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
5290 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
5291 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
5292 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
5298 @node Article Hiding
5299 @subsection Article Hiding
5300 @cindex article hiding
5302 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
5303 too much cruft in most articles.
5308 @kindex W W a (Summary)
5309 @findex gnus-article-hide
5310 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
5313 @kindex W W h (Summary)
5314 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
5315 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
5319 @kindex W W b (Summary)
5320 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
5321 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
5322 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
5325 @kindex W W s (Summary)
5326 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
5327 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
5331 @kindex W W p (Summary)
5332 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
5333 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}).
5336 @kindex W W P (Summary)
5337 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
5338 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhavnced hessages) gruft
5339 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
5342 @kindex W W c (Summary)
5343 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
5344 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
5345 customizing the hiding:
5349 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5350 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5351 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
5352 50), hide the cited text.
5354 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5355 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5356 The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10) before it
5359 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5360 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5361 Gnus adds buttons show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
5362 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
5363 by this format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
5368 Start point of the hidden text.
5370 End point of the hidden text.
5372 Length of the hidden text.
5375 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
5376 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
5377 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
5382 @kindex W W C (Summary)
5383 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
5384 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
5385 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
5386 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
5387 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
5391 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
5392 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
5393 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
5395 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
5396 citation customization.
5399 @node Article Washing
5400 @subsection Article Washing
5402 @cindex article washing
5404 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
5405 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
5407 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
5408 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
5414 @kindex W l (Summary)
5415 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
5416 Remove page breaks from the current article
5417 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
5420 @kindex W r (Summary)
5421 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
5422 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
5423 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
5426 @kindex W t (Summary)
5427 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
5428 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
5429 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
5432 @kindex W v (Summary)
5433 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
5434 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
5435 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
5438 @kindex W m (Summary)
5439 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
5440 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
5441 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
5444 @kindex W o (Summary)
5445 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
5446 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
5449 @kindex W w (Summary)
5450 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
5451 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
5452 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
5453 late and certainly after any highlighting.
5456 @kindex W c (Summary)
5457 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
5458 Remove CR (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
5461 @kindex W q (Summary)
5462 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
5463 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
5466 @kindex W f (Summary)
5468 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
5469 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
5470 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
5471 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
5472 Look for and display any X-Face headers
5473 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
5474 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
5475 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
5476 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
5477 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
5478 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
5479 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
5480 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
5481 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
5482 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
5483 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
5484 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
5485 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
5489 @kindex W b (Summary)
5490 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
5491 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
5494 @kindex W B (Summary)
5495 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
5496 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
5497 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
5500 @kindex W E l (Summary)
5501 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
5502 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
5503 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
5506 @kindex W E m (Summary)
5507 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
5508 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
5509 lines with a single empty line.
5510 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
5513 @kindex W E t (Summary)
5514 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
5515 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
5516 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
5519 @kindex W E a (Summary)
5520 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
5521 Do all the three commands above
5522 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
5527 @node Article Buttons
5528 @subsection Article Buttons
5531 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
5532 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
5533 with the minimum of fuzz.
5535 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
5536 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
5537 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
5542 @item gnus-button-alist
5543 @vindex gnus-button-alist
5544 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
5547 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5553 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
5554 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that match embedded URLs:
5555 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
5558 Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be highlighted. This is
5559 a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp that is to be
5560 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use @code{0} here.
5563 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
5564 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
5565 avoid false matches.
5568 This function will be called when you click on this button.
5571 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
5572 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
5576 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
5579 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
5582 @item gnus-header-button-alist
5583 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
5584 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
5585 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
5586 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
5589 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5592 @var{header} is a regular expression.
5594 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
5595 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
5596 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
5597 default values of the variables above.
5599 @item gnus-article-button-face
5600 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
5601 Face used on bottons.
5603 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
5604 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
5605 Face is used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
5611 @subsection Article Date
5613 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
5614 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
5615 when the article was sent.
5620 @kindex W T u (Summary)
5621 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
5622 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
5623 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
5626 @kindex W T l (Summary)
5627 @findex gnus-article-date-local
5628 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
5631 @kindex W T e (Summary)
5632 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
5633 Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and now
5634 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
5637 @kindex W T o (Summary)
5638 @findex gnus-article-date-original
5639 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
5640 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
5641 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
5642 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
5643 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
5648 @node Article Signature
5649 @subsection Article Signature
5651 @cindex article signature
5653 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
5654 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
5655 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
5656 that says what is to be considered a signature is
5657 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
5658 @samp{"^-- $"} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
5659 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
5660 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
5661 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
5664 (setq gnus-signature-separator
5665 '("^-- $" ; The standard
5666 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
5667 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
5668 ; line of dashes. Shame!
5669 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
5670 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
5671 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
5674 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
5677 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
5678 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
5683 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
5686 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
5689 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
5690 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
5692 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
5693 in question is not a signature.
5696 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
5700 @node Summary Sorting
5701 @section Summary Sorting
5702 @cindex summary sorting
5704 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
5705 can't really see why you'd want that.
5710 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
5711 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
5712 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
5715 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
5716 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
5717 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
5720 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
5721 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
5722 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
5725 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
5726 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
5727 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
5730 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
5731 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
5732 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
5735 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
5736 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
5737 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
5738 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
5739 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
5743 @node Finding the Parent
5744 @section Finding the Parent
5745 @cindex parent articles
5746 @cindex referring articles
5748 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
5750 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
5751 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
5752 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
5753 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
5754 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
5755 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
5756 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
5757 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
5759 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
5760 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
5761 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
5762 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
5763 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
5766 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
5767 @kindex A R (Summary)
5768 You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
5769 header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
5770 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
5772 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
5773 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
5774 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
5775 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
5776 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
5777 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long thingies that look
5778 something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You have to get
5779 it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
5781 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
5782 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
5783 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
5784 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
5785 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the same
5786 as the one that keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's
5787 not really necessary.
5789 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
5790 not do a particularly excellent job of it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
5791 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
5792 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
5793 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
5794 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
5797 @node Alternative Approaches
5798 @section Alternative Approaches
5800 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
5801 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
5804 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
5805 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
5810 @subsection Pick and Read
5811 @cindex pick and read
5813 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{nn}) use a two-phased
5814 reading interface. The user first marks the articles she wants to read
5815 from a summary buffer. Then she starts reading the articles with just
5816 an article buffer displayed.
5818 @findex gnus-pick-mode
5819 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
5820 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
5821 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
5822 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
5823 it makes one additional command for switching to the summary buffer
5826 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
5831 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5832 Pick the article on the current line
5833 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}). If given a numerical prefix,
5834 go to the article on that line and pick that article. (The line number
5835 is normally displayed on the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
5838 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
5839 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
5840 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
5841 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
5845 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5846 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5850 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5851 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5855 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5856 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5860 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5861 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5865 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5866 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5870 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
5871 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
5875 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5876 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5880 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5881 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5885 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5886 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5890 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
5891 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
5895 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
5896 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
5897 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
5898 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
5899 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
5900 will still be visible when you are reading.
5904 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
5907 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
5910 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
5911 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
5913 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
5914 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
5915 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
5917 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
5918 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different than the
5919 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
5920 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
5921 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
5922 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
5923 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
5927 @subsection Binary Groups
5928 @cindex binary groups
5930 @findex gnus-binary-mode
5931 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
5932 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
5933 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
5934 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
5935 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
5936 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
5939 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
5940 In fact, the only way to see the actual articles if you have turned this
5941 mode on is the @kbd{g} command (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
5943 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
5944 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
5948 @section Tree Display
5951 @vindex gnus-use-trees
5952 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
5953 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
5954 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
5957 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
5960 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
5961 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
5962 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
5964 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5965 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5966 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
5967 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}. For a list of legal specs, @pxref{Summary
5970 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
5971 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
5972 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
5973 default is @code{modeline}.
5975 @item gnus-tree-line-format
5976 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
5977 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
5978 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
5979 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
5980 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
5981 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
5987 The name of the poster.
5989 The @code{From} header.
5991 The number of the article.
5993 The opening bracket.
5995 The closing bracket.
6000 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6002 Variables related to the display are:
6005 @item gnus-tree-brackets
6006 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
6007 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
6008 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
6009 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
6010 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}))}.
6012 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6013 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6014 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
6015 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
6019 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
6020 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
6021 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
6022 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
6023 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
6024 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}.
6026 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
6027 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
6028 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
6029 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
6030 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
6031 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
6032 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
6036 Here's and example from a horizontal tree buffer:
6039 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
6049 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
6053 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
6054 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
6056 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
6058 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
6064 @node Mail Group Commands
6065 @section Mail Group Commands
6066 @cindex mail group commands
6068 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
6069 illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
6071 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
6072 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6077 @kindex B e (Summary)
6078 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
6079 Expire all expirable articles in the group
6080 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
6083 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
6084 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
6085 Expunge all the expirable articles in the group
6086 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
6087 articles that are eligible for expiry in the current group will
6088 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
6091 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
6092 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
6093 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
6094 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
6095 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
6098 @kindex B m (Summary)
6100 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
6101 Move the article from one mail group to another
6102 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
6105 @kindex B c (Summary)
6107 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
6108 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
6109 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
6112 @kindex B C (Summary)
6113 @cindex crosspost mail
6114 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
6115 Crosspost the current article to some other group
6116 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
6117 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
6118 be properly updated.
6121 @kindex B i (Summary)
6122 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
6123 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
6124 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
6125 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
6128 @kindex B r (Summary)
6129 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
6130 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
6134 @kindex B w (Summary)
6136 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
6137 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
6138 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
6139 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
6140 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
6143 @kindex B q (Summary)
6144 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
6145 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
6146 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
6147 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
6150 @kindex B p (Summary)
6151 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
6152 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
6153 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
6154 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
6155 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
6156 article from your news server (or rather, from
6157 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
6158 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
6159 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
6160 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
6161 just not have arrived yet.
6165 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
6166 @cindex moving articles
6167 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
6168 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
6169 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
6170 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
6171 suggestions you find reasonable.
6174 @node Various Summary Stuff
6175 @section Various Summary Stuff
6178 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
6179 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
6180 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
6184 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
6185 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
6186 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
6188 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
6189 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
6190 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
6191 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
6192 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
6193 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
6196 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
6197 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
6198 Is is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
6199 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
6200 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
6205 @node Summary Group Information
6206 @subsection Summary Group Information
6211 @kindex H f (Summary)
6212 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
6213 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
6214 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
6215 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
6216 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
6217 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
6218 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
6219 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} probably will be used for
6223 @kindex H d (Summary)
6224 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
6225 Give a brief description of the current group
6226 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
6227 rereading the description from the server.
6230 @kindex H h (Summary)
6231 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
6232 Give a very brief description of the most important summary keystrokes
6233 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
6236 @kindex H i (Summary)
6237 @findex gnus-info-find-node
6238 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
6242 @node Searching for Articles
6243 @subsection Searching for Articles
6248 @kindex M-s (Summary)
6249 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
6250 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
6251 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
6254 @kindex M-r (Summary)
6255 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
6256 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
6257 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
6261 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
6262 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
6263 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
6264 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
6267 @kindex M-& (Summary)
6268 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
6269 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
6270 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
6274 @node Really Various Summary Commands
6275 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
6280 @kindex C-d (Summary)
6281 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
6282 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
6283 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
6284 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
6285 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
6286 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
6287 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages on
6288 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
6292 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
6293 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
6294 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
6295 several documents into one biiig group
6296 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
6297 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
6298 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
6299 command understands the process/prefix convention
6300 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6303 @kindex C-t (Summary)
6304 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
6305 Toggle truncation of summary lines
6306 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
6307 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
6308 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
6312 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
6313 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
6314 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
6317 @kindex M-C-g (Summary)
6318 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
6319 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
6324 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
6325 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
6326 @cindex summary exit
6327 @cindex exiting groups
6329 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
6330 group and return you to the group buffer.
6336 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
6338 @findex gnus-summary-exit
6339 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
6340 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
6341 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
6342 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
6343 called before doing much of the exiting, and calls
6344 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
6345 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exiting
6350 @kindex Z E (Summary)
6352 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
6353 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
6354 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
6358 @kindex Z c (Summary)
6360 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
6361 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
6362 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
6365 @kindex Z C (Summary)
6366 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
6367 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
6368 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
6371 @kindex Z n (Summary)
6372 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
6373 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
6374 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
6377 @kindex Z R (Summary)
6378 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
6379 Exit this group, and then enter it again
6380 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
6381 all articles, both read and unread.
6385 @kindex Z G (Summary)
6386 @kindex M-g (Summary)
6387 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
6388 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
6389 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
6390 articles, both read and unread.
6393 @kindex Z N (Summary)
6394 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
6395 Exit the group and go to the next group
6396 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
6399 @kindex Z P (Summary)
6400 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
6401 Exit the group and go to the previous group
6402 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
6405 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
6406 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
6409 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
6410 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
6411 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
6412 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
6413 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
6414 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
6415 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
6416 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
6417 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
6418 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
6419 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
6420 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
6422 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
6424 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
6425 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
6426 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
6427 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
6428 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
6429 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
6430 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
6431 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
6432 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
6435 @node Crosspost Handling
6436 @section Crosspost Handling
6440 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
6441 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
6442 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
6443 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
6444 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
6445 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
6448 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
6449 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
6450 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
6451 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
6452 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
6454 @cindex cross-posting
6457 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
6458 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
6459 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
6460 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
6461 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
6462 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
6463 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
6464 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
6465 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
6466 the cross reference mechanism.
