9 @documentencoding ISO-8859-1
12 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
13 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
16 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
17 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or
18 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
19 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
20 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
21 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
22 License'' in the Emacs manual.
24 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
25 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
26 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
28 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
29 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
30 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
31 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
37 \documentclass[twoside,a4paper,openright,11pt]{book}
38 \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
39 \usepackage{pagestyle}
42 \input{gnusconfig.tex}
44 \ifx\pdfoutput\undefined
46 \usepackage[pdftex,bookmarks,colorlinks=true]{hyperref}
54 \newcommand{\gnusversionname}{No Gnus v0.3}
55 \newcommand{\gnuschaptername}{}
56 \newcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
58 \newcommand{\gnusbackslash}{/}
60 \newcommand{\gnusref}[1]{``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
61 \ifx\pdfoutput\undefined
62 \newcommand{\gnusuref}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
64 \newcommand{\gnusuref}[1]{\href{#1}{\gnustt{#1}}}
66 \newcommand{\gnusxref}[1]{See ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
67 \newcommand{\gnuspxref}[1]{see ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
69 \newcommand{\gnuskindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
70 \newcommand{\gnusindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
72 \newcommand{\gnustt}[1]{{\gnusselectttfont{}#1}}
73 \newcommand{\gnuscode}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
74 \newcommand{\gnusasis}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
75 \newcommand{\gnusurl}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
76 \newcommand{\gnuscommand}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
77 \newcommand{\gnusenv}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
78 \newcommand{\gnussamp}[1]{``{\fontencoding{OT1}\gnusselectttfont{}#1}''}
79 \newcommand{\gnuslisp}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
80 \newcommand{\gnuskbd}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
81 \newcommand{\gnuskey}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
82 \newcommand{\gnusfile}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
83 \newcommand{\gnusdfn}[1]{\textit{#1}}
84 \newcommand{\gnusi}[1]{\textit{#1}}
85 \newcommand{\gnusr}[1]{\textrm{#1}}
86 \newcommand{\gnusstrong}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
87 \newcommand{\gnusemph}[1]{\textit{#1}}
88 \newcommand{\gnusvar}[1]{{\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont\textsl{\textsf{#1}}}}
89 \newcommand{\gnussc}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
90 \newcommand{\gnustitle}[1]{{\huge\textbf{#1}}}
91 \newcommand{\gnusversion}[1]{{\small\textit{#1}}}
92 \newcommand{\gnusauthor}[1]{{\large\textbf{#1}}}
93 \newcommand{\gnusresult}[1]{\gnustt{=> #1}}
94 \newcommand{\gnusacronym}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
95 \newcommand{\gnusemail}[1]{\textit{#1}}
97 \newcommand{\gnusbullet}{{${\bullet}$}}
98 \newcommand{\gnusdollar}{\$}
99 \newcommand{\gnusampersand}{\&}
100 \newcommand{\gnuspercent}{\%}
101 \newcommand{\gnushash}{\#}
102 \newcommand{\gnushat}{\symbol{"5E}}
103 \newcommand{\gnusunderline}{\symbol{"5F}}
104 \newcommand{\gnusnot}{$\neg$}
105 \newcommand{\gnustilde}{\symbol{"7E}}
106 \newcommand{\gnusless}{{$<$}}
107 \newcommand{\gnusgreater}{{$>$}}
108 \newcommand{\gnusbraceleft}{{$>$}}
109 \newcommand{\gnusbraceright}{{$>$}}
111 \newcommand{\gnushead}{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-head,height=1cm}}}
112 \newcommand{\gnusinteresting}{
113 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\gnushead]{\gnushead}
116 \newcommand{\gnuscleardoublepage}{\ifodd\count0\mbox{}\clearpage\thispagestyle{empty}\mbox{}\clearpage\else\clearpage\fi}
118 \newcommand{\gnuspagechapter}[1]{
122 \newdimen{\gnusdimen}
125 \newcommand{\gnuschapter}[2]{
127 \ifdim \gnusdimen = 0pt\setcounter{page}{1}\pagestyle{gnus}\pagenumbering{arabic} \gnusdimen 1pt\fi
129 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
130 \renewcommand{\gnuschaptername}{#2}
131 \thispagestyle{empty}
133 \begin{picture}(500,500)(0,0)
134 \put(480,350){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{#1}}
135 \put(40,300){\makebox(500,50)[bl]{{\Huge\bf{#2}}}}
140 \newcommand{\gnusfigure}[3]{
142 \mbox{}\ifodd\count0\hspace*{-0.8cm}\else\hspace*{-3cm}\fi\begin{picture}(440,#2)
149 \newcommand{\gnusicon}[1]{
150 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\raisebox{-1.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/#1-up,height=1.5cm}}]{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/#1-up,height=1cm}}}
153 \newcommand{\gnuspicon}[1]{
154 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=2cm}}
157 \newcommand{\gnusxface}[2]{
158 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=1cm}\epsfig{figure=#2,width=1cm}}
161 \newcommand{\gnussmiley}[2]{
162 \margindex{\makebox[2cm]{\hfill\epsfig{figure=#1,width=0.5cm}\hfill\epsfig{figure=#2,width=0.5cm}\hfill}}
165 \newcommand{\gnusitemx}[1]{\mbox{}\vspace*{-\itemsep}\vspace*{-\parsep}\item#1}
167 \newcommand{\gnussection}[1]{
168 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{#1}
172 \newenvironment{codelist}%
177 \newenvironment{asislist}%
182 \newenvironment{kbdlist}%
188 \newenvironment{dfnlist}%
193 \newenvironment{stronglist}%
198 \newenvironment{samplist}%
203 \newenvironment{varlist}%
208 \newenvironment{emphlist}%
213 \newlength\gnusheadtextwidth
214 \setlength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{\headtextwidth}
215 \addtolength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{1cm}
217 \newpagestyle{gnuspreamble}%
222 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\mbox{}}\textbf{\hfill\roman{page}}}
226 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\roman{page}\hfill\mbox{}}}
235 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
237 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
242 \newpagestyle{gnusindex}%
247 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\gnuschaptername\hfill\arabic{page}}}}
251 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}
259 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
261 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
271 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{3.1cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{chapter}.\arabic{section}} \textbf{\gnussectionname\hfill\arabic{page}}}}}
275 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{-2.95cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}}
283 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
285 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
290 \pagenumbering{roman}
291 \pagestyle{gnuspreamble}
302 %\addtolength{\oddsidemargin}{-5cm}
303 %\addtolength{\evensidemargin}{-5cm}
305 \addtolength{\textheight}{2cm}
307 \gnustitle{\gnustitlename}\hfill\gnusversion{\gnusversionname}\\
310 \hspace*{0cm}\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=15cm}
313 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
320 \thispagestyle{empty}
334 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
339 @setchapternewpage odd
346 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
348 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
354 @top The Gnus Newsreader
358 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
359 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
360 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
363 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.3.
374 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
375 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
377 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
378 being accused of plagiarism:
380 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
381 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
382 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
383 can even read news with it!
385 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
386 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
387 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
388 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
389 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
395 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
396 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
397 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
398 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
399 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
400 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
401 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
402 * Various:: General purpose settings.
403 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
404 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
405 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
406 * Key Index:: Key Index.
408 Other related manuals
410 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
411 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
412 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
413 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
414 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
417 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
421 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
422 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
423 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
424 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
425 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
426 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
427 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
428 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
429 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
430 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
431 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
435 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
436 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
437 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
441 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
442 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
443 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
444 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
445 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
446 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
447 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
448 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
449 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
450 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
451 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
452 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
453 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
454 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
455 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
456 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
457 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
461 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
462 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
463 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
467 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
468 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
469 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
470 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
471 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
475 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
476 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
477 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
478 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
479 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
483 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
484 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
485 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
486 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
487 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
488 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
489 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
490 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
491 * Threading:: How threads are made.
492 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
493 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
494 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
495 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
496 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
497 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
498 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
499 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
500 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
501 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
502 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
503 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
504 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
505 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
506 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
507 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
508 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
509 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
510 or reselecting the current group.