6468 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
6469 @cindex overview.fmt
6470 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
6471 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
6472 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
6473 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
6474 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
6475 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
6478 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
6479 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
6480 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
6485 For an alternative approach, @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6488 @node Duplicate Suppression
6489 @section Duplicate Suppression
6491 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
6492 article more than once by utilizing the crossposing mechanism
6493 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
6494 approach may not work satisfactorily for some users for various
6499 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
6500 is evil and not very common.
6503 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
6504 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
6507 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
6508 different @sc{nntp} servers.
6511 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
6514 I'm sure there are other situations that @code{Xref} handling fails as
6515 well, but these four are the most common situations.
6517 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
6518 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
6519 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
6520 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
6521 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
6522 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
6523 so. It's certainly preferrable to reading the same articles more than
6526 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
6527 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
6528 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
6529 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
6530 article as read the the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
6534 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
6535 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
6536 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
6538 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
6539 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
6540 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
6541 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
6542 However, this means that only duplicate articles that is read in a
6543 single Gnus session are suppressed.
6545 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
6546 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
6547 This variables says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
6548 suppression list. The default is 10000.
6550 @item gnus-duplicate-file
6551 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
6552 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list. The
6553 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
6556 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
6557 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
6558 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
6559 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
6560 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
6561 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
6562 to you to figure out, I think.
6565 @node The Article Buffer
6566 @chapter The Article Buffer
6567 @cindex article buffer
6569 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
6570 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
6571 tell Gnus otherwise.
6574 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
6575 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
6576 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
6577 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer
6578 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
6582 @node Hiding Headers
6583 @section Hiding Headers
6584 @cindex hiding headers
6585 @cindex deleting headers
6587 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
6588 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
6590 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
6591 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
6592 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
6593 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
6594 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
6595 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
6596 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
6597 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
6598 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
6600 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
6604 @item gnus-visible-headers
6605 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
6606 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
6607 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
6608 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
6610 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
6611 the article and the subject, you'd say:
6614 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
6617 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6620 @item gnus-ignored-headers
6621 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
6622 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
6623 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
6624 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
6625 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
6627 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
6628 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
6631 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
6634 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6637 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
6638 variable will have no effect.
6642 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
6643 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
6644 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
6645 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
6646 the headers are to be displayed.
6648 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
6649 and then the subject, you might say something like:
6652 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
6655 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
6656 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
6657 are listed in this variable.
6659 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6660 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6661 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
6662 You can hide further boring headers by entering
6663 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
6664 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
6665 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
6666 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
6667 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
6669 These conditions are:
6672 Remove all empty headers.
6674 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
6677 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
6678 @code{Newsgroups} header.
6680 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
6683 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
6687 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
6690 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
6691 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
6694 This is also the default value for this variable.
6698 @section Using @sc{mime}
6701 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
6702 while people stand around yawning.
6704 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
6705 while all newsreaders die of fear.
6707 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
6708 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
6709 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
6711 @vindex gnus-show-mime
6712 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
6713 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
6714 @findex metamail-buffer
6715 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by shoving the articles through
6716 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
6717 default. Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
6718 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
6719 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
6720 @sc{mime} headers in the article.
6722 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
6723 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
6724 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
6725 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
6726 comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
6727 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
6728 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
6729 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
6730 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
6732 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
6735 @node Customizing Articles
6736 @section Customizing Articles
6737 @cindex article customization
6739 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6740 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
6741 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
6742 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
6744 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6745 By default it contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
6746 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
6747 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
6748 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
6749 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
6750 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
6753 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
6754 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
6755 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
6756 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
6757 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
6760 @node Article Keymap
6761 @section Article Keymap
6763 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
6764 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
6765 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
6766 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
6769 A few additional keystrokes are available:
6774 @kindex SPACE (Article)
6775 @findex gnus-article-next-page
6776 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
6779 @kindex DEL (Article)
6780 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
6781 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
6784 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
6785 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
6786 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
6787 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
6788 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
6791 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
6792 @findex gnus-article-mail
6793 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
6794 given a prefix, include the mail.
6798 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
6799 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
6800 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
6804 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
6805 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
6806 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
6809 @kindex TAB (Article)
6810 @findex gnus-article-next-button
6811 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}. This
6812 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
6815 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
6816 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
6817 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}.
6823 @section Misc Article
6827 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
6828 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
6829 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
6830 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
6833 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
6834 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
6835 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
6836 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
6837 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
6838 the contents of the article buffer.
6840 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6841 @item gnus-article-display-hook
6842 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
6843 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
6844 hiding headers, and the like.
6846 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
6847 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
6848 Hook called in article mode buffers.
6850 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
6851 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
6852 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
6853 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts the same
6854 format specifications as that variable, with one extension:
6858 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
6859 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
6863 @vindex gnus-break-pages
6865 @item gnus-break-pages
6866 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
6867 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
6868 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
6869 paging will not be done.
6871 @item gnus-page-delimiter
6872 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
6873 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
6878 @node Composing Messages
6879 @chapter Composing Messages
6884 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
6885 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
6886 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
6887 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
6888 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
6889 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
6890 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
6893 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
6894 * Post:: Posting and following up.
6895 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
6896 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
6897 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
6898 @c * Posting Styles:: An easier way to configure some key elements.
6899 @c * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
6900 @c * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
6903 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
6904 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
6910 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
6913 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
6914 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
6915 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
6916 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
6924 Variables for composing news articles:
6927 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
6928 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
6929 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
6930 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
6931 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
6932 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to sent the
6933 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
6934 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
6935 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
6938 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
6939 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
6940 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
6941 file. It is 1000 by default.
6946 @node Posting Server
6947 @section Posting Server
6949 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
6950 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
6952 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
6954 @vindex gnus-post-method
6956 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
6957 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
6958 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
6959 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
6960 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
6963 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
6966 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
6967 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
6968 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
6969 the ``current'' server for posting.
6971 If you give a zero prefix (i. e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
6972 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
6974 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
6975 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
6980 @section Mail and Post
6982 Here's a list of variables that are relevant to both mailing and
6986 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
6987 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
6988 @cindex mailing lists
6990 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists that are
6991 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
6992 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
6993 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
6994 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
6995 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that match the groups that
6996 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
6997 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
6998 still a pain, though.
7002 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
7003 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
7004 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
7007 @findex ispell-message
7009 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
7013 @node Archived Messages
7014 @section Archived Messages
7015 @cindex archived messages
7016 @cindex sent messages
7018 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail you send.
7019 The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to store
7020 the mail. If you want to disable this completely, you should set
7021 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil}.
7023 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
7024 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
7025 use to store sent messages. It is @code{(nnfolder "archive"
7026 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive/"))} by default, but you can use any
7027 mail select method (@code{nnml}, @code{nnmbox}, etc.). However,
7028 @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method for doing this sort of
7029 thing. If you don't like the default directory chosen, you could say
7033 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
7034 '(nnfolder "archive"
7035 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
7036 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
7037 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
7040 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
7042 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
7043 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
7044 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
7046 This variable can be:
7050 Messages will be saved in that group.
7051 @item a list of strings
7052 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
7053 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
7054 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
7056 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
7061 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
7063 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
7066 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
7068 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
7071 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
7073 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7074 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
7075 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
7076 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
7081 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7082 '((if (message-news-p)
7087 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
7088 messages in one file per month:
7091 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7092 '((if (message-news-p)
7094 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
7095 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
7098 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
7099 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
7100 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
7101 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
7102 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
7103 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
7104 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
7105 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
7106 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
7107 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
7109 That's the default method of archiving sent mail. Gnus also offers two
7110 other variables for the people who don't like the default method. In
7111 that case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to
7112 @code{nil}; this will disable archiving.
7114 XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
7115 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.
7119 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
7120 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
7121 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
7122 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
7123 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
7126 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
7127 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
7128 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
7133 @c @node Posting Styles
7134 @c @section Posting Styles
7135 @c @cindex posting styles
7138 @c All them variables, they make my head swim.
7140 @c So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
7141 @c on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
7142 @c and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
7145 @c @vindex gnus-posting-styles
7146 @c One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
7147 @c variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
7148 @c came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
7149 @c a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
7154 @c (signature . "Peace and happiness")
7155 @c (organization . "What me?"))
7157 @c (signature . "Death to everybody"))
7158 @c ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
7159 @c (organization . "Emacs is it")))
7162 @c As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
7163 @c @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
7164 @c ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
7165 @c over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
7166 @c applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
7167 @c the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
7168 @c @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
7169 @c signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
7171 @c The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
7172 @c string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
7173 @c If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
7174 @c arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
7175 @c referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
7176 @c any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
7179 @c Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
7180 @c attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
7181 @c can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
7182 @c attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
7183 @c a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
7186 @c The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
7187 @c return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
7188 @c list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
7190 @c So here's a new example:
7193 @c (setq gnus-posting-styles
7195 @c (signature . "~/.signature")
7196 @c (from . "user@@foo (user)")
7197 @c ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
7198 @c (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
7200 @c (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
7201 @c ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
7202 @c (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
7203 @c (posting-from-work-p
7204 @c (signature . "~/.work-signature")
7205 @c (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
7206 @c (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
7208 @c (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
7215 @c If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
7216 @c you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
7217 @c craazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save the
7218 @c message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some other
7219 @c day, and send it when you feel its finished.
7221 @c Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
7222 @c some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
7223 @c automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
7224 @c If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
7225 @c article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
7229 @c @vindex gnus-draft-group-directory
7230 @c The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
7231 @c @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
7232 @c @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{gnus-draft-group-directory}
7233 @c controls both the name of the group and the location---the leaf element
7234 @c in the path will be used as the name of the group. What makes this
7235 @c group special is that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any
7236 @c articles as read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
7238 @c If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
7241 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
7242 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
7243 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
7244 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
7245 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
7246 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
7247 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
7248 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
7249 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
7250 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
7251 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
7252 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
7253 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
7254 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
7256 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
7257 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
7258 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
7260 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-draft
7261 @c @kindex S D c (Summary)
7262 @c When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
7263 @c draft group and push @kbd{S D c} (@code{gnus-summary-send-draft}) to do
7264 @c that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
7266 @c Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
7269 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-all-drafts
7270 @c If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
7271 @c doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{S D a} command
7272 @c (@code{gnus-summary-send-all-drafts}). This command understands the
7273 @c process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7276 @c @node Rejected Articles
7277 @c @section Rejected Articles
7278 @c @cindex rejected articles
7280 @c Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
7281 @c doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
7282 @c @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
7283 @c Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
7285 @c These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
7286 @c (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
7287 @c fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
7288 @c you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
7289 @c articles until some later time when the server feels better.
7291 @c The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
7292 @c (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
7293 @c typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
7296 @node Select Methods
7297 @chapter Select Methods
7298 @cindex foreign groups
7299 @cindex select methods
7301 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group that is not read by the usual (or
7302 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
7303 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
7304 personal mail group.
7306 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
7307 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
7308 list where the first element says what backend to use (eg. @code{nntp},
7309 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
7310 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
7311 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
7313 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
7314 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
7316 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
7319 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
7320 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
7321 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group, in
7322 all circumstances, @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the
7323 @code{nntp} backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
7325 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
7328 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
7329 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
7330 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
7331 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
7332 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
7336 @node The Server Buffer
7337 @section The Server Buffer
7339 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
7340 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
7341 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
7342 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
7343 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
7344 backend represents a virtual server.
7346 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
7347 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
7348 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
7349 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
7351 These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
7352 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
7353 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number @code{13}, which
7354 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
7355 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
7356 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
7357 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
7359 To enter the server buffer, user the @kbd{^}
7360 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
7363 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
7364 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
7365 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
7366 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
7367 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
7368 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
7371 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
7372 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
7375 @node Server Buffer Format
7376 @subsection Server Buffer Format
7377 @cindex server buffer format
7379 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
7380 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
7381 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
7382 variable, with some simple extensions:
7387 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
7390 The name of this server.
7393 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
7396 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
7399 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
7400 The mode line can also be customized by using the
7401 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
7412 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
7415 @node Server Commands
7416 @subsection Server Commands
7417 @cindex server commands
7423 @findex gnus-server-add-server
7424 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
7428 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
7429 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
7432 @kindex SPACE (Server)
7433 @findex gnus-server-read-server
7434 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
7438 @findex gnus-server-exit
7439 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
7443 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
7444 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
7448 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
7449 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
7453 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
7454 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
7458 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
7459 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
7463 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
7464 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
7465 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
7471 @node Example Methods
7472 @subsection Example Methods
7474 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
7477 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
7480 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
7486 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
7487 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
7490 After these two elements, there may be a arbitrary number of
7491 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
7493 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
7494 port @code{15} from that machine. This is what the select method should
7498 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
7501 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
7502 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
7504 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
7505 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
7506 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
7510 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
7513 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
7516 Here's the method for a public spool:
7520 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
7521 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
7525 @node Creating a Virtual Server
7526 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
7528 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
7529 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
7531 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
7532 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
7533 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
7535 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
7537 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
7538 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
7539 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
7540 will contain the following:
7550 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
7551 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
7552 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
7555 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
7556 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
7557 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
7560 @node Servers and Methods
7561 @subsection Servers and Methods
7563 Wherever you would normally use a select method
7564 (eg. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
7565 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
7566 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
7570 @node Unavailable Servers
7571 @subsection Unavailable Servers
7573 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
7574 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
7575 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
7576 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
7577 actually the case or not.
7579 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
7580 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to the server
7581 @samp{nepholococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
7582 away from you, the machine is quite, so it takes 1 minute just to find
7583 out that it refuses connection from you today. If Gnus were to attempt
7584 to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't attempt to do
7585 that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'', it will
7586 regard that server as ``down''.
7588 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
7589 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
7591 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
7592 with the following commands:
7598 @findex gnus-server-open-server
7599 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
7600 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
7604 @findex gnus-server-close-server
7605 Close the connection (if any) to the server
7606 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
7610 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
7611 Mark the current server as unreachable
7612 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
7615 @kindex M-o (Server)
7616 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
7617 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
7618 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
7621 @kindex M-c (Server)
7622 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
7623 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
7624 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
7628 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
7629 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from all servers
7630 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
7636 @section Getting News
7637 @cindex reading news
7638 @cindex news backends
7640 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
7641 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
7642 or it can read from a local spool.
7645 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
7646 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
7651 @subsection @sc{nntp}
7654 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
7655 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
7656 server as the, uhm, address.
7658 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
7659 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
7660 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
7661 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
7663 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
7664 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
7665 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
7667 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
7672 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
7673 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
7674 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
7676 @cindex authentification
7677 @cindex nntp authentification
7678 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
7679 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
7680 @code{nntp-server-opened-hook} is run after a connection has been made.
7681 It can be used to send commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has
7682 been contacted. By default is sends the command @code{MODE READER} to
7683 the server with the @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function.
7685 @item nntp-authinfo-function
7686 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
7687 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
7688 server. Available functions include:
7691 @item nntp-send-authinfo
7692 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
7693 This function will used you current login name as the user name and will
7694 prompt you for the password. This is the default.
7696 @item nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
7697 @findex nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
7698 This function will prompt you for both user name and password.
7700 @item nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
7701 @findex nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
7702 This function will use your current login name as the user name and will
7703 read the @sc{nntp} password from @file{~/.nntp-authinfo}.
7706 @item nntp-server-action-alist
7707 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
7708 This is an list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
7709 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
7710 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
7713 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
7717 You probably don't want to do that, though.
7719 The default value is
7722 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
7723 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook nntp-send-mode-reader)))
7726 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
7727 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
7729 @item nntp-maximum-request
7730 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
7731 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
7732 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
7733 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
7734 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
7735 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
7736 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
7738 @item nntp-connection-timeout
7739 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
7740 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
7741 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
7742 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
7743 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
7744 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
7745 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
7746 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
7747 no timeouts are done.
7749 @item nntp-command-timeout
7750 @vindex nntp-command-timeout
7751 @cindex PPP connections
7752 @cindex dynamic IP addresses
7753 If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
7754 address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
7755 changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
7756 waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
7757 unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
7758 then, if it sits waiting longer than that number of seconds for a reply
7759 from the server, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
7760 the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
7761 likely number is 30 seconds.
7763 @item nntp-retry-on-break
7764 @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
7765 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
7766 hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
7769 @item nntp-server-hook
7770 @vindex nntp-server-hook
7771 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
7774 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
7775 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
7776 @item nntp-open-server-function
7777 @vindex nntp-open-server-function
7778 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Two pre-made
7779 functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
7780 simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
7781 is @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an rlogin on the remote system,
7782 and then does a telnet to the @sc{nntp} server available there.
7784 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
7785 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
7786 If you use @code{nntp-open-rlogin} as the
7787 @code{nntp-open-server-function}, this list will be used as the
7788 parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
7790 @item nntp-end-of-line
7791 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
7792 String to use as end-of-line markers when talking to the @sc{nntp}
7793 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
7794 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
7796 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
7797 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
7798 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
7802 @vindex nntp-address
7803 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
7805 @item nntp-port-number
7806 @vindex nntp-port-number
7807 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
7810 @item nntp-buggy-select
7811 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
7812 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
7814 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
7815 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
7816 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
7817 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks whether @sc{nov}
7818 can be used automatically.
7820 @item nntp-xover-commands
7821 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
7824 List of strings that are used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
7825 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
7829 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
7830 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
7831 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
7832 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
7833 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
7834 lines that you do not want, and will not use. This variable says how
7835 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
7836 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
7837 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
7838 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
7839 @code{nntp} will never split requests.
7841 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
7842 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
7843 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
7845 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
7846 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
7847 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
7848 server closes connection.
7854 @subsection News Spool
7858 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
7859 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups like
7860 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}.
7862 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @samp{} (or
7863 anything else) as the address.
7865 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
7866 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
7867 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
7868 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
7872 @item nnspool-inews-program
7873 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
7874 Program used to post an article.
7876 @item nnspool-inews-switches
7877 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
7878 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
7880 @item nnspool-spool-directory
7881 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
7882 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
7883 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
7885 @item nnspool-nov-directory
7886 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
7887 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
7888 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
7890 @item nnspool-lib-dir
7891 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
7892 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
7894 @item nnspool-active-file
7895 @vindex nnspool-active-file
7896 The path of the active file.
7898 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
7899 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
7900 The path of the group descriptions file.
7902 @item nnspool-history-file
7903 @vindex nnspool-history-file
7904 The path of the news history file.
7906 @item nnspool-active-times-file
7907 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
7908 The path of the active date file.
7910 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
7911 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
7912 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
7915 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
7916 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
7918 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
7919 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
7920 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
7926 @section Getting Mail
7927 @cindex reading mail
7930 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
7934 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
7935 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
7936 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
7937 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
7938 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
7939 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
7940 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
7941 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
7942 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
7943 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
7947 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
7948 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
7950 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
7951 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
7952 and things will happen automatically.
7954 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a one file per
7955 mail backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
7958 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
7959 '((nnml "private")))
7962 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
7963 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
7964 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
7965 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
7966 like any other group.
7968 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
7971 (setq nnmail-split-methods
7972 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
7973 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
7977 This will result in three new mail groups being created:
7978 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
7979 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
7982 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
7983 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though,
7984 especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
7987 @node Splitting Mail
7988 @subsection Splitting Mail
7989 @cindex splitting mail
7990 @cindex mail splitting
7992 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
7993 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
7994 to be split into groups.
7997 (setq nnmail-split-methods
7998 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
7999 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8003 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
8004 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
8005 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
8006 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
8007 determine if it belongs in this mail group.
8009 If the first element is the special symbol @code{junk}, then messages
8010 that match the regexp will disappear into the aether. Use with
8013 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
8014 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
8015 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
8016 mail belongs in that group.
8018 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
8019 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any
8020 mails that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps.
8022 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
8023 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
8024 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
8025 message. The function should return a list of groups names that it
8026 thinks should carry this mail message.
8028 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent
8029 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
8030 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
8031 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
8033 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
8034 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
8035 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
8036 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
8037 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
8039 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
8042 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
8043 the crossposted articles. However, not all files systems support hard
8044 links. If that's the case for you, set
8045 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
8046 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
8048 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
8049 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
8050 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
8051 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
8052 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
8053 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
8054 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
8055 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
8059 @node Mail Backend Variables
8060 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
8062 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
8066 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8067 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8068 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
8069 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
8071 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
8072 @item nnmail-spool-file
8076 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
8077 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
8078 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
8079 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
8080 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
8081 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
8082 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
8083 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
8084 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
8085 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
8086 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
8087 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
8088 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
8089 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
8090 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
8092 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
8093 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
8094 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
8095 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
8096 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
8097 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
8099 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
8100 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8101 @item nnmail-use-procmail
8102 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
8103 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
8104 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
8105 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
8108 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
8109 @item nnmail-crash-box
8110 When the mail backends read a spool file, it is first moved to this
8111 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
8112 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
8115 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8116 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8117 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
8118 used for, well, anything, really.
8120 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
8121 @item nnmail-split-hook
8122 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
8123 @findex RFC1522 decoding
8124 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
8125 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
8126 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
8127 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
8128 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{article-decode-rfc1522}
8129 is one likely function to add to this hook.
8131 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8132 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8133 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8134 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8135 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
8136 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
8137 starting to handle the new mail) and
8138 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
8139 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
8140 default file modes the new mail files get:
8143 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8144 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
8146 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
8147 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
8150 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
8151 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
8152 This variable says where to move the incoming mail to while processing
8153 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
8154 inhabits (i.e., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
8155 it will be used instead.
8157 @item nnmail-movemail-program
8158 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
8159 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
8160 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
8162 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
8163 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
8164 @cindex incoming mail files
8165 @cindex deleting incoming files
8166 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
8167 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{nil} by
8168 default for reasons of security.
8170 Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
8171 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
8172 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point.) By not deleting the
8173 Incoming* files, one can be sure to not lose mail -- if Gnus totally
8174 whacks out, one can always recover what was lost.
8176 Delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
8178 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
8179 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
8180 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
8181 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories like
8182 @file{mail.misc/}. If it is @code{nil}, the same group will end up in
8185 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
8186 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
8188 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
8193 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
8194 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
8195 @cindex mail splitting
8196 @cindex fancy mail splitting
8198 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
8199 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
8200 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
8201 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
8202 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
8203 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
8205 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
8208 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
8209 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
8210 ;; from real errors.
8211 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
8213 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
8214 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
8215 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
8216 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
8217 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
8218 ;; Other mailing lists...
8219 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
8220 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
8222 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen"))
8223 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
8227 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
8228 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
8229 the five possible split syntaxes:
8234 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
8236 @item (FIELD VALUE SPLIT)
8237 If the split is a list, and the first element is a string, then that
8238 means that if header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp),
8239 then store the message as specified by SPLIT.
8242 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
8243 bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them matches. A SPLIT is
8244 said to match if it will cause the mail message to be stored in one or
8248 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then process
8249 all SPLITs in the list.
8255 In these splits, FIELD must match a complete field name. VALUE must
8256 match a complete word according to the fundamental mode syntax table.
8257 You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial field names or
8260 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
8261 FIELD and VALUE can also be lisp symbols, in that case they are expanded
8262 as specified by the variable @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is
8263 an alist of cons cells, where the car of the cells contains the key, and
8264 the cdr contains a string.
8266 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
8267 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
8268 when all this splitting is performed.
8271 @node Mail and Procmail
8272 @subsection Mail and Procmail
8277 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
8278 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
8279 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
8280 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
8281 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
8283 This also means that you probably don't want to set
8284 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
8287 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
8288 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
8289 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends (except
8290 @code{nnmh}) actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
8291 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
8292 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
8294 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) what groups
8297 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example.
8299 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
8300 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
8302 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
8303 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
8304 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
8305 to include all your mail groups.
8307 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
8308 method will be created automatically.
8310 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8311 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
8312 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
8313 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
8314 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
8315 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
8316 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
8317 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
8319 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
8320 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
8321 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
8322 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
8323 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
8325 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8326 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an @code{nnmh}
8327 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
8328 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
8329 ever expiring the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is quite,
8333 @node Incorporating Old Mail
8334 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
8336 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
8337 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
8338 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
8341 Doing so can be quite easy.
8343 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
8344 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
8345 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
8346 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
8347 your @code{nnml} groups.
8353 Go to the group buffer.
8356 Type `G f' and give the path of the mbox file when prompted to create an
8357 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8360 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
8363 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group (@pxref{Setting
8367 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
8368 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8371 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
8372 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
8373 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
8374 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
8375 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
8377 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
8378 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
8379 using the new mail backend.
8383 @subsection Expiring Mail
8384 @cindex article expiry
8386 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
8387 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
8388 different approach to mail reading.
8390 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
8391 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
8392 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
8393 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
8394 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
8395 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
8398 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
8399 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
8400 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
8401 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
8402 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
8403 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
8404 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
8405 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
8407 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8408 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
8409 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
8410 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
8411 articles that are marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
8412 column in the summary buffer.
8414 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
8415 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
8418 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8419 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
8422 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
8423 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
8425 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
8426 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
8427 expirable article has to live. The default is seven days.
8429 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
8430 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
8431 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
8432 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
8435 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8437 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8439 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
8441 ((string= group "mail.junk")
8443 ((string= group "important")
8449 The group names that this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
8450 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
8452 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
8453 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can be either a number (not
8454 necessarily an integer) or the symbols @code{immediate} or
8457 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
8458 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8460 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8461 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
8462 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
8463 easier for procmail users.
8465 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
8466 By the way, that line up there about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
8467 articles is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
8468 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
8469 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
8470 caution. Even more dangerous is the
8471 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
8472 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
8473 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
8474 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
8475 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
8476 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
8477 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
8482 @subsection Duplicates
8484 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
8485 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
8486 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
8487 @cindex duplicate mails
8488 If you are a member of a couple of mailing list, you will sometime
8489 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
8490 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
8491 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s -
8492 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
8493 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
8494 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
8495 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
8496 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
8497 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
8498 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
8499 will generate a brand new @code{Message-ID} for the mail and insert a
8500 warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks that this is a
8501 duplicate of a different message.