511 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
512 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
513 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
514 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
516 Summary Buffer Format
518 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
519 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
520 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
521 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
525 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
526 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
528 Reply, Followup and Post
530 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
531 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
532 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
533 * Canceling and Superseding::
537 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
538 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
539 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
540 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
541 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
542 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
546 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
547 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
549 Customizing Threading
551 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
552 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
553 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
554 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
558 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
559 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
560 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
561 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
562 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
563 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
567 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
568 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
569 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
573 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
574 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
575 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
576 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
577 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
578 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
579 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
580 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
581 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
582 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
583 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
585 Alternative Approaches
587 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
588 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
590 Various Summary Stuff
592 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
593 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
594 * Summary Generation Commands::
595 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
599 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
600 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
601 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
602 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
603 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
607 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
608 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
609 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
610 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
611 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
612 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
613 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
614 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
615 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
619 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
620 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
621 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
622 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
623 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
624 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
625 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
626 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
627 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
631 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
632 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
633 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
634 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
635 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
636 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
637 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
641 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
642 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
646 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
647 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
648 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
649 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
653 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
654 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
655 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
656 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
657 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
658 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
659 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
660 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
661 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
662 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
663 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
664 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
665 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
669 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
670 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
671 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
673 Choosing a Mail Back End
675 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
676 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
677 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
678 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
679 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
680 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
681 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
686 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
687 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
688 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
689 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
690 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
691 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
695 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
696 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
697 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
698 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
699 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
700 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
704 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
705 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
706 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
707 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
708 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
712 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
716 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
717 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
718 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
722 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
723 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
727 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
728 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
729 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
733 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
734 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
735 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
737 The Gnus Diary Library
739 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
740 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
741 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
742 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
746 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
747 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
748 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
749 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
750 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
751 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
752 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
753 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
754 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
755 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
756 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
757 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
758 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
759 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
763 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
764 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
765 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
769 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
770 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
771 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
775 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
776 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
777 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
778 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
779 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
780 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
781 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
782 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
783 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
784 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
785 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
786 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
787 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
788 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
789 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
790 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
794 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
795 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
796 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
800 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
801 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
802 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
803 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
804 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
805 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
806 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
807 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
808 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
809 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
810 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
811 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
812 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
813 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
814 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
815 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
816 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
817 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
818 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
819 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
823 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
824 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
825 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
826 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
827 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
828 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
829 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
830 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
834 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
835 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
836 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
837 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
838 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
842 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
843 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
844 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
845 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
846 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
847 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
849 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
851 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
852 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
853 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
854 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
855 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
857 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
858 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
860 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
862 * SpamAssassin back end::
863 * ifile spam filtering::
864 * spam-stat spam filtering::
866 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
868 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
870 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
871 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
872 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
876 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
877 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
878 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
879 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
880 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
881 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
882 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
883 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
884 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
888 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
889 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
890 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
891 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
892 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
893 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
894 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
895 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
896 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
900 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
901 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
902 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
903 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
904 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
905 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
906 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
910 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
911 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
912 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
913 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
917 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
918 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
919 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
920 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
921 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
922 * Group Info:: The group info format.
923 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
924 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
925 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
929 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
930 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
931 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
932 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
933 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
934 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
938 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
939 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
943 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
944 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
950 @chapter Starting Gnus
955 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
956 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
959 @findex gnus-other-frame
960 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
961 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
962 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
964 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
965 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
966 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
968 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
969 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
972 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
973 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
974 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
975 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
976 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
977 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
978 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
979 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
980 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
981 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
985 @node Finding the News
986 @section Finding the News
989 @vindex gnus-select-method
991 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
992 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
993 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
994 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
997 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
998 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1001 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1004 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1007 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1010 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1011 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1012 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1013 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1015 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1017 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1018 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1019 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1020 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1021 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1022 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1023 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1025 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1026 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1027 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1028 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1030 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1031 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1032 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1033 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1034 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1035 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1036 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1037 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1038 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1041 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1043 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1044 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1045 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1046 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1047 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1048 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1050 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1052 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1053 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1054 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1055 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1056 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1057 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1060 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1061 you would typically set this variable to
1064 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1067 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1068 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1069 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1070 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1073 @node The First Time
1074 @section The First Time
1075 @cindex first time usage
1077 If no startup files exist (@pxref{Startup Files}), Gnus will try to
1078 determine what groups should be subscribed by default.
1080 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1081 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1082 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1083 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1086 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1087 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1088 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1090 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1091 help you with most common problems.
1093 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1094 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1098 @node The Server is Down
1099 @section The Server is Down
1100 @cindex server errors
1102 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1103 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1104 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1106 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1107 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1108 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1109 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1110 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1111 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1112 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1114 @findex gnus-no-server
1115 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1117 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1118 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1119 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1120 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1121 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1122 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1123 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1127 @section Slave Gnusae
1130 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1131 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1132 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1133 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1135 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1136 @file{.newsrc} file.
1138 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1139 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1140 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1141 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1142 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1143 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1144 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1147 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1148 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1149 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1150 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1151 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1152 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1153 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1154 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1156 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1157 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1159 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1160 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1161 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1162 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1163 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1170 @cindex subscription
1172 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1173 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1174 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1175 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1176 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1177 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1178 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1179 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1180 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1183 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1184 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1185 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1189 @node Checking New Groups
1190 @subsection Checking New Groups
1192 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1193 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1194 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1195 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1196 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1197 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1198 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1199 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1200 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1201 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1203 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1204 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1205 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1206 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1207 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1208 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1209 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1210 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1211 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1212 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1213 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1215 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1216 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1217 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1218 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1219 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1220 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1223 @node Subscription Methods
1224 @subsection Subscription Methods
1226 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1227 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1228 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1230 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1231 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1233 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1237 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1238 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1239 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1240 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1241 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1243 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1244 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1245 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1246 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1248 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1249 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1250 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1252 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1253 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1254 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1255 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1256 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1257 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1258 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1259 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1260 up. Or something like that.
1262 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1263 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1264 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1265 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1266 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1268 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1269 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1270 Kill all new groups.
1272 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1273 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1274 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1275 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1276 topic parameter that looks like
1282 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1285 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1290 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1291 A closely related variable is
1292 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1293 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1294 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1295 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1298 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1299 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1300 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1301 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1304 @node Filtering New Groups
1305 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1307 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1308 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1309 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1312 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1315 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1316 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1317 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1318 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1319 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1320 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1321 subscribing these groups.
1322 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1323 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1325 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1326 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1327 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1328 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1329 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1330 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1331 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1332 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1334 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1335 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1336 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1337 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1338 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1339 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1340 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1341 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1342 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1343 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1346 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1347 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1350 @node Changing Servers
1351 @section Changing Servers
1352 @cindex changing servers
1354 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1355 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1356 very flaky and you want to use another.
1358 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1359 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1363 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1364 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1365 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1366 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1369 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1370 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1371 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1372 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1374 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1375 @findex gnus-change-server
1376 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1377 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1378 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1379 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1380 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1382 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1383 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1384 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1385 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1386 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1388 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1389 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1390 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1391 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1392 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1393 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1395 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1396 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1397 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1398 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1400 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1401 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1402 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1403 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1404 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1405 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1406 cache for all groups).
1410 @section Startup Files
1411 @cindex startup files
1416 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1417 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1418 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1421 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1422 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1423 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1424 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1425 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1426 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1427 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1429 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1430 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1431 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1432 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1433 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1434 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1436 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1437 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1438 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1439 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1440 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1441 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1442 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1443 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1444 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1445 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1446 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1449 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1450 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1451 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1452 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1453 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1454 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1455 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1456 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1457 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1458 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1459 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1460 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1462 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1463 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1464 @vindex version-control
1465 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1466 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1467 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1468 If you want version control for this file, set
1469 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1470 @code{version-control} variable.
1472 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1473 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1474 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1475 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1476 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1477 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1478 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1479 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1480 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1481 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1484 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1485 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1487 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1488 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1491 @vindex gnus-init-file
1492 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1493 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1494 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1495 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1496 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1497 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1498 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1499 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1500 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1501 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1502 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1503 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1504 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1509 @cindex dribble file
1512 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1513 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1514 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1515 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1516 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1519 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1520 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1523 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1524 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1525 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1527 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1528 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1529 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1530 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1531 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1532 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1534 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1535 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1536 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1539 @node The Active File
1540 @section The Active File
1542 @cindex ignored groups
1544 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1545 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1546 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1548 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1549 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1550 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1551 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1552 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1553 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1554 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1557 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1558 @c if you set it to anything else.
1560 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1562 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1563 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1564 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1566 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1567 you actually subscribe to.
1569 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1570 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1571 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1572 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1574 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1575 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1576 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1577 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1578 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1579 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1581 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1582 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1583 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1586 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1587 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1588 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1589 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1590 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1591 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1593 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1594 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1596 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1597 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1599 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1600 secondary select methods.
1603 @node Startup Variables
1604 @section Startup Variables
1608 @item gnus-load-hook
1609 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1610 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1611 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1612 times you start Gnus.
1614 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1615 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1616 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1618 @item gnus-startup-hook
1619 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1620 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1622 @item gnus-started-hook
1623 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1624 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1627 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1628 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1629 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1630 generating the group buffer.
1632 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1633 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1634 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1635 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1636 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1637 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1638 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1639 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1641 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1642 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1643 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1644 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1645 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1646 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1648 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1649 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1650 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1652 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1653 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1654 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1656 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1657 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1658 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1659 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1665 @chapter Group Buffer
1666 @cindex group buffer
1668 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1670 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1671 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1672 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1673 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1674 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1675 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1676 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1677 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1678 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1679 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1680 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1681 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1682 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1683 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1684 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1685 @c human rights at 9...
1688 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1689 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1690 long as Gnus is active.
1694 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1695 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1696 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1697 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1698 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1699 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1700 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1701 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1707 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1708 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1709 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1710 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1711 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1712 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1713 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1714 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1715 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1716 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1717 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1718 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1719 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1720 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1721 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1722 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1723 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1727 @node Group Buffer Format
1728 @section Group Buffer Format
1731 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1732 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1733 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1737 @node Group Line Specification
1738 @subsection Group Line Specification
1739 @cindex group buffer format
1741 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1742 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1744 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1747 25: news.announce.newusers
1748 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1753 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1754 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1755 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1756 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1758 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1759 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1760 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1761 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1762 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1763 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1765 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1767 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1768 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1769 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1770 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1771 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1773 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1774 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1775 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1777 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1782 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1785 Whether the group is subscribed.