8503 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
8504 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
8505 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
8506 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
8508 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
8511 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
8512 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
8516 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
8517 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
8518 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
8519 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
8520 (any mail "mail.misc")
8527 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8528 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
8533 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
8534 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
8535 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
8536 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
8537 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
8540 @node Not Reading Mail
8541 @subsection Not Reading Mail
8543 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
8544 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
8545 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
8547 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
8548 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
8550 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8551 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8552 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8553 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8554 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8555 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
8556 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
8557 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
8558 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
8559 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
8560 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
8562 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
8563 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
8567 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
8568 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
8570 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
8571 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
8572 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
8575 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
8576 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
8577 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
8578 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
8579 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
8584 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
8586 @cindex unix mail box
8588 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8589 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8590 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
8591 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
8592 which group it belongs in.
8594 Virtual server settings:
8597 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
8598 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8599 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
8601 @item nnmbox-active-file
8602 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8603 The name of the active file for the mail box.
8605 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
8606 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8607 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
8613 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
8617 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8618 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8619 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
8620 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
8621 article to say which group it belongs in.
8623 Virtual server settings:
8626 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
8627 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8628 The name of the rmail mbox file.
8630 @item nnbabyl-active-file
8631 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8632 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
8634 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8635 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8636 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
8641 @subsubsection Mail Spool
8643 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
8645 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
8646 format. It should be used with some caution.
8648 @vindex nnml-directory
8649 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files;
8650 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the correct
8651 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
8652 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
8654 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
8657 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
8658 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
8659 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
8660 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
8661 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
8662 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
8663 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
8664 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
8666 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
8667 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
8668 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes is the fastest
8669 backend when it comes to reading mail.
8671 Virtual server settings:
8674 @item nnml-directory
8675 @vindex nnml-directory
8676 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
8678 @item nnml-active-file
8679 @vindex nnml-active-file
8680 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
8682 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
8683 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
8684 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
8687 @item nnml-get-new-mail
8688 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8689 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
8691 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
8692 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
8693 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
8695 @item nnml-nov-file-name
8696 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
8697 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
8699 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8700 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8701 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
8705 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
8706 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
8707 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
8708 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
8709 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
8710 might take a while to complete.
8714 @subsubsection MH Spool
8716 @cindex mh-e mail spool
8718 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
8719 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
8720 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
8721 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
8723 Virtual server settings:
8726 @item nnmh-directory
8727 @vindex nnmh-directory
8728 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
8730 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
8731 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8732 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
8735 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
8736 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
8737 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
8738 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
8739 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
8740 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
8741 to set this variable to @code{t}.
8746 @subsubsection Mail Folders
8748 @cindex mbox folders
8749 @cindex mail folders
8751 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
8752 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
8753 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
8756 Virtual server settings:
8759 @item nnfolder-directory
8760 @vindex nnfolder-directory
8761 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
8763 @item nnfolder-active-file
8764 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
8765 The name of the active file.
8767 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
8768 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
8769 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
8771 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
8772 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8773 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
8776 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
8777 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
8778 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
8779 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
8780 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
8781 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
8785 @section Other Sources
8787 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
8788 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
8792 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
8793 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
8794 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
8795 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
8796 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
8797 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
8801 @node Directory Groups
8802 @subsection Directory Groups
8804 @cindex directory groups
8806 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
8807 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
8810 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp}, that most
8811 wonderful of all wonderful Emacs packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I
8812 didn't think much about it---a backend to read directories. Big deal.
8814 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
8815 enter @file{"/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/"} as the the
8816 directory name, ange-ftp will actually allow you to read this directory
8817 over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
8819 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
8821 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
8822 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
8823 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
8824 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
8827 @node Anything Groups
8828 @subsection Anything Groups
8831 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
8832 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
8833 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
8836 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
8837 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
8838 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
8839 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
8840 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
8841 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
8842 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
8843 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (eg. a C source
8844 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
8845 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
8848 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
8849 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
8850 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
8851 in the article buffer, just as usual.
8853 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
8854 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
8855 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
8856 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
8858 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
8859 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
8860 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
8861 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
8862 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
8863 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
8864 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
8865 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
8870 @item nneething-map-file-directory
8871 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
8872 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
8873 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
8875 @item nneething-exclude-files
8876 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
8877 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
8878 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
8880 @item nneething-map-file
8881 @vindex nneething-map-file
8882 Name of the map files.
8886 @node Document Groups
8887 @subsection Document Groups
8889 @cindex documentation group
8892 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
8893 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
8900 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
8905 The standard Unix mbox file.
8907 @cindex MMDF mail box
8909 The MMDF mail box format.
8912 Several news articles appended into a file.
8915 @cindex rnews batch files
8916 The rnews batch transport format.
8917 @cindex forwarded messages
8926 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
8927 @cindex RFC 341 digest
8928 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
8930 @item standard-digest
8931 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
8934 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
8937 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
8938 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
8939 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
8942 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
8943 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
8944 group. And that's it.
8946 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
8947 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
8948 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
8949 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
8950 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
8951 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
8952 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
8953 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
8954 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
8955 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
8957 Virtual server variables:
8960 @item nndoc-article-type
8961 @vindex nndoc-article-type
8962 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
8963 @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{news}, @code{rnews},
8964 @code{mime-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, or @code{guess}.
8966 @item nndoc-post-type
8967 @vindex nndoc-post-type
8968 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
8969 a mail group. There are two legal values: @code{mail} (the default)
8974 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
8978 @node Document Server Internals
8979 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
8981 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
8982 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
8983 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
8984 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
8986 First, here's an example document type definition:
8990 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
8991 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
8994 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
8995 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
8996 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
8997 types can be defined with very few settings:
9001 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
9002 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
9006 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
9007 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
9009 @item head-begin-function
9010 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
9013 @item nndoc-head-begin
9014 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
9017 @item nndoc-head-end
9018 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
9019 @samp{"^$"}---the empty line.
9021 @item body-begin-function
9022 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
9026 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
9029 @item body-end-function
9030 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
9034 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
9036 @item nndoc-file-end
9037 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
9038 regexp will be totally ignored.
9042 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
9043 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
9044 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
9045 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
9046 something that's palatable for Gnus:
9049 @item prepare-body-function
9050 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
9051 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
9052 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
9054 @item article-transform-function
9055 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
9056 meant to be used how more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
9057 body of the article.
9059 @item generate-head-function
9060 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
9061 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
9062 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
9063 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
9067 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
9072 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
9073 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
9074 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
9075 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
9077 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
9078 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
9079 (subtype digest guess))
9082 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
9083 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
9084 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
9085 the head from the body may contain a single spcae; and that the body is
9086 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
9088 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
9089 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
9090 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
9091 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
9092 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for each
9093 type. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
9094 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
9095 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
9096 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
9097 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
9098 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest legal number.
9106 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
9107 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
9108 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
9110 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
9111 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
9112 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
9115 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
9116 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
9117 that interested in doing things properly.
9119 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
9120 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
9126 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
9127 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie, or you can use Gnus to create the
9128 packet with the @kbd{O s} command.
9131 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
9134 You put the packet in your home directory.
9137 You fire up Gnus using the @code{nnsoup} backend as the native server.
9140 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
9144 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
9148 You transfer this packet to the server.
9151 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
9154 You then repeat until you die.
9158 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
9159 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
9162 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
9163 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
9164 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
9169 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
9173 @kindex G s b (Group)
9174 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
9175 Pack all unread articles in the current group
9176 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
9177 process/prefix convention.
9180 @kindex G s w (Group)
9181 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
9182 Save all data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
9185 @kindex G s s (Group)
9186 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
9187 Send all replies from the replies packet
9188 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
9191 @kindex G s p (Group)
9192 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
9193 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
9196 @kindex G s r (Group)
9197 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
9198 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
9201 @kindex O s (Summary)
9202 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
9203 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
9204 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
9210 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
9215 @item gnus-soup-directory
9216 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
9217 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
9218 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
9220 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
9221 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
9222 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
9223 reply packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/}.
9225 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
9226 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
9227 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
9230 @item gnus-soup-packer
9231 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
9232 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
9233 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
9235 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
9236 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
9237 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
9238 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
9240 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
9241 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
9242 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
9244 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
9245 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
9246 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
9247 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
9253 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
9256 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
9257 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
9258 you can read them at leisure.
9260 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
9264 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
9265 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
9266 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
9267 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
9269 @item nnsoup-directory
9270 @vindex nnsoup-directory
9271 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
9272 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
9274 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
9275 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
9276 All replies will stored in this directory before being packed into a
9277 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
9279 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
9280 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
9281 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
9282 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
9283 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
9285 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
9286 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
9287 The index type of the replies packet. The is @samp{?n}, which means
9288 ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
9290 @item nnsoup-active-file
9291 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
9292 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
9293 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
9294 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
9295 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
9298 @vindex nnsoup-packer
9299 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
9300 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
9302 @item nnsoup-unpacker
9303 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
9304 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
9305 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
9307 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
9308 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
9309 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
9312 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
9313 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
9314 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
9321 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
9323 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
9324 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
9325 more for that to happen.
9327 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
9328 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
9329 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
9332 In specific, this is what it does:
9335 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
9336 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
9339 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
9340 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
9341 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
9345 @subsection Web Searches
9350 @cindex Usenet searches
9351 @cindex searching the Usenet
9353 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
9354 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
9355 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
9356 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
9357 searches without having to use a browser.
9359 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
9360 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
9361 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
9362 group. The @kbd{G n} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
9363 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
9365 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
9366 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
9367 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
9368 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
9369 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@code{Duplicate
9370 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
9371 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
9372 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
9373 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
9374 header---mark all articles that were posted before the last date you
9375 read the group as read.
9377 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
9378 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
9379 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
9380 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
9381 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
9382 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
9384 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
9385 to use @code{nnweb}.
9387 Virtual server variables:
9392 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
9393 are @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
9396 @vindex nnweb-search
9397 The search string to feed to the search engine.
9399 @item nnweb-max-hits
9400 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
9401 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
9404 @item nnweb-type-definition
9405 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
9406 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
9407 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
9412 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
9416 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
9419 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
9422 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
9426 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
9433 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
9434 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
9435 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
9438 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
9439 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
9440 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
9442 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
9448 @item nngateway-address
9449 @vindex nngateway-address
9450 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
9452 @item nngateway-header-transformation
9453 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
9454 News headers have often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
9455 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
9456 transformation should be called, and defaults to
9457 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
9458 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
9461 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
9462 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address---an article with this
9463 @code{Newsgroups} header:
9466 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
9469 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
9472 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
9477 So, to use this, simply say something like:
9480 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
9484 @node Combined Groups
9485 @section Combined Groups
9487 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
9491 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
9492 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
9496 @node Virtual Groups
9497 @subsection Virtual Groups
9499 @cindex virtual groups
9501 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
9504 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small group, you can
9505 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
9506 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
9508 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
9509 regexp to match component groups.
9511 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
9512 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
9513 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
9514 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
9517 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
9518 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
9521 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
9524 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
9525 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
9527 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
9528 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
9529 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
9530 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
9533 "^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
9536 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
9537 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
9538 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
9539 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
9540 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}.
9542 One limitation, however---all groups that are included in a virtual
9543 group has to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
9544 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
9546 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
9547 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
9548 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
9549 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
9550 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
9551 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
9552 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
9553 effect if you have two virtual groups that contain the same component
9554 group. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
9555 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
9556 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
9559 @node Kibozed Groups
9560 @subsection Kibozed Groups
9564 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
9565 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
9566 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
9567 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
9570 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
9573 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
9574 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
9575 @code{nnkiboze} group. There most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
9576 and @code{nnvirtual} ends.
9578 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
9579 must have a score file to say what articles that are to be included in
9580 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
9582 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
9583 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
9584 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
9585 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
9586 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
9587 all the articles in all the components groups and run them through the
9588 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
9589 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
9591 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
9592 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
9593 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
9594 Stranger things have happened.
9596 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
9597 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
9599 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
9600 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
9601 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
9602 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
9603 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
9604 on what groups that have been searched through to find component
9607 Articles that are marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have their
9608 @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
9615 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
9616 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
9617 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
9620 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
9621 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
9622 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
9623 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
9624 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
9626 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
9627 before generating the summary buffer.
9629 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
9630 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
9631 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
9633 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
9634 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
9635 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
9636 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
9639 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
9640 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
9641 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
9642 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
9643 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
9644 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus @emph{knows} what you read.
9645 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
9646 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
9647 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
9648 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
9649 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
9650 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
9651 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
9652 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
9653 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
9657 @node Summary Score Commands
9658 @section Summary Score Commands
9659 @cindex score commands
9661 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
9662 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
9663 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
9664 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
9665 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
9667 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
9668 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
9669 some other score file (eg. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
9670 score file the current one.
9672 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
9677 @kindex V s (Summary)
9678 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
9679 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
9682 @kindex V S (Summary)
9683 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
9684 Display the score of the current article
9685 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
9688 @kindex V t (Summary)
9689 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
9690 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
9691 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
9694 @cindex V R (Summary)
9695 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
9696 Run the current summary through the scoring process
9697 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
9698 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
9699 effect you're having.
9702 @kindex V a (Summary)
9703 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
9704 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
9705 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
9708 @kindex V c (Summary)
9709 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
9710 Make a different score file the current
9711 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
9714 @kindex V e (Summary)
9715 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
9716 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
9717 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
9721 @kindex V f (Summary)
9722 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
9723 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
9724 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
9727 @kindex V F (Summary)
9728 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
9729 Flush the score cahe (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
9730 after editing score files.
9733 @kindex V C (Summary)
9734 @findex gnus-score-customize
9735 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
9736 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
9739 @kindex I C-i (Summary)
9740 @findex gnus-summary-raise-score
9741 Increase the score of the current article
9742 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
9745 @kindex L C-l (Summary)
9746 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
9747 Lower the score of the current article
9748 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
9751 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
9756 @kindex V m (Summary)
9757 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
9758 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
9759 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
9762 @kindex V x (Summary)
9763 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
9764 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
9765 expunge all articles below this score
9766 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
9769 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
9770 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
9775 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
9776 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
9778 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
9783 Score on the author name.
9786 Score on the subject line.
9789 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
9792 Score on thread---the References line.
9798 Score on the number of lines.
9801 Score on the Message-ID.
9814 The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
9815 what headers you are scoring on.
9859 Greater than number.
9864 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
9865 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
9866 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
9870 Temporary score entry.
9873 Permanent score entry.
9876 Immediately scoring.
9881 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
9882 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
9883 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
9884 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
9886 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
9887 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
9888 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
9889 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
9890 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
9892 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
9893 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
9894 pretend they are keymaps or not.
9897 @node Group Score Commands
9898 @section Group Score Commands
9899 @cindex group score commands
9901 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
9907 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
9908 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
9909 all the time. This command will flush the cache
9910 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
9915 @node Score Variables
9916 @section Score Variables
9917 @cindex score variables
9921 @item gnus-use-scoring
9922 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
9923 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
9924 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
9926 @item gnus-kill-killed
9927 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
9928 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
9929 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
9930 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
9931 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
9932 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
9933 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
9935 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
9936 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
9937 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
9938 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
9939 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
9941 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
9942 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
9943 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
9944 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
9946 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9947 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9949 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
9950 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
9951 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files that are
9952 unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
9953 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
9954 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
9955 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
9958 @item gnus-save-score
9959 @vindex gnus-save-score
9960 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
9961 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
9962 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
9964 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9965 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9966 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
9967 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
9968 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
9969 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
9970 manually entered data.
9972 @item gnus-summary-default-score
9973 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
9974 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
9976 @item gnus-score-over-mark
9977 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
9978 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
9979 default. Default is @samp{+}.
9981 @item gnus-score-below-mark
9982 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
9983 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
9984 default. Default is @samp{-}.
9986 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9987 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9988 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
9989 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
9991 Predefined functions available are:
9994 @item gnus-score-find-single
9995 @findex gnus-score-find-single
9996 Only apply the group's own score file.
9998 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
9999 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
10000 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
10001 default. For instance, if the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus},
10002 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
10003 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
10004 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
10005 then a regexp match is done.
10007 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
10008 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
10010 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
10011 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
10012 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
10013 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE} or @file{all.emacs.SCORE},
10014 but you can have @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and
10015 @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
10018 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
10019 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
10020 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
10021 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
10022 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
10023 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
10026 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
10027 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
10028 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
10029 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
10030 are expired. It's 7 by default.
10032 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10033 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10034 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
10035 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
10036 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
10037 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
10038 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
10041 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
10042 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
10043 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
10048 @node Score File Format
10049 @section Score File Format
10050 @cindex score file format
10052 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
10053 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
10054 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
10056 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
10060 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
10062 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
10064 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
10066 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
10071 (mark-and-expunge -10)
10075 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
10076 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
10077 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
10078 (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
10082 This example demonstrates absolutely everything about a score file.
10084 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
10085 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
10086 has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
10088 Six keys are supported by this alist:
10093 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
10094 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
10095 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
10096 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
10097 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
10098 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
10099 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
10100 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
10101 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
10102 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
10103 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
10104 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
10105 to articles that matches these score entries.
10107 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
10108 score entry has one to four elements.
10112 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
10113 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
10117 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
10118 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
10119 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
10120 is successful. If this element is not present, the
10121 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
10122 instead. This is 1000 by default.
10125 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
10126 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
10127 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
10128 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
10129 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 ce.
10132 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
10133 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
10134 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
10135 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
10138 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
10139 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
10140 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
10141 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
10142 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
10143 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
10144 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
10145 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
10146 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
10147 instead, if you feel like.
10150 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
10151 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
10154 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
10155 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
10156 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
10157 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
10158 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
10159 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
10160 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
10162 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
10163 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
10164 ISO8601 compact format first, which looks like @samp{YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS}.
10165 If you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
10166 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
10167 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
10168 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
10169 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
10172 @item Head, Body, All
10173 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
10177 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that followup to
10178 some author. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header uses.
10181 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that are part of
10182 a thread. Uses the same match types as the @code{References} header
10188 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
10189 lower than this number will be marked as read.
10192 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
10193 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
10195 @item mark-and-expunge
10196 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
10197 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
10200 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
10201 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
10202 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
10203 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
10204 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
10207 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
10208 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
10211 @item exclude-files
10212 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. This files will
10213 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
10217 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
10218 ignored when handling global score files.
10221 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
10222 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
10225 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
10226 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
10227 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
10228 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
10230 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
10234 (mark-and-expunge -100)
10237 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
10238 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
10239 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
10240 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
10241 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
10243 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
10244 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
10245 ordinary scoring rules.
10248 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
10249 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
10250 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
10251 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
10252 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
10253 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
10254 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
10255 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
10256 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
10257 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
10258 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
10262 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
10263 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
10264 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
10265 file for a number of groups.
10268 @cindex local variables
10269 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
10270 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
10271 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
10272 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
10277 @node Score File Editing
10278 @section Score File Editing
10280 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
10281 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
10282 with a mode for that.
10284 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
10285 additional commands:
10290 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
10291 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
10292 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
10293 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
10296 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
10297 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
10298 Insert the current date in numerical format
10299 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
10300 you were wondering.
10303 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
10304 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
10305 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
10306 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
10307 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
10312 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
10314 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
10315 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
10317 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
10318 e} to begin editing score files.
10321 @node Adaptive Scoring
10322 @section Adaptive Scoring
10323 @cindex adaptive scoring
10325 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
10326 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
10327 stupidity, to be precise.
10329 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
10330 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
10331 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
10332 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
10333 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
10334 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
10335 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
10336 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
10337 variable to @code{(word line)}.
10339 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
10340 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
10341 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
10342 might look something like this:
10345 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
10346 '((gnus-unread-mark)
10347 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
10348 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
10349 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
10350 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
10351 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
10352 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
10353 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
10354 (gnus-ancient-mark)
10355 (gnus-low-score-mark)
10356 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
10359 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
10360 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
10361 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
10362 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
10363 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
10364 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
10367 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
10368 will be applied to each article.
10370 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
10371 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
10372 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
10373 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
10375 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
10376 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
10377 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
10378 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
10380 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
10381 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
10382 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
10383 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
10384 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
10385 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
10387 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
10388 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
10389 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
10390 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
10391 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
10392 aspirins afterwards.)
10394 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
10395 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
10396 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
10398 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
10399 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
10400 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
10402 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
10403 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
10404 let you use different rules in different groups.
10406 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
10407 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
10408 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
10411 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
10412 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
10413 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
10414 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
10415 the length of the match is less than
10416 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
10417 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
10420 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
10421 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
10422 headers. If you adapt on words, the
10423 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
10424 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
10427 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
10428 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
10429 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
10430 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
10431 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
10434 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
10435 word that appears in subjects of articles that are marked with
10436 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
10437 score with 30 points.
10439 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
10440 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
10441 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
10442 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
10443 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
10445 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
10446 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
10447 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
10448 it considers numbers to be non-word-consituant characters.
10450 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
10451 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
10452 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
10455 @node Home Score File
10456 @section Home Score File
10458 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
10459 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
10460 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
10461 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
10463 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
10464 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
10465 could perhaps use the same home score file.
10467 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
10468 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
10473 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
10477 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
10478 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
10482 A list. The elements in this list can be:
10486 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
10487 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
10490 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
10491 the home score file.
10494 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
10497 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
10502 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
10505 (setq gnus-home-score-file
10506 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
10509 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
10510 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
10513 (setq gnus-home-score-file
10514 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
10517 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
10519 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
10520 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
10521 their own home score files:
10524 (setq gnus-home-score-file
10525 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
10526 '("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
10527 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
10528 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE"))
10531 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
10532 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
10533 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
10534 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
10535 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
10537 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
10538 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
10539 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
10540 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
10541 presedence over this variable.
10544 @node Followups To Yourself
10545 @section Followups To Yourself
10547 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
10548 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
10549 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
10550 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
10551 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
10552 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
10556 @item gnus-score-followup-article
10557 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
10558 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
10561 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
10562 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
10563 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
10567 @vindex message-sent-hook
10568 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
10569 @code{message-sent-hook}.
10571 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
10572 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
10576 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
10577 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
10580 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
10581 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
10586 "<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf@.*eyesore.no>" 1000 nil r)
10589 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
10590 is system-dependent.
10594 @section Scoring Tips
10595 @cindex scoring tips
10601 @cindex scoring crossposts
10602 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
10603 the @code{Xref} header.
10605 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
10608 @item Multiple crossposts
10609 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
10610 more than, say, 3 groups:
10612 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
10615 @item Matching on the body
10616 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
10617 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
10618 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
10619 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
10620 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
10621 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
10622 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
10625 @item Marking as read
10626 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
10627 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
10628 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
10632 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
10634 @item Negated character classes
10635 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
10636 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
10637 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
10641 @node Reverse Scoring
10642 @section Reverse Scoring
10643 @cindex reverse scoring
10645 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
10646 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
10647 like this in your score file:
10651 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
10656 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
10657 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
10660 @node Global Score Files
10661 @section Global Score Files
10662 @cindex global score files
10664 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
10665 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
10666 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
10668 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
10669 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
10670 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
10672 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
10673 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
10674 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
10675 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
10676 files are applicable to which group.
10678 Say you want to use all score files in the
10679 @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory and the single score
10680 file @file{/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE}:
10683 (setq gnus-global-score-files
10684 '("/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
10685 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
10688 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
10689 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
10690 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
10691 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
10692 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
10694 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
10695 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
10697 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
10698 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
10699 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
10700 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
10701 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
10702 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
10704 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
10710 Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
10712 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
10714 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
10716 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
10717 lowered out of existence.
10719 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
10720 articles completely.
10723 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
10724 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
10725 old articles for a long time.
10728 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
10729 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
10730 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
10731 holding our breath yet?
10735 @section Kill Files
10738 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
10739 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
10740 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
10742 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
10743 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
10744 files into score files.
10746 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
10747 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
10748 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
10749 that isn't a very good idea.
10751 XCNormal kill files look like this:
10754 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10755 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
10759 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
10760 the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
10762 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
10763 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
10766 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
10771 @kindex M-k (Summary)
10772 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
10773 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
10776 @kindex M-K (Summary)
10777 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
10778 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
10781 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
10786 @kindex M-k (Group)
10787 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
10788 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
10791 @kindex M-K (Group)
10792 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
10793 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
10796 Kill file variables:
10799 @item gnus-kill-file-name
10800 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
10801 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
10802 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
10803 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
10804 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
10805 course) is called just @file{KILL}.
10807 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
10808 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
10809 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
10810 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
10813 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
10814 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
10815 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
10816 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
10817 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
10818 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
10819 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
10820 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
10821 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
10823 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
10824 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
10825 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
10834 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
10835 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
10836 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
10838 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
10839 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
10840 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
10841 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
10842 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
10843 Once it has found for you some people you agree with it tells you, in
10844 the form of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use
10845 this prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
10849 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
10850 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
10851 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
10852 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
10856 @node Using GroupLens
10857 @subsection Using GroupLens
10859 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
10860 Bit Bureau (BBB). At the moment the only better bit in town is at
10861 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html}.
10863 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
10867 @item gnus-use-grouplens
10868 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
10869 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
10870 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
10872 @item grouplens-pseudonym
10873 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
10874 This variable should be set to the pseudonum you got when registering
10875 with the Better Bit Bureau.
10877 @item grouplens-newsgroups
10878 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
10879 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
10883 Thats the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
10884 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
10885 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
10886 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
10887 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
10888 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
10891 @node Rating Articles
10892 @subsection Rating Articles
10894 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
10895 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
10896 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
10897 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
10900 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
10905 @kindex r (GroupLens)
10906 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
10907 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
10910 @kindex k (GroupLens)
10911 @findex grouplens-score-thread
10912 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
10913 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
10914 threads in rec.humor.
10918 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
10919 the score of the article you're reading.
10924 @kindex n (GroupLens)
10925 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
10926 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
10929 @kindex , (GroupLens)
10930 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
10931 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
10935 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
10936 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
10939 @node Displaying Predictions
10940 @subsection Displaying Predictions
10942 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
10943 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
10944 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
10945 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
10946 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
10948 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
10949 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
10950 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
10951 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
10952 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
10953 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
10954 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
10955 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
10956 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
10957 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
10958 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
10959 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
10960 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
10962 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
10963 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
10964 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
10965 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
10967 The following are legal values for that variable.
10970 @item prediction-spot
10971 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
10974 @item confidence-interval
10975 A numeric confidence interval.
10977 @item prediction-bar
10978 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
10980 @item confidence-bar
10981 Numerical confidence.
10983 @item confidence-spot
10984 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
10986 @item prediction-num
10987 Plain-old numeric value.
10989 @item confidence-plus-minus
10990 Prediction +/i confidence.
10995 @node GroupLens Variables
10996 @subsection GroupLens Variables
11000 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
11001 The summary line format used in summary buffers that are GroupLens
11002 enhanced. It accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format
11003 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). The default is
11004 @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
11006 @item grouplens-bbb-host
11007 Host running the bbbd server. The default is
11008 @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu}.