1788 Level of subscribedness.
1791 Number of unread articles.
1794 Number of dormant articles.
1797 Number of ticked articles.
1800 Number of read articles.
1803 Number of unseen articles.
1806 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1807 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1809 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1810 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1811 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1812 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1813 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1814 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1815 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1816 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1819 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1822 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1831 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1832 comment element in the group parameters.
1835 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1836 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1837 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1841 @samp{m} if moderated.
1844 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1850 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1856 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1860 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1863 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1864 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1865 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1866 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1867 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1870 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1872 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1876 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1879 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1883 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1884 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1885 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1886 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1889 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1890 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1891 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1892 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1893 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1894 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1899 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1900 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1901 group, or a bogus native group.
1904 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1905 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1906 @cindex group mode line
1908 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1909 The mode line can be changed by setting
1910 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1911 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1915 The native news server.
1917 The native select method.
1921 @node Group Highlighting
1922 @subsection Group Highlighting
1923 @cindex highlighting
1924 @cindex group highlighting
1926 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1927 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1928 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1929 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1930 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1932 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1936 (cond (window-system
1937 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1938 (defface my-group-face-1
1939 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1940 (defface my-group-face-2
1941 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1942 "Second group face")
1943 (defface my-group-face-3
1944 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1945 (defface my-group-face-4
1946 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1947 (defface my-group-face-5
1948 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1950 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1951 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1952 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1953 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1954 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1955 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1958 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1960 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1967 The number of unread articles in the group.
1971 Whether the group is a mail group.
1973 The level of the group.
1975 The score of the group.
1977 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1979 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1980 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1982 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1983 topic being inserted.
1986 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1987 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1988 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1990 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1991 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1992 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1993 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1994 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1997 @node Group Maneuvering
1998 @section Group Maneuvering
1999 @cindex group movement
2001 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2002 expected, hopefully.
2008 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2009 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2010 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2016 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2017 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2018 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2022 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2023 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2027 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2028 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2032 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2033 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2034 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2038 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2039 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2040 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2043 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2049 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2050 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2051 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2056 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2057 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2058 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2062 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2063 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2064 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2067 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2068 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2069 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2070 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2074 @node Selecting a Group
2075 @section Selecting a Group
2076 @cindex group selection
2081 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2082 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2083 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2084 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2085 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2086 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2087 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2088 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2089 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2090 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2092 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2093 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2094 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2096 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2097 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2102 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2103 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2104 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2105 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2106 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2110 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2111 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2112 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2113 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2114 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2115 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2116 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2117 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2118 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2119 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2122 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2123 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2124 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2125 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2126 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2129 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2130 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2131 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2132 doing any processing of its contents
2133 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2134 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2135 manner will have no permanent effects.
2139 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2140 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2141 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2142 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2143 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2144 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2145 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2146 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2147 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2148 most recently will be fetched.
2150 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2151 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2152 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2155 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2156 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2157 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2158 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2159 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2160 Which article this is is controlled by the
2161 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2167 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2170 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2173 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2175 @item unseen-or-unread
2176 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2177 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2181 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2185 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2186 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2188 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2189 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2190 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2191 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2195 @node Subscription Commands
2196 @section Subscription Commands
2197 @cindex subscription
2205 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2206 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2207 Toggle subscription to the current group
2208 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2214 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2215 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2216 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2217 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2223 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2224 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2225 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2231 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2232 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2235 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2236 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2237 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2238 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2239 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2245 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2246 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2250 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2251 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2254 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2255 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2256 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2257 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2258 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2259 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2260 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2261 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2262 @file{.newsrc} file.
2266 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2276 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2277 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2278 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2279 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2280 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2281 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2286 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2287 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2288 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2292 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2293 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2294 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2296 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2297 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2298 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2299 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2300 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2301 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2308 @section Group Levels
2312 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2313 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2314 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2315 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2316 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2318 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2324 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2325 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2326 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2327 prompted for a level.
2330 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2331 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2332 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2333 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2334 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2335 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2336 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2337 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2338 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2339 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2340 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2341 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2342 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2343 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2344 reasons of efficiency.
2346 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2347 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2349 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2350 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2351 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2352 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2353 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2354 groups are hidden, in a way.
2356 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2357 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2358 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2359 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2360 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2361 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2363 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2364 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2365 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2366 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2367 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2368 list of killed groups.)
2370 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2371 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2372 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2374 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2375 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2376 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2377 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2378 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2379 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2380 relevant valid ranges.
2382 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2383 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2384 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2385 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2386 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2387 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2390 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2391 one with the best level.
2393 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2394 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2395 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2398 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2399 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2400 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2401 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2404 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2405 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2406 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2407 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2409 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2410 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2411 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2412 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2413 to 5. The default is 6.
2417 @section Group Score
2422 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2423 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2424 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2427 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2428 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2429 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2430 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2431 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2432 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2433 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2434 least significant part.))
2436 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2437 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2438 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2439 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2440 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2441 action after each summary exit, you can add
2442 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2443 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2444 slow things down somewhat.
2447 @node Marking Groups
2448 @section Marking Groups
2449 @cindex marking groups
2451 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2452 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2453 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2454 bidding on those groups.
2456 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2457 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2458 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2466 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2467 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2473 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2474 Remove the mark from the current group
2475 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2479 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2480 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2484 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2485 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2489 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2490 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2494 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2495 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2496 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2499 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2501 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2502 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2503 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2504 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2505 the command to be executed.
2508 @node Foreign Groups
2509 @section Foreign Groups
2510 @cindex foreign groups
2512 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2513 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2514 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2515 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2522 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2523 @cindex making groups
2524 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2525 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2526 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2530 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2531 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2532 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2536 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2537 @cindex renaming groups
2538 Rename the current group to something else
2539 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2540 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2546 @findex gnus-group-customize
2547 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2551 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2552 @cindex renaming groups
2553 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2554 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2558 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2559 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2560 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2564 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2565 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2566 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2570 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2572 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2573 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2578 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2579 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2583 @cindex (ding) archive
2584 @cindex archive group
2585 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2586 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2587 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2588 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2589 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2590 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2591 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2595 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2597 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2598 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2599 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2600 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2604 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2606 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2607 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2608 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2612 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2613 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2615 Make a group based on some file or other
2616 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2617 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2618 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2619 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2620 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2621 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2622 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2623 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2624 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2628 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2629 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2630 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2631 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2635 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2639 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2640 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2641 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2642 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2643 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2644 @xref{Web Searches}.
2646 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2647 to a particular group by using a match string like
2648 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2652 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2653 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2654 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2658 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2659 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2660 This function will delete the current group
2661 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2662 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2663 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2664 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2665 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2669 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2670 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2671 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2675 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2676 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2677 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2680 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2683 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2684 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2685 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2686 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2687 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2688 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2692 @node Group Parameters
2693 @section Group Parameters
2694 @cindex group parameters
2696 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2697 Here's an example group parameter list:
2700 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2704 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2705 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2706 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2707 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2709 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2710 is an alist of regexps and values.
2712 The following group parameters can be used:
2717 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2720 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2723 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2724 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2725 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2726 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2727 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2729 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2730 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2731 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2732 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2733 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2734 list address instead.
2736 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2740 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2743 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2746 It is totally ignored
2747 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2748 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2750 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2751 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2752 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2753 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2754 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2756 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2757 @cindex mail list groups
2758 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2759 entering summary buffer.
2761 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2766 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2767 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2768 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2769 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2770 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2771 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2772 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2773 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2776 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2777 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2780 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2781 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2785 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2786 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2787 of whether it has any unread articles.
2789 @item broken-reply-to
2790 @cindex broken-reply-to
2791 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2792 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2793 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2794 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2795 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2796 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2800 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2801 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2805 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2806 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2807 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2812 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2813 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2814 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2815 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2816 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2817 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2818 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2820 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2821 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2822 doesn't accept articles.
2826 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2827 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2828 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2830 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2833 @cindex total-expire
2834 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2835 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2836 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2837 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2840 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2844 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2845 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2846 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2847 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2848 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2849 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2850 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2853 @cindex expiry-target
2854 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2855 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2858 @cindex score file group parameter
2859 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2860 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2861 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2864 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2865 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2866 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2867 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2870 @cindex admin-address
2871 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2872 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2873 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2874 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2878 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2879 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2883 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2886 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2887 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2890 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2894 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2896 Here are some examples:
2900 Display only unread articles.
2903 Display everything except expirable articles.
2905 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2906 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2910 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2911 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2912 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2913 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2914 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2918 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2919 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2920 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2924 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2925 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2926 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2930 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2931 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2932 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2934 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2936 @item ignored-charsets
2937 @cindex ignored-charset
2938 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2939 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2940 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2942 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2945 @cindex posting-style
2946 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2947 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2948 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2949 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2950 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2952 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2953 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2954 like this in the group parameters:
2959 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2960 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2965 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2966 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2970 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2971 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2972 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2973 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2974 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2978 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2979 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2980 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2981 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2983 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
2984 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2985 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2986 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2989 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
2990 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
2994 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
2995 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
2996 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
2997 like the following is generated:
3000 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3001 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3005 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3006 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3008 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3009 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3011 @item (agent parameters)
3012 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3013 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3014 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3015 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3016 minimize the configuration effort.
3018 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3019 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3020 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3021 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3022 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3023 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3024 @code{eval}ed there.