11010 @item grouplens-bbb-port
11011 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
11013 @item grouplens-score-offset
11014 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
11015 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
11018 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
11019 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
11020 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
11025 @node Advanced Scoring
11026 @section Advanced Scoring
11028 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
11029 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
11030 about a particular subject? Or what about if you really don't want to
11031 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
11032 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
11034 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
11038 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
11039 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
11040 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
11044 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
11045 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
11047 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
11048 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
11049 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
11050 non-@code{nil} value.
11052 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
11053 operator, and various match operators.
11060 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
11061 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
11062 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
11067 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
11068 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
11069 then this operator will return @code{false}.
11074 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
11075 inverse of the value of its argument.
11079 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
11080 apply to the ancenstors of the current article being scored. For
11081 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
11082 current article. @code{2-} will make score fules apply to the
11083 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
11084 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) say how far back into
11085 the ancestry you want to go.
11087 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
11088 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
11089 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
11090 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
11091 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
11094 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
11095 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
11097 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
11098 when he's talking about Gnus:
11102 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11103 ("subject" "Gnus"))
11109 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
11113 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11120 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
11121 really don't want to read what he's written:
11125 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11126 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
11130 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
11131 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
11132 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
11139 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
11140 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
11141 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
11142 ("body" "white.*socks"))
11146 The possibilities are endless.
11149 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
11150 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
11152 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
11153 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
11154 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
11155 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
11156 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
11157 (@samp{body}, @code{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
11158 @samp{subject}) first.
11160 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
11161 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
11172 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
11173 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
11179 ("subject" "Gnus")))
11186 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
11187 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
11192 @section Score Decays
11193 @cindex score decays
11196 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
11197 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
11198 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
11199 use them in any sensible way.
11201 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
11202 @findex gnus-decay-score
11203 @vindex gnus-score-decay-function
11204 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
11205 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
11206 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
11207 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
11208 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-score-decay-function}
11209 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
11210 definition of that function:
11213 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
11216 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
11218 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
11220 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
11223 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
11224 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
11225 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
11226 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
11230 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
11233 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
11236 Scores with magnutudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
11240 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
11241 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
11242 the new score, which should be an integer.
11244 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
11245 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
11252 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
11253 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
11254 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
11255 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
11256 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
11257 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
11258 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
11259 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
11260 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
11261 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
11262 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
11263 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
11264 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
11268 @node Process/Prefix
11269 @section Process/Prefix
11270 @cindex process/prefix convention
11272 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
11273 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
11275 This is a method for figuring out what articles that the user wants the
11276 command to be performed on.
11280 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
11281 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
11282 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
11283 with the current one.
11285 @vindex transient-mark-mode
11286 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
11287 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
11289 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
11290 process mark, perform the operation on the articles that are marked with
11293 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
11294 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
11296 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
11299 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
11300 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
11301 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
11302 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11304 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
11305 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
11306 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
11307 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
11308 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
11309 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
11310 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
11311 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
11315 @section Interactive
11316 @cindex interaction
11320 @item gnus-novice-user
11321 @vindex gnus-novice-user
11322 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
11323 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
11324 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
11325 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
11328 @item gnus-expert-user
11329 @vindex gnus-expert-user
11330 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
11331 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
11332 matter how strange.
11334 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
11335 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
11336 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
11337 is @code{t} by default.
11339 @item gnus-interactive-exit
11340 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
11341 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
11346 @node Formatting Variables
11347 @section Formatting Variables
11348 @cindex formatting variables
11350 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables that
11351 are called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
11352 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
11353 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
11354 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
11357 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
11358 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
11359 lots of percentages everywhere.
11362 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
11363 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
11364 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
11365 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
11368 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
11369 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
11370 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
11371 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
11372 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
11373 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
11374 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
11375 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
11377 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
11378 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
11380 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
11381 @findex gnus-update-format
11382 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
11383 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
11384 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
11385 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
11389 @node Formatting Basics
11390 @subsection Formatting Basics
11392 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
11393 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
11394 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
11396 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
11397 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
11398 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
11399 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
11400 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
11403 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
11404 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
11405 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
11406 less than 4 characters wide.
11409 @node Advanced Formatting
11410 @subsection Advanced Formatting
11412 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
11413 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
11414 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
11415 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
11417 These are the legal modifiers:
11422 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
11426 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
11431 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
11434 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
11439 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
11442 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
11445 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
11448 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
11452 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
11453 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
11454 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
11455 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
11456 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
11457 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
11458 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
11460 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
11461 last operation, padding.
11463 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
11464 quite slow. This can be helped enourmously by running @kbd{M-x
11465 gnus-compile} when you are setisfied with the look of your lines.
11466 @xref{Compilation}.
11469 @node User-Defined Specs
11470 @subsection User-Defined Specs
11472 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
11473 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
11474 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
11475 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
11476 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
11477 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
11478 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
11479 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
11480 should protect against that.
11482 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
11483 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
11484 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
11485 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
11489 @node Formatting Fonts
11490 @subsection Formatting Fonts
11492 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
11493 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
11494 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
11495 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
11498 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
11499 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
11500 default. If you say @samp{%1[} instead, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1}
11501 instead, and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes
11502 for the @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
11503 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
11505 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
11508 ;; Create three face types.
11509 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
11510 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
11512 ;; We want the article count to be in
11513 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
11514 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
11515 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
11517 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
11518 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
11520 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
11521 (setq gnus-group-line-format
11522 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
11525 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
11526 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
11528 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
11529 mode-line variables.
11532 @node Windows Configuration
11533 @section Windows Configuration
11534 @cindex windows configuration
11536 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
11538 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
11539 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
11540 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
11541 @code{t} by default.
11543 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
11544 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
11545 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
11548 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
11549 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
11550 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
11554 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
11555 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
11556 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
11557 possible names is listed below.
11559 The @dfn{value} (i. e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
11560 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
11563 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
11567 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
11568 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
11569 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
11570 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
11571 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
11572 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
11573 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
11574 size spec per split.
11576 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
11579 Here's a more complicated example:
11582 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
11583 (summary 0.25 point)
11584 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
11588 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
11589 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
11590 occupy, not a percentage.
11592 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
11593 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
11594 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
11595 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
11596 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
11599 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
11602 (article (horizontal 1.0
11607 (summary 0.25 point)
11612 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
11613 @code{horizontal} thingie?
11615 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
11616 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
11617 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
11618 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
11619 the screen is to be given to this strip.
11621 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
11622 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
11623 lines from the splits.
11625 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a legal split
11629 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
11630 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
11631 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
11632 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
11633 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] ")"
11634 size = number | frame-params
11635 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
11638 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
11639 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
11640 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
11641 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
11643 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
11644 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
11645 @cindex window height
11646 @cindex window width
11647 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
11648 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
11649 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
11650 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
11651 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
11652 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
11654 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
11655 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
11656 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
11657 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
11659 @findex gnus-configure-frame
11660 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
11661 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
11662 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
11663 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
11664 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
11665 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
11666 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
11667 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
11668 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
11669 configuration list.
11672 (gnus-configure-frame
11676 (article 0.3 point))
11684 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
11685 @code{frame} split:
11688 (gnus-configure-frame
11691 (summary 0.25 point)
11693 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
11694 (user-position . t)
11695 (left . -1) (top . 1))
11700 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
11701 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
11702 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
11703 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
11704 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
11705 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
11708 Here's a list of all possible keys for
11709 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
11711 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
11712 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
11713 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
11714 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
11715 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft},
11716 @code{pipe}, @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}.
11718 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
11719 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
11720 it is desireable to distinguish between the two, something like this
11724 (message (horizontal 1.0
11725 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
11727 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
11732 @findex gnus-add-configuration
11733 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
11734 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
11735 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
11736 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
11739 (gnus-add-configuration
11740 '(article (vertical 1.0
11742 (summary .25 point)
11746 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
11747 @file{.gnus} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
11748 Gnus has been loaded.
11752 @section Compilation
11753 @cindex compilation
11754 @cindex byte-compilation
11756 @findex gnus-compile
11758 Remember all those line format specification variables?
11759 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
11760 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
11761 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
11762 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
11763 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
11766 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
11767 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
11768 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
11769 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
11770 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
11771 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
11772 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
11776 @section Mode Lines
11779 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
11780 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
11781 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
11782 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
11783 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
11784 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
11785 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
11788 @cindex display-time
11790 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
11791 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
11792 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
11793 to display (eg. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
11794 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
11795 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
11796 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
11797 additional elements on the mode line (eg. a clock), you should modify
11800 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
11802 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
11803 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
11805 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
11806 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
11807 (length display-time-string)))))
11810 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
11811 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either.
11814 @node Highlighting and Menus
11815 @section Highlighting and Menus
11817 @cindex highlighting
11820 @vindex gnus-visual
11821 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the prettifying Gnus
11822 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
11823 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
11826 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
11827 following elements are legal, and are all included by default:
11830 @item group-highlight
11831 Do highlights in the group buffer.
11832 @item summary-highlight
11833 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
11834 @item article-highlight
11835 Do highlights in the article buffer.
11837 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
11839 Create menus in the group buffer.
11841 Create menus in the summary buffers.
11843 Create menus in the article buffer.
11845 Create menus in the browse buffer.
11847 Create menus in the server buffer.
11849 Create menus in the score buffers.
11851 Create menus in all buffers.
11854 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
11855 buffers, you could say something like:
11858 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
11861 If you want only highlighting and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
11864 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
11867 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
11868 in all Gnus buffers.
11870 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
11873 @item gnus-mouse-face
11874 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
11875 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
11876 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
11878 @item gnus-display-type
11879 @vindex gnus-display-type
11880 This variable is symbol indicating the display type Emacs is running
11881 under. The symbol should be one of @code{color}, @code{grayscale} or
11882 @code{mono}. If Gnus guesses this display attribute wrongly, either set
11883 this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or set the resource
11884 @code{Emacs.displayType} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
11886 @item gnus-background-mode
11887 @vindex gnus-background-mode
11888 This is a symbol indicating the Emacs background brightness. The symbol
11889 should be one of @code{light} or @code{dark}. If Gnus guesses this
11890 frame attribute wrongly, either set this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or
11891 set the resource @code{Emacs.backgroundMode} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
11892 `gnus-display-type'.
11895 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
11899 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
11900 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
11901 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
11903 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
11904 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
11905 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
11907 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
11908 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
11909 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
11911 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
11912 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
11913 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
11915 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
11916 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
11917 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
11919 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
11920 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
11921 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
11932 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
11933 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
11934 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
11935 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
11936 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
11940 @vindex gnus-carpal
11941 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
11942 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
11943 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
11948 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
11949 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
11950 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
11952 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
11953 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
11954 Face used on buttons.
11956 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
11957 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
11958 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
11960 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
11961 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
11962 Buttons in the group buffer.
11964 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
11965 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
11966 Buttons in the summary buffer.
11968 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
11969 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
11970 Buttons in the server buffer.
11972 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
11973 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
11974 Buttons in the browse buffer.
11977 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
11978 is either a cons cell where the car contains a text to be displayed and
11979 the cdr contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
11987 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
11988 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
11989 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
11990 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
11991 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
11993 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
11994 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
11995 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
11997 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
11998 been idle for thirty minutes:
12001 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
12004 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
12008 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
12011 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter works together
12012 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
12013 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
12015 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
12016 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
12017 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
12018 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
12020 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
12021 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
12022 @var{idle} minutes.
12024 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
12025 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
12028 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
12029 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
12030 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
12032 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
12033 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
12034 seconds. This is @code{60} by default. If you change that variable,
12035 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
12037 @vindex gnus-use-demon
12038 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
12039 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
12041 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
12042 your @file{.gnus} file:
12044 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
12046 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
12049 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
12050 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
12051 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
12052 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
12053 Some ready-made functions to do this has been created:
12054 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
12055 @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just
12056 put those functions in your @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
12058 @findex gnus-demon-init
12059 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
12060 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
12061 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
12062 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
12063 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
12065 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
12066 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
12067 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
12076 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
12077 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
12079 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
12080 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
12081 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
12082 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
12085 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
12086 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
12087 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
12088 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
12090 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
12091 this will make spam disappear.
12093 There are some variables to customize, of course:
12096 @item gnus-use-nocem
12097 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
12098 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
12101 @item gnus-nocem-groups
12102 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
12103 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
12104 default is @code{("alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
12106 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
12107 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
12108 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
12109 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
12110 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;" "jem@@xpat.com;" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
12111 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
12113 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
12116 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
12117 @cindex Chris Lewis
12118 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
12119 usenet abuse than anybody else.
12122 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
12123 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
12124 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
12126 @item jem@@xpat.com;
12128 Jem---Korean despammer who is getting very busy these days.
12130 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
12131 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
12132 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
12135 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
12136 ones you want to listen to.
12138 @item gnus-nocem-directory
12139 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
12140 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
12141 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
12143 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
12144 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
12145 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
12146 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
12147 might then see old spam.
12155 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
12156 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
12157 over your shoulder as you read news.
12160 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
12161 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
12162 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
12163 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
12164 * Picon Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
12169 @subsection Picon Basics
12171 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site
12172 (@samp{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}):
12175 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
12176 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
12177 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
12178 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
12179 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
12180 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
12181 @code{GIF} formats.
12184 Please see the above mentioned web site for instructions on obtaining
12185 and installing the picons databases, or the following ftp site:
12186 @samp{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
12188 @vindex gnus-picons-database
12189 Gnus expects picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
12190 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
12193 @node Picon Requirements
12194 @subsection Picon Requirements
12196 To use have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
12197 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
12200 Additionally, you must have @code{xpm} support compiled into XEmacs.
12202 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
12203 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you must have
12204 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
12205 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
12209 @subsection Easy Picons
12211 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
12212 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
12215 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
12216 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
12217 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-prepare-hook 'gnus-group-display-picons t)
12218 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
12223 @subsection Hard Picons
12225 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
12226 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
12227 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
12228 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
12229 feature, you need to first decide where to display them.
12233 @item gnus-picons-display-where
12234 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
12235 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
12236 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
12237 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
12238 @samp{"*scratch*"} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
12239 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
12240 routines---@xref{Windows Configuration}.
12244 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
12245 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
12247 Now that you've made that decision, you need to add the following
12248 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get
12249 displayed at the right time.
12251 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
12252 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
12254 @item gnus-article-display-picons
12255 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
12256 Looks up and display the picons for the author and the author's domain
12257 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to
12258 the @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
12260 @item gnus-group-display-picons
12261 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
12262 Displays picons representing the current group. This function should
12263 be added to the @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook} or to the
12264 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} if @code{gnus-picons-display-where}
12265 is set to @code{article}.
12267 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
12268 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
12269 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
12270 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
12274 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
12275 to the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
12278 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
12282 @node Picon Configuration
12283 @subsection Picon Configuration
12285 The following variables offer further control over how things are
12286 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
12287 don't need to worry about.
12290 @item gnus-picons-database
12291 @vindex gnus-picons-database
12292 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
12293 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
12294 subdirectories. Defaults to @file{/usr/local/faces}.
12296 @item gnus-picons-news-directory
12297 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directory
12298 Sub-directory of the faces database containing the icons for
12301 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
12302 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
12303 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
12304 faces. Defaults to @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc/MISC")}.
12306 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
12307 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
12308 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
12309 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
12310 want to add @samp{unknown} to this list.
12312 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
12313 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
12314 The command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
12315 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
12316 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
12317 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
12319 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
12320 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
12321 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
12322 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
12324 @item gnus-picons-buffer
12325 @vindex gnus-picons-buffer
12326 The name of the buffer that @code{picons} points to. Defaults to
12327 @samp{*Icon Buffer*}.
12333 @section Moderation
12336 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
12337 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
12338 @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
12341 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
12345 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
12348 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
12350 If you are the moderation of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
12355 You split your incoming mail by matching on
12356 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
12357 articles in some mail group---@samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}, for instance.
12360 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
12361 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
12364 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
12365 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
12369 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
12372 (setq gnus-moderatated-groups
12373 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
12377 @node Various Various
12378 @section Various Various
12384 @item gnus-directory
12385 @vindex gnus-directory
12386 All Gnus directories will be initialized from this variable, which
12387 defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or @file{~/News/}
12388 if that variable isn't set.
12390 @item gnus-default-directory
12391 @vindex gnus-default-directory
12392 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
12393 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
12394 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
12395 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
12396 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
12397 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
12400 @vindex gnus-verbose
12401 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
12402 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
12403 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
12404 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
12405 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
12407 @item gnus-verbose-backends
12408 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
12409 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
12410 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
12412 @item nnheader-max-head-length
12413 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
12414 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
12415 as little as possible. This variable (default @code{4096}) specifies
12416 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
12417 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
12418 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
12419 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
12420 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
12423 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
12424 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
12426 @cindex illegal characters in file names
12427 @cindex characters in file names
12428 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
12429 For instance, if @samp{:} is illegal as a file character in file names
12430 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
12433 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
12437 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
12438 Windows (phooey) systems.
12440 @item gnus-hidden-properties
12441 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
12442 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
12443 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
12444 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
12446 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
12447 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
12448 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
12449 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
12450 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
12452 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
12453 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
12454 String used to separate to shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
12463 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
12464 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
12466 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
12468 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
12473 Not because of victories @*
12476 but for the common sunshine,@*
12478 the largess of the spring.
12481 but for the day's work done@*
12482 as well as I was able;@*
12483 not for a seat upon the dais@*
12484 but at the common table.@*
12489 @chapter Appendices
12492 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
12493 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
12494 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
12495 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
12496 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
12497 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
12498 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
12506 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
12507 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
12509 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
12510 can point your (feh!) web browser to
12511 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
12512 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
12513 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
12515 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
12516 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)}, is, of course, short for
12517 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
12518 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
12519 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
12520 appropriate name, don't you think?)
12522 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
12523 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
12524 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
12525 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
12527 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
12528 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution.
12530 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'') was
12531 released under the name ``Gnus 5.2''.
12533 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun.
12536 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
12537 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
12538 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
12539 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
12540 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
12541 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
12542 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
12549 What's the point of Gnus?
12551 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
12552 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
12553 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
12554 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
12555 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
12556 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
12557 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
12558 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
12559 keep track of millions of people who post?
12561 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
12562 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
12563 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
12564 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
12565 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
12566 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
12567 everywhere I could imagine useful. By doing so, I'm inviting every one
12568 of you to explore and invent.
12570 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x hail-emacs}.
12573 @node Compatibility
12574 @subsection Compatibility
12576 @cindex compatibility
12577 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
12578 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
12579 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
12584 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
12588 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
12591 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @pxref{Decoding
12594 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
12595 buffers. All variables that are relevant while reading a group are
12596 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
12597 important variables have their values copied into their global
12598 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
12599 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
12601 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
12602 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
12603 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
12604 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
12605 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
12609 @cindex highlighting
12610 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
12611 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
12612 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
12613 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
12614 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
12615 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
12618 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
12619 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
12620 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
12621 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
12623 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
12624 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
12625 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
12626 to stop doing it the old way.
12628 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
12630 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
12632 @cindex reporting bugs
12634 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
12635 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
12636 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
12640 @subsection Conformity
12642 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
12643 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
12650 There are no known breaches of this standard.
12654 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
12656 @item Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
12657 @cindex Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
12658 Gnus has been through the Seal process and failed. I think it'll pass
12659 the next inspection.
12661 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
12662 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
12663 We do have some breaches to this one.
12668 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
12669 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
12672 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
12673 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
12674 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
12675 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
12676 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
12679 Gnus does line breaking on this header. I infer from RFC1036 that being
12680 conservative in what you output is not creating 5000-character lines, so
12681 it seems like a good idea to me. However, this standard-to-be says that
12682 whitespace in the @code{References} header is to be preserved, so... It
12683 doesn't matter one way or the other to Gnus, so if somebody tells me
12684 what The Way is, I'll change it. Or not.
12689 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliantly with regards to the texts
12690 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
12695 @subsection Emacsen
12701 Gnus should work on :
12706 Emacs 19.30 and up.
12709 XEmacs 19.13 and up.
12712 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.30 and up.
12716 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
12717 reliably, at least.
12719 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various platforms:
12724 The mouse-face on Gnus lines under Emacs and Mule is delimited to
12725 certain parts of the lines while they cover the entire line under
12729 The same with current-article marking---XEmacs puts an underline under
12730 the entire summary line while Emacs and Mule are nicer and kinder.
12733 XEmacs features more graphics---a logo and a toolbar.
12736 Citation highlighting us better under Emacs and Mule than under XEmacs.
12739 Emacs 19.26-19.28 have tangible hidden headers, which can be a bit
12746 @subsection Contributors
12747 @cindex contributors
12749 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
12750 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
12751 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
12752 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
12753 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
12754 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
12755 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
12756 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
12757 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
12758 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
12760 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
12765 @item Masanobu @sc{Umeda}
12766 The writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
12768 @item Per Abrahamsen
12769 Custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as well as numerous
12772 @item Luis Fernandes
12773 Design and graphics.
12776 @file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on @dfn{picons}
12780 @file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section (@pxref{GroupLens}).
12782 @item Sudish Joseph
12783 Innumerable bug fixes.
12786 @file{gnus-topic.el}.
12788 @item Steven L. Baur
12789 Lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
12791 @item Vladimir Alexiev
12792 The refcard and reference booklets.
12794 @item Felix Lee & JWZ
12795 I stole some pieces from the XGnus distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
12798 @file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
12800 @item Peter Mutsaers
12801 Orphan article scoring code.
12806 @item Hallvard B Furuseth
12807 Various bits and pieces, especially dealing with .newsrc files.
12809 @item Brian Edmonds
12810 @file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
12812 @item Ricardo Nassif and Mark Borges
12815 @item Kevin Davidson
12816 Came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
12820 Peter Arius, Stainless Steel Rat, Ulrik Dickow, Jack Vinson, Daniel
12821 Quinlan, Frank D. Cringle, Geoffrey T. Dairiki, Fabrice Popineau and
12822 Andrew Eskilsson have all contributed code and suggestions.
12826 @subsection New Features
12827 @cindex new features
12832 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
12833 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
12836 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
12837 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
12840 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
12843 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
12844 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
12845 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
12848 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
12849 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
12850 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
12851 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
12854 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
12855 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
12858 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
12859 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
12860 (@pxref{The Active File}).
12863 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
12864 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
12867 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
12868 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
12869 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
12872 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
12873 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
12874 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
12877 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
12878 the @file{.emacs} file.
12881 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
12882 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12885 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
12886 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
12889 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
12890 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
12893 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
12894 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
12897 Gnus can fetch articles asynchronously on a second connection to the
12898 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
12901 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
12904 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
12905 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
12908 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
12909 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
12912 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
12913 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
12916 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
12919 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
12920 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
12923 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
12927 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
12931 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
12932 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
12935 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
12939 Gnus can use NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
12943 This is, of course, just a @emph{short} overview of the @emph{most}
12944 important new features. No, really. There are tons more. Yes, we have
12945 feeping creaturism in full effect, but nothing too gratuitous, I would
12949 @node Newest Features
12950 @subsection Newest Features
12953 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
12956 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
12960 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
12962 A better and simpler method for specifying mail composing methods.
12964 Allow posting through mail-to-news gateways.
12966 Really do unbinhexing.
12969 And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
12970 implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
12972 @code{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/sgnus/todo>} is where the actual
12973 up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
12974 could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
12978 @section Terminology
12980 @cindex terminology
12985 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
12986 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
12987 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
12988 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
12989 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
12993 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
12994 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
12995 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
12996 not posting, and replying is not following up.
13000 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
13004 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
13009 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
13010 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
13011 is all done by the backends.
13015 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
13016 default, way of getting news.
13020 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
13021 These are groups that use different backends for getting news.
13025 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
13026 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
13030 A nessage that has been posted as news.
13033 @cindex mail message
13034 A message that has been mailed.
13038 A mail message or news article
13042 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
13047 The rest of an article. Everything that is not in the head is in the
13052 A line from the head of an article.
13056 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
13057 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
13061 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
13062 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
13063 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
13064 normal @sc{head} format.
13068 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
13069 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
13070 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
13071 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
13072 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
13073 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
13075 @item killed groups
13076 @cindex killed groups
13077 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
13078 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
13080 @item zombie groups
13081 @cindex zombie groups
13082 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
13085 @cindex active file
13086 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
13087 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
13088 is rather large, as you might surmise.
13091 @cindex bogus groups
13092 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
13093 server (i. e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
13094 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
13098 A machine than one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
13100 @item select method
13101 @cindex select method
13102 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
13105 @item virtual server
13106 @cindex virtual server
13107 A named select method. Since a select methods defines all there is to
13108 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the who things as a
13109 whole is a virtual server.
13114 @node Customization
13115 @section Customization
13116 @cindex general customization
13118 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
13119 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
13120 for some quite common situations.
13123 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
13124 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
13125 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
13126 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
13130 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
13131 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
13133 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
13134 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
13135 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
13139 @item gnus-read-active-file
13140 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
13141 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
13142 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-news} and
13143 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
13144 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
13146 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
13147 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
13148 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
13149 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
13153 @node Slow Terminal Connection
13154 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
13156 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that
13157 runs Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce the
13158 amount of data that is sent over the wires as much as possible.
13162 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
13163 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
13164 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
13165 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
13166 horizontal and vertical recentering.
13168 @item gnus-visible-headers
13169 Cut down on the headers that are included in the articles to the
13170 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
13171 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
13172 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
13174 @item gnus-article-display-hook
13175 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
13177 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
13178 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
13179 gnus-article-hide-citation))
13182 @item gnus-use-full-window
13183 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
13184 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
13185 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
13186 want to read them anyway.
13188 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
13189 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
13192 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
13193 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
13194 lines, which might save some time.
13198 @node Little Disk Space
13199 @subsection Little Disk Space
13202 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
13203 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
13207 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
13208 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
13209 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
13210 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
13213 @item gnus-save-killed-list
13214 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
13215 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
13216 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
13217 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
13223 @subsection Slow Machine
13224 @cindex slow machine
13226 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
13227 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
13229 Set@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
13230 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
13232 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
13233 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
13234 summary buffer faster.