3026 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3027 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3028 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3029 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3030 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3031 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3032 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3033 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3036 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3039 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3040 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3041 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3044 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3047 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3048 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3049 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3050 into the group parameters for the group.
3052 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3053 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3054 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
3055 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the (meaningless) result of the
3058 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3059 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3060 following is added to a group parameter
3063 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3064 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3067 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3072 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3073 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3074 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3075 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3076 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3078 @vindex gnus-parameters
3079 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3080 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3084 (setq gnus-parameters
3086 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3087 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3088 (gnus-summary-line-format
3089 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3093 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3097 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3101 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3104 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3105 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3107 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3108 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3109 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3110 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3111 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3112 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3113 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3114 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3115 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3116 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3117 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3118 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3120 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3121 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3122 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3123 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3124 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3125 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3126 weekly news RSS feed
3127 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3133 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3134 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3135 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3136 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3137 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3139 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3140 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3141 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3142 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3143 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3144 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3148 @node Listing Groups
3149 @section Listing Groups
3150 @cindex group listing
3152 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3160 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3161 List all groups that have unread articles
3162 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3163 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3164 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3165 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3172 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3173 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3174 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3175 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3176 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3177 unsubscribed groups).
3181 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3182 List all unread groups on a specific level
3183 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3184 with no unread articles.
3188 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3189 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3190 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3191 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3196 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3197 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3201 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3202 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3203 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3207 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3208 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3212 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3213 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3214 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3215 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3216 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3217 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3218 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3219 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3223 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3224 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3225 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3229 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3230 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3231 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3235 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3236 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3240 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3241 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3245 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3246 List groups limited within the current selection
3247 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3251 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3252 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3256 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3257 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3261 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3262 @cindex visible group parameter
3263 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3264 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3265 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3266 get the same effect.
3268 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3269 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3270 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3271 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3272 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3275 @node Sorting Groups
3276 @section Sorting Groups
3277 @cindex sorting groups
3279 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3280 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3281 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3282 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3283 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3284 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3289 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3290 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3291 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3293 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3294 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3295 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3297 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3298 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3299 Sort by group level.
3301 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3302 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3303 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3305 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3306 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3307 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3308 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3310 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3311 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3312 Sort by number of unread articles.
3314 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3315 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3316 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3318 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3319 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3320 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3325 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3326 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3330 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3331 some sorting criteria:
3335 @kindex G S a (Group)
3336 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3337 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3338 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3341 @kindex G S u (Group)
3342 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3343 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3344 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3347 @kindex G S l (Group)
3348 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3349 Sort the group buffer by group level
3350 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3353 @kindex G S v (Group)
3354 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3355 Sort the group buffer by group score
3356 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3359 @kindex G S r (Group)
3360 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3361 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3362 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3365 @kindex G S m (Group)
3366 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3367 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3368 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3371 @kindex G S n (Group)
3372 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3373 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3374 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3378 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3379 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3381 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3382 commands will sort in reverse order.
3384 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3388 @kindex G P a (Group)
3389 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3390 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3391 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3394 @kindex G P u (Group)
3395 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3396 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3397 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3400 @kindex G P l (Group)
3401 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3402 Sort the groups by group level
3403 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3406 @kindex G P v (Group)
3407 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3408 Sort the groups by group score
3409 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3412 @kindex G P r (Group)
3413 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3414 Sort the groups by group rank
3415 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3418 @kindex G P m (Group)
3419 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3420 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3421 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3424 @kindex G P n (Group)
3425 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3426 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3427 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3430 @kindex G P s (Group)
3431 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3432 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3436 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3440 @node Group Maintenance
3441 @section Group Maintenance
3442 @cindex bogus groups
3447 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3448 Find bogus groups and delete them
3449 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3453 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3454 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3455 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3456 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3457 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3461 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3462 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3463 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3464 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3465 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3466 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3469 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3470 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3471 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3472 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3477 @node Browse Foreign Server
3478 @section Browse Foreign Server
3479 @cindex foreign servers
3480 @cindex browsing servers
3485 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3486 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3487 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3488 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3491 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3492 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3493 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3494 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3496 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3501 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3502 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3506 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3507 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3510 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3511 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3512 Enter the current group and display the first article
3513 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3516 @kindex RET (Browse)
3517 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3518 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3522 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3523 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3524 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3530 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3531 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3535 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3536 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3540 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3541 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3542 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3547 @section Exiting Gnus
3548 @cindex exiting Gnus
3550 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3555 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3556 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3557 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3558 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3562 @findex gnus-group-exit
3563 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3564 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3568 @findex gnus-group-quit
3569 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3570 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3573 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3574 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3575 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3576 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3577 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3578 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3584 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3585 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3586 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3592 @section Group Topics
3595 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3596 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3597 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3598 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3599 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3600 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3604 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3605 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3616 2: alt.religion.emacs
3619 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3621 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3622 13: comp.sources.unix
3625 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3627 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3628 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3629 is a toggling command.)
3631 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3632 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3633 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3634 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3637 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3638 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3639 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3642 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3646 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3647 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3648 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3649 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3650 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3654 @node Topic Commands
3655 @subsection Topic Commands
3656 @cindex topic commands
3658 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3659 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3660 definitions slightly.
3662 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3663 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3664 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3665 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3666 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3667 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3669 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3676 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3677 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3678 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3682 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3684 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3685 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3686 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3687 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3690 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3691 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3692 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3693 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3697 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3698 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3699 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3700 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3706 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3707 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3708 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3712 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3713 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3714 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3717 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3718 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3719 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3720 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3721 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3723 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3724 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3728 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3729 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3736 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3738 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3739 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3740 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3741 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3742 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3743 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3747 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3753 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3754 Move the current group to some other topic
3755 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3756 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3760 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3761 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3765 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3766 Copy the current group to some other topic
3767 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3768 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3772 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3773 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3774 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3778 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3779 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3780 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3784 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3785 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3786 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3787 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3788 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3789 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3790 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3793 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3794 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3798 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3799 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3800 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3804 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3805 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3806 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3810 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3811 Toggle hiding empty topics
3812 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3816 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3817 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3818 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3819 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3822 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3823 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3824 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3825 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3826 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3829 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3830 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3831 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3832 expiry process (if any)
3833 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3837 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3838 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3841 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3842 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3843 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3847 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3848 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3849 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3852 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3853 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3854 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3857 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3858 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3859 Go to the previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3863 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3864 @cindex group parameters
3865 @cindex topic parameters
3867 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3868 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3873 @node Topic Variables
3874 @subsection Topic Variables
3875 @cindex topic variables
3877 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3878 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3880 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3881 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3882 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3895 Number of groups in the topic.
3897 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3899 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3902 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3903 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3904 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3907 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3908 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3910 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3911 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3912 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3916 @subsection Topic Sorting
3917 @cindex topic sorting
3919 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3925 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3926 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3927 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3928 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3931 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3932 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3933 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3934 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3937 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3938 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3939 Sort the current topic by group level
3940 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3943 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3944 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3945 Sort the current topic by group score
3946 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3949 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3950 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3951 Sort the current topic by group rank
3952 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3955 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3956 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3957 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3958 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3961 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3962 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3963 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3964 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3967 @kindex T S s (Topic)
3968 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3969 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3970 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3971 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3975 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3976 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3980 @node Topic Topology
3981 @subsection Topic Topology
3982 @cindex topic topology
3985 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3992 2: alt.religion.emacs
3995 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3997 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3998 13: comp.sources.unix
4002 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
4003 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
4004 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
4009 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
4010 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
4014 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
4015 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
4016 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
4017 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
4018 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
4019 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
4021 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
4022 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
4023 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
4026 @node Topic Parameters
4027 @subsection Topic Parameters
4028 @cindex topic parameters
4030 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
4031 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
4032 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
4033 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
4034 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
4036 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
4041 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
4042 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
4043 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
4046 @item subscribe-level
4047 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
4048 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4049 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4053 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4054 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4055 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4056 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4063 2: alt.religion.emacs
4067 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4069 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4070 13: comp.sources.unix
4075 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4076 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4077 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4078 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4079 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4080 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4082 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4083 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4084 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4085 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4086 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4088 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4089 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4090 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4091 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4092 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4093 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4094 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4095 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4098 @node Misc Group Stuff
4099 @section Misc Group Stuff
4102 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4103 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4104 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4105 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4106 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4113 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4114 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4115 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4119 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4120 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4121 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4122 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4123 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4124 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4125 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4129 @findex gnus-group-mail
4130 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4131 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4132 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4133 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4137 @findex gnus-group-news
4138 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4139 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4140 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4142 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4143 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4144 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4145 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4146 for this to work though.
4150 Variables for the group buffer:
4154 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4155 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4156 is called after the group buffer has been
4159 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4160 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4161 is called after the group buffer is
4162 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4165 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4166 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4167 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4168 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4170 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4171 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4172 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4173 whether they are empty or not.
4175 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4176 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4177 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4178 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4182 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4183 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4186 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4187 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4188 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4189 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4190 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4191 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4192 default is @code{nil}.