13236 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
13237 processing a bit faster.
13240 @node Troubleshooting
13241 @section Troubleshooting
13242 @cindex troubleshooting
13244 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
13252 Make sure your computer is switched on.
13255 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
13256 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
13260 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
13261 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
13262 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
13263 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
13266 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
13270 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
13271 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
13272 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
13273 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
13274 something like that.
13277 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
13280 @cindex reporting bugs
13282 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
13284 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
13285 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
13286 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
13287 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
13289 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
13290 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
13291 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
13292 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
13295 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
13296 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you send back
13297 just ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
13298 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
13299 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
13300 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
13302 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
13303 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
13304 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
13307 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
13308 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
13310 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
13311 @cindex ding mailing list
13312 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@ifi.uio.no}.
13313 Write to @samp{ding-request@@ifi.uio.no} to subscribe.
13316 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
13317 @section A Programmer's Guide to Gnus
13319 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
13320 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
13321 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
13322 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
13325 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
13326 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
13327 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
13328 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
13329 and general method of operations.
13332 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
13333 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
13334 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
13335 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
13336 * Group Info:: The group info format.
13337 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
13338 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
13342 @node Backend Interface
13343 @subsection Backend Interface
13345 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
13346 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
13347 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
13348 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
13349 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
13350 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
13352 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
13353 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
13354 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
13355 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
13356 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
13357 been opened, the function should fail.
13359 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
13360 name. Take this example:
13364 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
13365 (nntp-port-number 4324))
13368 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
13369 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
13371 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
13372 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
13373 server environments that it pulls down/pushes up when needed.
13375 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
13376 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
13377 always check whether are present before attempting to call.
13379 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
13380 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
13381 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
13382 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
13383 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
13384 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
13387 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
13388 some might be said to not be. The latter are backends that generally
13389 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
13390 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
13393 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
13396 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
13399 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
13400 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
13401 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
13402 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
13403 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
13407 @node Required Backend Functions
13408 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
13412 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
13414 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
13415 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
13416 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
13417 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
13419 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
13420 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
13421 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
13422 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
13424 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try to fetch "extra
13425 headers, in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
13426 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
13427 article number in @code{articles}, and fill in the gaps as well. The
13428 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
13429 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
13430 number, do maximum fetches.
13432 Here's an example HEAD:
13435 221 1056 Article retrieved.
13436 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
13437 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
13438 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
13439 Subject: Re: Something very droll
13440 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
13441 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
13443 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
13444 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
13445 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
13449 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
13450 these in the data buffer.
13452 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
13456 head = error / valid-head
13457 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
13458 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
13459 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
13460 header = <text> eol
13463 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
13464 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
13468 nov-buffer = *nov-line
13469 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
13470 field = <text except TAB>
13473 For a closer explanation what should be in those fields,
13477 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
13479 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
13480 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that defines this virtual server.
13482 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
13483 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
13484 server. In fact, it should do so.
13486 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
13487 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
13490 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
13492 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
13493 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
13496 There should be no data returned.
13499 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
13501 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
13502 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
13503 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
13504 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
13506 There should be no data returned.
13509 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
13511 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
13512 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
13513 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
13514 attempt to reconnect to a server that is has lost connection to.
13516 There should be no data returned.
13519 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
13521 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
13523 There should be no data returned.
13526 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
13528 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
13529 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
13530 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
13531 it would be nice if that were possible.
13533 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
13534 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
13535 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
13536 another, and Gnus mainly request articles to be inserted directly into
13537 its article buffer.
13539 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
13540 the car is the group name the article was fetched from, and the cdr is
13541 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
13542 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
13543 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
13544 on successful article retrievement.
13547 @item (nnchoke-open-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
13549 Make @var{group} the current group.
13551 There should be no data returned by this function.
13554 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
13556 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
13557 making @var{group} the current group.
13559 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
13562 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
13565 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
13568 The first number is the status, which should be @code{211}. Next is the
13569 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
13570 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
13571 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
13572 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
13573 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
13574 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
13575 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
13578 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
13579 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
13580 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
13584 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
13586 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
13587 a no-op on most backends.
13589 There should be no data returned.
13592 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
13594 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
13597 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
13600 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
13601 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
13604 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
13605 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
13608 active-file = *active-line
13609 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
13611 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
13614 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
13615 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
13616 (@samp{=other-group} or none of the above (@samp{y}).
13619 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
13621 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
13622 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
13623 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
13624 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
13625 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
13626 clear if the posting could not be completed.
13628 There should be no result data from this function.
13633 @node Optional Backend Functions
13634 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
13638 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
13640 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
13641 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
13642 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
13644 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
13645 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
13646 former is in the same format as the data from
13647 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
13648 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
13651 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
13655 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
13657 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
13658 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
13659 information (as is the case with virtual an imap groups). This function
13660 may alter the info in any manner it sees fit, and should return the
13661 (altered) group info. This function may alter the group info
13662 destructively, so no copying is needed before boogeying.
13664 There should be no result data from this function.
13667 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
13669 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
13670 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
13671 user is following up is news or mail. This function should return
13672 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
13673 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
13674 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
13675 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
13676 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
13678 There should be no result data from this function.
13681 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
13683 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
13684 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
13685 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
13686 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
13687 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
13689 The only use for this that I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
13690 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
13691 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
13694 There should be no result data from this function.
13697 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
13699 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
13700 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
13701 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
13702 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
13703 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
13704 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
13705 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
13707 There should be no result data from this function.
13710 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
13712 The result data from this function should be a description of
13716 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
13718 description = <text>
13721 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
13723 The result data from this function should be the description of all
13724 groups available on the server.
13727 description-buffer = *description-line
13731 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
13733 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
13734 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
13735 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
13738 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
13740 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
13742 There should be no return data.
13745 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
13747 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
13748 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
13749 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
13750 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
13751 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
13754 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
13757 There should be no result data returned.
13760 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
13763 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
13764 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
13766 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
13767 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
13768 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
13769 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
13770 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
13771 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
13773 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
13774 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
13777 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
13778 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
13780 There should be no data returned.
13783 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
13785 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
13786 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
13787 this function in short order.
13789 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
13790 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
13792 There should be no data returned.
13795 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
13797 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
13798 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
13800 There should be no data returned.
13803 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
13805 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
13806 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
13807 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
13809 There should be no data returned.
13812 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
13814 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
13815 articles that are in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
13817 There should be no data returned.
13822 @node Error Messaging
13823 @subsubsection Error Messaging
13825 @findex nnheader-report
13826 @findex nnheader-get-report
13827 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
13828 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
13829 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
13830 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
13831 there are many of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
13832 This function always returns @code{nil}.
13835 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
13837 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
13840 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
13841 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
13842 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
13843 takes one argument---the server symbol.
13845 Internally, these function access @var{backend}@code{-status-string}, so
13846 the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
13847 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
13850 @node Writing New Backends
13851 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
13853 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
13854 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
13855 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
13856 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
13857 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
13860 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
13861 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
13862 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
13864 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
13865 package called @code{nnoo}.
13867 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
13868 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
13875 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
13876 parameters. For instance:
13879 (nnoo-declare nndir
13883 @code{nndir} has here declared that it intends to inherit functions from
13884 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
13887 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
13888 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
13889 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
13891 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
13892 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
13893 a function in those backends.
13896 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
13897 "Where nndir will look for groups."
13898 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
13901 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
13902 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
13903 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
13905 @item nnoo-define-basics
13906 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
13910 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
13914 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
13915 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
13916 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
13918 @item nnoo-map-functions
13919 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
13920 functions from the parent backends.
13923 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
13924 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
13925 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
13928 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
13929 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
13930 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
13931 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
13934 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
13935 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
13936 haven't already been defined.
13942 nnmh-request-newgroups)
13946 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
13947 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
13948 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
13953 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
13956 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
13957 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
13961 (require 'nnheader)
13965 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
13967 (nnoo-declare nndir
13970 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
13971 "Where nndir will look for groups."
13972 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
13974 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
13975 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
13978 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
13979 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
13980 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
13982 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
13983 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
13985 ;;; Interface functions.
13987 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
13989 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
13990 (setq nndir-directory
13991 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
13993 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
13994 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
13995 (push `(nndir-current-group
13996 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
13998 (push `(nndir-top-directory
13999 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
14001 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
14003 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
14004 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
14005 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
14006 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
14007 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
14011 nnmh-status-message
14013 nnmh-request-newgroups))
14019 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
14020 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
14022 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
14023 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
14024 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
14025 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
14027 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
14028 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
14033 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
14036 The abilities can be:
14040 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
14042 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
14044 This backend supports both mail and news.
14046 This is neither a post or mail backend---it's something completely
14049 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
14050 articles and groups.
14052 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
14053 true for almost all backends.
14054 @item prompt-address
14055 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
14056 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
14057 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
14062 @node Score File Syntax
14063 @subsection Score File Syntax
14065 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
14066 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
14067 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
14069 Here's a typical score file:
14073 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
14080 BNF definition of a score file:
14083 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
14084 element = rule / atom
14085 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
14086 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
14087 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
14088 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
14090 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
14091 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
14092 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
14093 date-header = "date"
14094 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
14095 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
14096 score = "nil" / <integer>
14097 date = "nil" / <natural number>
14098 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
14099 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
14100 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
14101 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
14102 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
14103 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
14104 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
14105 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
14106 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
14107 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
14108 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
14109 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
14110 exclude-files / read-only / touched
14111 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
14112 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
14113 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
14114 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
14115 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
14116 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
14117 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
14118 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
14119 adapt = "adapt" [ space "nil" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
14120 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
14121 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
14122 eval = "eval" space <form>
14123 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
14126 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
14129 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
14130 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
14131 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
14132 one looong line, then that's ok.
14134 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
14139 @subsection Headers
14141 Gnus uses internally a format for storing article headers that
14142 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
14143 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
14144 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
14146 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
14147 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (eg.,
14148 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
14149 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
14150 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
14151 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
14152 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
14154 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
14155 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
14156 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
14157 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
14158 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
14160 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
14167 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
14168 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
14170 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
14171 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
14172 that you want to callify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
14173 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
14175 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
14179 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
14182 is transformed into
14185 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
14188 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
14189 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
14192 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
14195 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
14196 is slightly tricky:
14199 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
14205 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
14208 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
14214 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
14221 and is equal to the previous range.
14223 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
14224 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
14225 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
14229 range = simple-range / normal-range
14230 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
14231 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
14232 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
14233 number *[ " " contents ]
14236 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
14237 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
14238 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
14239 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
14240 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
14245 @subsection Group Info
14247 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
14248 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
14249 describes the group.
14251 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
14252 second is a more complex one:
14255 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
14257 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
14258 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
14260 (auto-expire (to-address "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
14263 The first element is the group name as Gnus knows the group; the second
14264 is the group level; the third is the read articles in range format; the
14265 fourth is a list of article marks lists; the fifth is the select method;
14266 and the sixth contains the group parameters.
14268 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
14271 info = "(" group space level space read
14272 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
14273 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
14274 group = quote <string> quote
14275 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
14277 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
14278 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
14279 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
14280 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
14283 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
14284 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
14288 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
14289 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
14293 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
14294 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
14295 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
14297 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
14298 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
14299 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
14300 Gnus, that's very useful.
14302 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
14303 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
14304 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
14305 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
14306 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
14307 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
14308 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
14309 following function:
14312 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
14316 (,function ,@@args))
14320 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
14321 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
14322 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
14325 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
14326 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
14327 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
14330 @node Various File Formats
14331 @subsection Various File Formats
14334 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
14335 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
14339 @node Active File Format
14340 @subsubsection Active File Format
14342 The active file lists all groups that are available on the server in
14343 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
14346 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
14349 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
14350 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
14351 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
14352 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
14353 no.general 1000 900 y
14356 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
14359 active = *group-line
14360 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
14361 group = <non-white-space string>
14363 high-number = <non-negative integer>
14364 low-number = <positive integer>
14365 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
14369 @node Newsgroups File Format
14370 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
14372 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
14373 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
14374 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
14377 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
14378 Here's the definition:
14382 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
14383 group = <non-white-space string>
14385 description = <string>
14389 @node Emacs for Heathens
14390 @section Emacs for Heathens
14392 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
14393 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
14394 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
14395 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
14396 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
14397 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
14398 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
14402 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
14403 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
14408 @subsection Keystrokes
14412 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
14415 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
14418 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
14419 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
14420 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
14421 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
14422 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
14423 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
14425 The shift key is normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
14426 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
14427 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
14428 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
14429 keyboards. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
14430 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
14431 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
14433 Now, us Emacs people doesn't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
14434 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
14435 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
14436 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
14437 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
14438 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
14439 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
14441 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
14442 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
14443 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
14444 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
14445 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
14451 @subsection Emacs Lisp
14453 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
14454 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
14455 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
14456 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
14458 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
14459 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
14460 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
14461 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
14462 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
14463 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
14464 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
14467 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
14468 write the following:
14471 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
14474 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
14475 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
14476 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
14479 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
14480 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
14481 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
14482 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
14483 previous ``form'', which here is a simple @code{setq} statement.
14485 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
14486 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
14487 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
14491 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
14495 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
14498 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
14499 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
14502 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
14505 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
14506 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
14509 @include gnus-faq.texi