4196 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4197 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4202 @node Scanning New Messages
4203 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4204 @cindex new messages
4205 @cindex scanning new news
4211 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4212 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4213 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4214 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4215 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4216 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4221 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4222 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4223 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4224 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4225 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4226 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4227 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4229 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4230 @cindex activating groups
4232 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4233 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4238 @findex gnus-group-restart
4239 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4240 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4241 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4245 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4246 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4248 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4249 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4253 @node Group Information
4254 @subsection Group Information
4255 @cindex group information
4256 @cindex information on groups
4263 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4264 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4267 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4268 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4269 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4270 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4271 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4272 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4273 used for fetching the file.
4275 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4276 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4280 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4281 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4283 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4284 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4287 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4288 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4289 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4293 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4294 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4295 @cindex control message
4296 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4297 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4298 group if given a prefix argument.
4300 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4301 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4302 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4303 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4305 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4306 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4307 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4311 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4313 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4314 @cindex describing groups
4315 @cindex group description
4316 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4317 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4318 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4322 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4323 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4324 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4331 @findex gnus-version
4332 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4336 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4337 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4340 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4343 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4344 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4348 @node Group Timestamp
4349 @subsection Group Timestamp
4351 @cindex group timestamps
4353 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4354 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4355 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4358 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4361 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4363 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4364 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4367 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4368 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4371 This will result in lines looking like:
4374 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4375 0: custom 19961002T012713
4378 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4379 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4383 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4384 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4387 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4388 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4392 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4393 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4394 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4395 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4397 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4403 @subsection File Commands
4404 @cindex file commands
4410 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4411 @vindex gnus-init-file
4412 @cindex reading init file
4413 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4414 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4418 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4419 @cindex saving .newsrc
4420 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4421 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4422 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4425 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4426 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4427 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4432 @node Sieve Commands
4433 @subsection Sieve Commands
4434 @cindex group sieve commands
4436 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4437 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4438 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4439 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4440 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4442 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4443 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4444 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4445 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4446 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4447 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4448 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4449 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4450 regenerate the Sieve script.
4452 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4453 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4454 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4455 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4456 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4457 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4458 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4459 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4460 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4461 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4464 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4465 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4470 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4476 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4477 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4478 @cindex generating sieve script
4479 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4480 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4484 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4485 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4486 @cindex updating sieve script
4487 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4488 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4489 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4494 @node Summary Buffer
4495 @chapter Summary Buffer
4496 @cindex summary buffer
4498 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4499 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4501 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4502 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4504 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4507 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4508 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4509 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4510 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4511 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4512 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4513 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4514 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4515 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4516 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4517 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4518 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4519 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4520 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4521 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4522 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4523 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4524 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4525 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4526 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4527 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4528 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4529 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4530 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4531 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4532 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4533 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4534 or reselecting the current group.
4535 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4536 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4537 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4538 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4542 @node Summary Buffer Format
4543 @section Summary Buffer Format
4544 @cindex summary buffer format
4548 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4549 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4550 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4556 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4557 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4558 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4559 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4562 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4563 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4564 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4565 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4566 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4567 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4568 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4569 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4570 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4571 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4572 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4575 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4576 'mail-extract-address-components)
4579 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4580 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4581 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4582 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4585 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4586 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4588 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4589 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4590 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4591 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4592 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4594 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4595 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4596 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4597 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4598 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4599 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4601 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4603 The following format specification characters and extended format
4604 specification(s) are understood:
4610 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4611 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4613 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4614 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4615 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4617 Full @code{From} header.
4619 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4621 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4624 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4625 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4626 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4627 may be more thorough.
4629 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4632 Number of lines in the article.
4634 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4635 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4637 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4638 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4640 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4642 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4643 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4656 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4657 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4658 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4659 line-drawing glyphs.
4661 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4662 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4663 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4664 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4666 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4667 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4668 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4669 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4671 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4672 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4673 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4674 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4676 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4677 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4678 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4680 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4681 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4682 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4684 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4685 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4686 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4688 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4689 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4690 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4695 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4696 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4698 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4699 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4701 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4702 for adopted articles.
4704 One space for each thread level.
4706 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4708 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4711 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4712 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4713 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4716 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4718 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4719 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4720 default level. If the difference between
4721 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4722 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4730 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4732 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4738 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4739 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4741 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4742 article has any children.
4748 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4749 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4751 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4752 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4753 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4754 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4755 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4756 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4759 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4760 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4761 There can only be one such area.
4763 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4764 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4765 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4766 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4767 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4768 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4770 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4771 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4773 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4776 @node To From Newsgroups
4777 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4781 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4782 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4783 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4784 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4785 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4789 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4790 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4791 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4795 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4796 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4799 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4800 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4803 @findex gnus-extra-header
4804 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4805 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4806 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4809 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4813 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4814 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4815 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4816 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4817 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4818 headers are used instead.
4820 To distinguish regular articles from those where the @code{From} field
4821 has been swapped, a string is prefixed to the @code{To} or
4822 @code{Newsgroups} header in the summary line. By default the string is
4823 @samp{-> } for @code{To} and @samp{=> } for @code{Newsgroups}, you can
4824 customize these strings with @code{gnus-summary-to-prefix} and
4825 @code{gnus-summary-newsgroup-prefix}.
4829 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4830 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4831 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4832 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4833 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4834 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4837 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4838 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4839 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4840 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4842 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4846 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4848 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4849 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4850 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4851 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4855 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4858 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4859 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4862 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4863 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4864 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4870 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4871 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4874 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4875 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4877 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4878 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4879 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4880 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4882 Here are the elements you can play with:
4888 Unprefixed group name.
4890 Current article number.
4892 Current article score.
4896 Number of unread articles in this group.
4898 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4901 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4902 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4903 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4904 and no unselected ones.
4906 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4907 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4909 Subject of the current article.
4911 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4913 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4915 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4917 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4919 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4921 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4925 @node Summary Highlighting
4926 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4930 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4931 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4932 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4933 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4934 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4936 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4937 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4938 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4939 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4941 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4942 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4943 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4944 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4946 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4947 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4948 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4949 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4950 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4951 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4954 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4955 ((> score default) . bold))
4957 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4958 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4962 @node Summary Maneuvering
4963 @section Summary Maneuvering
4964 @cindex summary movement
4966 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4967 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4969 None of these commands select articles.
4974 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4975 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4976 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4977 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4978 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4982 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4983 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4984 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4985 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4986 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4989 @kindex G g (Summary)
4990 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4991 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4992 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4995 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4996 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4997 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4998 to the group buffer.
5000 Variables related to summary movement:
5004 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
5005 @item gnus-auto-select-next
5006 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
5007 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
5008 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
5009 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
5010 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
5011 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
5012 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
5013 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
5014 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
5015 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
5016 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
5017 @pxref{Group Levels}.
5019 @item gnus-auto-select-same
5020 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
5021 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
5022 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
5023 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
5024 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
5025 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
5027 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
5029 @item gnus-summary-check-current
5030 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
5031 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
5032 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
5033 Instead, they will choose the current article.
5035 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
5036 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
5037 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
5038 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
5039 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
5040 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
5041 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
5042 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
5045 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
5046 the given number of lines from the top.
5051 @node Choosing Articles
5052 @section Choosing Articles
5053 @cindex selecting articles
5056 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
5057 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
5061 @node Choosing Commands
5062 @subsection Choosing Commands
5064 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
5065 and they all select and display an article.
5067 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
5068 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
5072 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5073 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5074 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5075 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5077 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5078 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5079 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5084 @kindex G n (Summary)
5085 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5086 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5087 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5092 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5093 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5094 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5099 @kindex G N (Summary)
5100 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5101 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5106 @kindex G P (Summary)
5107 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5108 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5111 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5112 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5113 Go to the next article with the same subject
5114 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5117 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5118 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5119 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5120 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5124 @kindex G f (Summary)
5126 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5127 Go to the first unread article
5128 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5132 @kindex G b (Summary)
5134 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5135 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5136 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5137 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5142 @kindex G l (Summary)
5143 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5144 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5147 @kindex G o (Summary)
5148 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5150 @cindex article history
5151 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5152 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5153 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5154 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5155 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5156 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5161 @kindex G j (Summary)
5162 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5163 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5164 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5169 @node Choosing Variables
5170 @subsection Choosing Variables
5172 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5175 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5176 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5177 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5178 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5179 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5180 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5182 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5183 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5184 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. The default is
5185 @code{nil}. If you would like each article to be saved in the Agent as
5186 you read it, putting @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this
5189 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5190 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5191 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5192 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5193 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5194 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5195 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5196 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5197 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-read-mark}. The only
5198 articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5199 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5200 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5201 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5202 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5207 @node Paging the Article
5208 @section Scrolling the Article
5209 @cindex article scrolling
5214 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5215 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5216 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5217 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5218 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5220 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5221 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5222 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5223 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5224 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5225 what is considered uninteresting with
5226 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5227 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5230 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5231 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5232 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5235 @kindex RET (Summary)
5236 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5237 Scroll the current article one line forward
5238 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5241 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5242 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5243 Scroll the current article one line backward
5244 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5248 @kindex A g (Summary)
5250 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5251 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5252 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5253 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5254 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5255 the way it came from the server.
5257 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5258 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5259 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5262 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5267 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5272 @kindex A < (Summary)
5273 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5274 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5275 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5280 @kindex A > (Summary)
5281 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5282 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5286 @kindex A s (Summary)
5288 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5289 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5290 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5294 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5295 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5300 @node Reply Followup and Post
5301 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5304 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5305 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5306 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5307 * Canceling and Superseding::
5311 @node Summary Mail Commands
5312 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5314 @cindex composing mail
5316 Commands for composing a mail message:
5322 @kindex S r (Summary)
5324 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5325 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5326 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5327 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5328 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5333 @kindex S R (Summary)
5334 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5335 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5336 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5337 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5338 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5341 @kindex S w (Summary)
5342 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5343 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5344 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5345 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5346 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5347 present, that's used instead.
5350 @kindex S W (Summary)
5351 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5352 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5353 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5354 the process/prefix convention.
5357 @kindex S v (Summary)
5358 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5359 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5360 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5361 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5362 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5363 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5366 @kindex S V (Summary)
5367 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5368 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5369 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5370 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5373 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5374 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5375 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5376 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5377 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5378 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5379 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5380 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5383 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5384 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5385 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5386 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5387 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5391 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5392 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5393 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5394 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5395 Forward the current article to some other person
5396 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5397 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5398 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5399 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5400 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5401 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5402 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5403 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5404 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
5410 @kindex S m (Summary)
5411 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5412 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5413 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5414 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5415 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5420 @kindex S i (Summary)
5421 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5422 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5423 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5424 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5426 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5427 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5428 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5429 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5430 for this to work though.
5433 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5434 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5435 @cindex bouncing mail
5436 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5437 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5438 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5439 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5440 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5441 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5442 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5443 very well fail, though.
5446 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5447 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5448 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5449 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5450 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5451 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5452 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5453 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5454 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5455 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5457 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5458 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5459 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5460 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5461 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5463 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5464 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5467 @kindex S D e (Summary)
5468 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
5470 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
5471 if it were a new message before resending.
5474 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5475 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5476 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5477 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5478 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5481 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5482 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5483 @cindex crossposting
5484 @cindex excessive crossposting
5485 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5486 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5488 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5489 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5490 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5491 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5492 command understands the process/prefix convention
5493 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5497 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5498 Manual}, for more information.
5501 @node Summary Post Commands
5502 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5504 @cindex composing news
5506 Commands for posting a news article:
5512 @kindex S p (Summary)
5513 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5514 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5515 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5516 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5517 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5522 @kindex S f (Summary)
5523 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5524 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5525 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5529 @kindex S F (Summary)
5531 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5532 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5533 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5534 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5535 process/prefix convention.
5538 @kindex S n (Summary)
5539 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5540 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5541 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5544 @kindex S N (Summary)
5545 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5546 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5547 message through mail and include the original message
5548 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5549 the process/prefix convention.
5552 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5553 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5554 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5555 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5556 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5557 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5558 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5559 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5560 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5561 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5562 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5563 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5564 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
5567 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5568 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5570 @cindex making digests
5571 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5572 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5573 process/prefix convention.
5576 @kindex S u (Summary)
5577 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5578 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5579 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5580 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5583 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5584 Manual}, for more information.
5587 @node Summary Message Commands
5588 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5592 @kindex S y (Summary)
5593 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5594 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5595 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5596 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5597 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5602 @node Canceling and Superseding
5603 @subsection Canceling Articles
5604 @cindex canceling articles
5605 @cindex superseding articles
5607 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5608 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5610 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5612 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5614 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5615 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5616 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5617 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5618 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5619 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5621 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5622 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5625 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5626 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5627 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5629 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
5630 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
5631 message, Message Manual}).
5633 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5634 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5635 your original article.
5637 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5639 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5640 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5641 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5644 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5645 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5646 have posted almost the same article twice.
5648 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5649 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5650 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5651 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5652 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5653 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5654 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5655 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5656 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5657 canceled/superseded.
5659 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5661 @node Delayed Articles
5662 @section Delayed Articles
5663 @cindex delayed sending
5664 @cindex send delayed
5666 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5667 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5668 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5669 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5672 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5675 @findex gnus-delay-article
5676 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5677 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5678 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5679 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5683 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5684 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5685 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5686 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5689 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5690 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5691 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5694 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5695 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5696 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5697 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5698 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5699 that means a time tomorrow.
5702 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5703 couple of variables:
5706 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5707 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5708 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5709 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5711 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5712 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5713 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5714 formats described above.
5716 @item gnus-delay-group
5717 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5718 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5719 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5720 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5722 @item gnus-delay-header
5723 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5724 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5725 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5726 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5729 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5730 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5731 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5732 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5733 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5735 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5736 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5737 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5738 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5739 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5740 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5741 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5744 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5745 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5746 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5747 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5748 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5749 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5750 argument is ignored.
5752 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5753 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5754 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5758 @node Marking Articles
5759 @section Marking Articles
5760 @cindex article marking
5761 @cindex article ticking
5764 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5766 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5767 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5768 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5770 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5773 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
5777 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5778 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5779 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5780 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5781 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5782 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5786 @node Unread Articles
5787 @subsection Unread Articles
5789 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5794 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5795 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5797 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5798 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5799 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5800 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5801 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5802 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5803 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5806 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5807 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5809 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5810 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5811 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5812 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5816 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5817 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5819 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5824 @subsection Read Articles
5825 @cindex expirable mark
5827 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5832 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5833 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5834 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5837 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5838 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5841 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5842 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5843 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5846 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5847 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5850 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5851 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5854 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5855 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5858 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5859 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5862 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5863 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5866 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5867 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5870 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5871 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5875 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5876 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5877 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5881 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5882 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5884 One more special mark, though:
5888 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5889 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5891 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5892 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5893 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5894 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5900 @subsection Other Marks
5901 @cindex process mark
5904 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5910 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5911 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5912 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5913 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5914 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5917 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5918 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5919 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5920 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5923 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5924 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5925 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5928 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5929 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5930 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5933 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5934 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5935 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5936 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5939 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5940 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5941 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5942 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5943 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5944 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5947 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5948 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5949 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5950 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5953 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5954 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5955 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5956 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5957 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5961 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5962 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5963 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5964 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5965 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5966 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5969 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5970 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5971 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5972 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5973 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5974 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5978 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5979 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5980 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5981 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5982 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5985 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5986 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5987 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5988 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5989 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5990 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5994 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5995 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5996 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5998 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5999 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
6000 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
6004 @subsection Setting Marks
6005 @cindex setting marks
6007 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
6012 @kindex M c (Summary)
6013 @kindex M-u (Summary)
6014 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
6015 @cindex mark as unread
6016 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
6017 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
6023 @kindex M t (Summary)
6024 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
6025 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
6026 @xref{Article Caching}.
6031 @kindex M ? (Summary)
6032 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
6033 Mark the current article as dormant
6034 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6038 @kindex M d (Summary)
6040 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
6041 Mark the current article as read
6042 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
6046 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
6047 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
6048 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
6053 @kindex M k (Summary)
6054 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
6055 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
6056 and then select the next unread article
6057 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
6061 @kindex M K (Summary)
6062 @kindex C-k (Summary)
6063 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
6064 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
6065 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
6068 @kindex M C (Summary)
6069 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
6070 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
6071 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
6074 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
6075 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
6076 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
6077 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
6080 @kindex M H (Summary)
6081 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
6082 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
6083 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
6086 @kindex M h (Summary)
6087 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
6088 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6089 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6092 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6093 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6094 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6095 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6098 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6099 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6100 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6101 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6105 @kindex M e (Summary)
6107 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6108 Mark the current article as expirable
6109 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6112 @kindex M b (Summary)
6113 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6114 Set a bookmark in the current article
6115 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6118 @kindex M B (Summary)
6119 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6120 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6121 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6124 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6125 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6126 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6127 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6130 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6131 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6132 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6133 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6136 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6137 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6138 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6139 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6140 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6143 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6144 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6145 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6146 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6147 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6148 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6149 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6150 The default is @code{t}.
6153 @node Generic Marking Commands
6154 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6156 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6157 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6158 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6159 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6160 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6163 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6164 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6167 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6168 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6169 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6170 to list in this manual.
6172 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6173 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6174 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6175 article, you could say something like:
6179 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6180 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6181 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6189 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6190 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6194 @node Setting Process Marks
6195 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6196 @cindex setting process marks
6198 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6199 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6200 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6201 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6202 commands into the cache. For more information,
6203 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6210 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6211 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6212 Mark the current article with the process mark
6213 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6214 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6218 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6219 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6220 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6221 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6224 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6225 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6226 Remove the process mark from all articles
6227 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6230 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6231 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6232 Invert the list of process marked articles
6233 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6236 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6237 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6238 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6239 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6242 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6243 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6244 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6245 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6248 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6249 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6250 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6253 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6254 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6255 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6258 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6259 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6260 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6261 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6264 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6265 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6266 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6267 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6270 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6271 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6272 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6273 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6276 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6277 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6278 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6281 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6282 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6283 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6284 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6287 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6288 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6289 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
6292 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6293 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6294 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6295 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6298 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6299 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6300 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6301 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6304 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6305 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6306 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6307 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6310 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6311 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6312 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6313 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6317 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6318 set process marks based on article body contents.
6325 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6326 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6327 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6330 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6331 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6332 additional articles.
6338 @kindex / / (Summary)
6339 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6340 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6341 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6345 @kindex / a (Summary)
6346 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6347 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6348 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6352 @kindex / R (Summary)
6353 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
6354 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
6355 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
6359 @kindex / x (Summary)
6360 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6361 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6362 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6363 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6368 @kindex / u (Summary)
6370 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6371 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6372 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6373 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6374 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6377 @kindex / m (Summary)
6378 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6379 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6380 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6383 @kindex / t (Summary)
6384 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6385 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6386 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6387 articles younger than that number of days.
6390 @kindex / n (Summary)
6391 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6392 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6393 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6394 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6397 @kindex / w (Summary)
6398 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6399 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6400 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6404 @kindex / . (Summary)
6405 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6406 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6407 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6410 @kindex / v (Summary)
6411 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6412 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6413 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6416 @kindex / p (Summary)
6417 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6418 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6419 group parameter predicate
6420 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6421 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6424 @kindex / r (Summary)
6425 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
6426 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
6427 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
6432 @kindex M S (Summary)
6433 @kindex / E (Summary)
6434 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6435 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6436 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6439 @kindex / D (Summary)
6440 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6441 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6442 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6445 @kindex / * (Summary)
6446 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6447 Include all cached articles in the limit
6448 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6451 @kindex / d (Summary)
6452 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6453 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6454 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6457 @kindex / M (Summary)
6458 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6459 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6462 @kindex / T (Summary)
6463 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6464 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6467 @kindex / c (Summary)
6468 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6469 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6470 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6473 @kindex / C (Summary)
6474 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6475 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6476 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6477 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6480 @kindex / N (Summary)
6481 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6482 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6483 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6486 @kindex / o (Summary)
6487 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6488 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6489 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6497 @cindex article threading
6499 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6500 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6501 hierarchical fashion.
6503 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6504 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6505 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6506 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6507 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6508 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6509 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6511 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6515 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6518 A tree-like article structure.
6521 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6524 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6525 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6526 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6527 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6528 called loose threads.
6530 @item thread gathering
6531 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6533 @item sparse threads
6534 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6535 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6541 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6542 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6546 @node Customizing Threading
6547 @subsection Customizing Threading
6548 @cindex customizing threading
6551 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6552 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6553 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6554 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6559 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6562 @cindex loose threads
6565 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6566 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6567 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6568 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6569 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6570 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6572 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6573 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6574 There are four possible values:
6578 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6579 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6580 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6581 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6582 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6587 @cindex adopting articles
6592 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6593 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6594 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6595 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6598 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6599 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6600 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6601 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6602 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6603 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6604 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6605 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6606 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6607 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6610 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6611 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6612 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6616 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6617 display them after one another.
6620 Don't gather loose threads.
6623 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6624 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6625 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6626 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6627 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6628 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6629 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6630 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6631 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6632 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6633 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6635 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6636 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6637 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6640 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6641 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6642 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6643 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6644 simplification is used.
6646 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6647 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6648 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6649 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6651 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6653 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6659 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6660 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6661 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6662 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6667 (mapconcat 'identity
6668 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6670 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6673 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6676 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6677 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6678 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6679 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6680 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6681 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6683 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6686 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6687 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6688 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6690 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6691 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6694 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6695 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6696 Remove excessive whitespace.
6698 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6699 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6700 Remove all whitespace.
6703 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6706 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6707 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6708 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6709 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6710 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6711 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6712 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6713 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6715 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6716 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6717 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6718 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6719 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6720 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6721 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6722 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6723 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6727 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6728 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6729 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6730 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6732 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6733 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6734 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6737 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6741 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6742 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6748 @node Filling In Threads
6749 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6752 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6753 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6754 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6755 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
6756 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
6757 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
6758 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
6759 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
6760 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
6761 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6762 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6763 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
6766 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6767 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6768 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6770 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6771 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6772 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6775 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6776 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6777 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6778 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6779 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6780 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6781 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6782 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6783 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6784 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6785 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6786 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6787 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6788 @code{nil} by default.
6790 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6791 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6792 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6793 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6794 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6795 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6796 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6798 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6799 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6800 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6805 @node More Threading
6806 @subsubsection More Threading
6809 @item gnus-show-threads
6810 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6811 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6812 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6813 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6814 slower and more awkward.
6816 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6817 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6818 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6821 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6822 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6823 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6828 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6829 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6830 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6833 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6834 unread, but you get my drift.)
6837 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6838 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6839 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6840 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6841 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6842 threads are expunged.
6844 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6845 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6846 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6849 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6850 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6851 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6852 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6853 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6854 result in a new thread.
6856 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6857 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6858 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6861 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6862 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6863 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6864 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6865 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6866 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6867 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6868 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6869 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6870 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6871 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6876 @node Low-Level Threading
6877 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6881 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6882 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6883 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6885 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6886 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6887 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6888 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6889 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6890 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6891 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6892 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6893 meaningful. Here's one example:
6896 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6898 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6899 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6901 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6903 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6910 @node Thread Commands
6911 @subsection Thread Commands
6912 @cindex thread commands
6918 @kindex T k (Summary)
6919 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6920 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6921 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6922 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6923 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6928 @kindex T l (Summary)
6929 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6930 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6931 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6932 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6935 @kindex T i (Summary)
6936 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6937 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6938 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6941 @kindex T # (Summary)
6942 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6943 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6944 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6947 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6948 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6949 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6950 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6953 @kindex T T (Summary)
6954 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6955 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6958 @kindex T s (Summary)
6959 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6960 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6961 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6964 @kindex T h (Summary)
6965 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6966 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6969 @kindex T S (Summary)
6970 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6971 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6974 @kindex T H (Summary)
6975 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6976 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6979 @kindex T t (Summary)
6980 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6981 Re-thread the current article's thread
6982 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6983 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6986 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6987 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6988 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6989 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6993 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6994 understand the numeric prefix.
6999 @kindex T n (Summary)
7001 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
7003 @kindex M-down (Summary)
7004 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
7005 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
7008 @kindex T p (Summary)
7010 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
7012 @kindex M-up (Summary)
7013 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
7014 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
7017 @kindex T d (Summary)
7018 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
7019 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
7022 @kindex T u (Summary)
7023 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
7024 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
7027 @kindex T o (Summary)
7028 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
7029 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
7032 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
7033 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
7034 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
7035 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
7036 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
7037 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
7038 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
7039 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
7040 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
7041 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
7042 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
7043 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
7047 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
7048 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
7050 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
7051 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
7052 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date-reverse
7053 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
7054 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7055 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
7056 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
7057 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7058 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
7059 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
7060 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
7061 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
7062 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
7063 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
7064 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
7065 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
7067 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
7068 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
7069 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient},
7070 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
7071 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date-reverse},
7072 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
7073 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
7074 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
7075 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
7076 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
7078 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
7079 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
7080 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
7082 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
7083 last function in the list. You should probably always include
7084 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
7085 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
7086 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
7087 ascending article order.
7089 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
7090 by number, you could do something like:
7093 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7094 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7095 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7096 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
7099 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
7100 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
7101 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7102 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7103 which the articles arrived.
7105 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7109 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7110 '((not gnus-thread-sort-by-number)
7111 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7114 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7115 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7116 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7117 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7120 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7121 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7122 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7123 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7124 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7125 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7126 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7127 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7128 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7129 variable. It is very similar to the
7130 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7131 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7132 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7133 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7134 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7135 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7136 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7138 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7142 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7143 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7144 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7147 You can define group specific sorting via @code{gnus-parameters},
7148 @xref{Group Parameters}.
7151 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7152 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7153 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7154 @cindex article pre-fetch
7157 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7158 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7159 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7160 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7161 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7163 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7164 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
7166 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7167 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7168 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7169 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7170 connection is blocked.
7172 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7173 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7174 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7175 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
7177 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7178 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7179 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7180 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7183 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7186 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7187 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7188 happen automatically.
7190 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7191 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7192 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7193 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7194 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7195 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7196 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7198 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7199 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7200 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7201 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7202 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7203 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7204 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7205 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7206 article data structure as the only parameter.
7208 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7209 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7212 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7213 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7214 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7215 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7218 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7221 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7222 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7223 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7225 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7226 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7227 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7228 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7232 Remove articles when they are read.
7235 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7238 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7240 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7241 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7242 @c from the next group.
7245 @node Article Caching
7246 @section Article Caching
7247 @cindex article caching
7250 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7251 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7252 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7253 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7254 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7256 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7258 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7259 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7260 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7261 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7262 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7263 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7264 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7265 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7267 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7268 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7269 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7270 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7271 as dormant, and don't worry.
7273 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7275 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7276 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7277 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7278 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7279 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7280 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7281 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7282 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7283 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7284 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7286 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7287 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7288 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7289 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7290 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7291 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7292 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7293 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7294 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7295 not then be downloaded by this command.
7297 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7298 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7299 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7300 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7301 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7302 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7304 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7305 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7306 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7307 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7308 variables, the group is not cached.
7310 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7311 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7312 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7313 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7314 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7315 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7316 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7317 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7318 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7321 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7322 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7323 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7324 where, isn't that cool?
7326 @node Persistent Articles
7327 @section Persistent Articles
7328 @cindex persistent articles
7330 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7331 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7332 useful in my opinion.
7334 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7335 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7336 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7337 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7338 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7339 the expiry going on at the news server.
7341 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7342 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7343 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7349 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7350 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7353 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7354 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7355 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7356 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7360 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7362 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7363 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7364 interested in persistent articles:
7367 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7371 @node Article Backlog
7372 @section Article Backlog
7374 @cindex article backlog
7376 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7377 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7378 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7379 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7380 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7381 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7382 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7383 increase memory usage some.
7385 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7386 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7387 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7388 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7389 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7390 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7391 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7393 The default value is 20.
7396 @node Saving Articles
7397 @section Saving Articles
7398 @cindex saving articles
7400 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7401 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7402 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7403 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7404 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7406 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7407 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7408 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7410 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7411 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7412 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7414 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7415 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7416 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7417 deleted before saving.
7423 @kindex O o (Summary)
7425 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7426 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7427 Save the current article using the default article saver
7428 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7431 @kindex O m (Summary)
7432 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7433 Save the current article in mail format
7434 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7437 @kindex O r (Summary)
7438 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7439 Save the current article in Rmail format
7440 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7443 @kindex O f (Summary)
7444 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7445 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7446 Save the current article in plain file format
7447 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7450 @kindex O F (Summary)
7451 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7452 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7453 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7456 @kindex O b (Summary)
7457 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7458 Save the current article body in plain file format
7459 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7462 @kindex O h (Summary)
7463 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7464 Save the current article in mh folder format
7465 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7468 @kindex O v (Summary)
7469 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7470 Save the current article in a VM folder
7471 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7475 @kindex O p (Summary)
7477 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7478 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7479 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7480 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7481 complete headers in the piped output.
7484 @kindex O P (Summary)
7485 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7486 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7487 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7488 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7489 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7490 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7491 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7495 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7496 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7497 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7498 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7499 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7500 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7501 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7502 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7503 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7504 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7505 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7506 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7510 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7511 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7512 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7513 functions below, or you can create your own.
7517 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7518 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7519 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7520 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7521 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7522 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7523 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7525 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7526 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7527 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7528 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7529 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7530 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7532 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7533 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7534 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7535 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7536 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7537 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7538 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7540 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7541 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7542 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7543 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7544 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7545 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7547 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7548 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7549 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7550 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7551 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7553 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7554 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7555 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7556 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7557 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7560 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7561 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7562 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7563 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7564 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7566 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7567 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7568 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7569 reader to use this setting.
7572 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7573 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7574 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7575 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7578 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7579 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7580 available functions that generate names:
7584 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7585 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7586 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7588 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7589 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7590 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7592 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7593 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7594 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7596 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7597 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7598 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7600 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7601 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7602 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7605 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7606 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7607 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7608 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7609 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7613 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7614 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7615 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7616 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7619 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7620 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7621 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7622 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7623 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7624 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7625 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7626 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7627 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7629 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7630 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7631 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7632 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7634 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7635 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7636 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7639 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7640 lots of mail groups called things like
7641 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7642 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7643 following will do just that:
7646 (defun my-save-name (group)
7647 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7648 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7650 (setq gnus-split-methods
7651 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7656 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7657 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7658 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7659 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7660 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7661 all the files in the top level directory
7662 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7663 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7664 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7665 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7667 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7668 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7669 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7670 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7671 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7674 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7678 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7679 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7680 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7683 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7684 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7685 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7686 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7689 @node Decoding Articles
7690 @section Decoding Articles
7691 @cindex decoding articles
7693 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7694 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7697 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7698 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7699 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7700 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7701 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7702 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7706 @cindex article series
7707 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7708 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7709 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7710 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7711 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7713 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7714 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7715 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7717 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7718 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7719 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7721 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7722 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7723 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7726 @node Uuencoded Articles
7727 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7729 @cindex uuencoded articles
7734 @kindex X u (Summary)
7735 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7736 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7737 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7740 @kindex X U (Summary)
7741 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7742 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7743 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7746 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7747 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7748 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7751 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7752 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7753 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7754 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7758 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7759 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7760 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7761 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7762 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7764 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7765 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7766 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7767 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7770 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7771 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7772 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7773 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7774 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7775 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7779 @node Shell Archives
7780 @subsection Shell Archives
7782 @cindex shell archives
7783 @cindex shared articles
7785 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7786 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7787 some commands to deal with these:
7792 @kindex X s (Summary)
7793 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7794 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7797 @kindex X S (Summary)
7798 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7799 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7802 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7803 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7804 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7807 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7808 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7809 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7810 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7814 @node PostScript Files
7815 @subsection PostScript Files
7821 @kindex X p (Summary)
7822 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7823 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7826 @kindex X P (Summary)
7827 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7828 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7829 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7832 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7833 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7834 View the current PostScript series
7835 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7838 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7839 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7840 View and save the current PostScript series
7841 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7846 @subsection Other Files
7850 @kindex X o (Summary)
7851 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7852 Save the current series
7853 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7856 @kindex X b (Summary)
7857 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7858 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7859 doesn't really work yet.
7863 @node Decoding Variables
7864 @subsection Decoding Variables
7866 Adjective, not verb.
7869 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7870 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7871 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7875 @node Rule Variables
7876 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7877 @cindex rule variables
7879 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7880 variables are of the form
7883 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7890 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7891 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7893 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7894 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7897 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7898 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7901 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7902 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7903 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7904 user and default view rules.
7906 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7907 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7908 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7913 @node Other Decode Variables
7914 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7917 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7919 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7920 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7921 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7922 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7923 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7927 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7928 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7931 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7932 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7933 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7936 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7937 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7938 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7939 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7940 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7943 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7944 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7945 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7947 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7948 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7949 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7950 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7951 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7954 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7955 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7956 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7958 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7959 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7960 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7961 looking for files to display.
7963 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7964 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7965 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7968 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7969 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7970 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7973 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7974 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7975 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7978 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7979 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7980 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7983 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7984 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7985 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7986 decoded articles as unread.
7988 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7989 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7990 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7991 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7993 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7994 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7995 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7997 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7998 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
8000 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
8001 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
8002 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
8003 @code{metamail} for viewing.
8005 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8006 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
8007 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
8008 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
8009 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
8010 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
8011 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
8012 simply dropped them.
8017 @node Uuencoding and Posting
8018 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
8022 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8023 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
8024 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
8025 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
8026 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
8027 for you when you post the article.
8029 @item gnus-uu-post-length
8030 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
8031 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
8032 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
8034 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
8035 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
8036 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
8037 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
8038 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
8039 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
8040 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
8042 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8043 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
8044 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
8045 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
8046 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
8047 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
8048 Default is @code{t}.
8054 @subsection Viewing Files
8055 @cindex viewing files
8056 @cindex pseudo-articles
8058 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
8059 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
8060 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
8061 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
8062 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
8063 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
8064 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
8066 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
8067 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
8068 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
8069 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
8071 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
8072 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
8073 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
8075 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
8076 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
8077 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
8078 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
8079 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
8081 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
8082 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
8083 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
8084 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
8085 a list of parameters to that command.
8087 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
8088 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
8089 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
8091 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
8092 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
8093 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
8096 @node Article Treatment
8097 @section Article Treatment
8099 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8100 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8101 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8102 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8103 these articles easier.
8106 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8107 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8108 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8109 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8110 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8111 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8112 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8113 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8114 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
8115 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8116 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8120 @node Article Highlighting
8121 @subsection Article Highlighting
8122 @cindex highlighting
8124 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8125 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8130 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8131 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8132 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8133 Do much highlighting of the current article
8134 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8135 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8138 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8139 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8140 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8141 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8142 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8143 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8144 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8145 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8146 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8147 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8148 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8149 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8152 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8153 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8154 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8156 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8159 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8161 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8162 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8163 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8165 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8166 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8167 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8169 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8170 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8171 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8172 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8173 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8174 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8176 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8177 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8178 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8180 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8181 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8182 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8184 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8185 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8186 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8187 that it's a citation.
8189 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8190 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8191 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8193 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8194 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8195 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8197 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8198 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8199 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8200 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8202 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8203 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8204 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
8205 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
8206 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
8213 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8214 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8215 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8216 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8217 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8218 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8219 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8220 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8225 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8228 @node Article Fontisizing
8229 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8231 @cindex article emphasis
8233 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8234 @kindex W e (Summary)
8235 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8236 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8237 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8238 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8240 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8241 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8242 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8243 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8244 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8245 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8246 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8247 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8251 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8252 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8253 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8262 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8263 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8264 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8265 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8266 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8267 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8268 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8269 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8270 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8271 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8272 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8273 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8274 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8276 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8277 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8278 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8282 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8285 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8287 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8288 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8289 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8290 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8292 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8295 @node Article Hiding
8296 @subsection Article Hiding
8297 @cindex article hiding
8299 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8300 too much cruft in most articles.
8305 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8306 @findex gnus-article-hide
8307 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8308 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8309 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8312 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8313 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8314 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8318 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8319 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8320 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8321 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8324 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8325 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8326 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8330 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8331 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8332 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8333 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8334 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8335 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8336 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8337 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8341 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8342 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8343 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8344 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8349 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8350 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8351 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8352 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8355 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8356 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8357 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8358 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8361 @cindex stripping advertisements
8362 @cindex advertisements
8363 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8364 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8365 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8366 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8367 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8368 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8369 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8370 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8371 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8372 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8375 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8376 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8377 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8381 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8382 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8383 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8384 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8385 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8386 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8387 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8388 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8389 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8390 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8391 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8394 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8395 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8401 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8402 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8403 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8404 customizing the hiding:
8408 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8409 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8410 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8411 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8412 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8413 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8414 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8419 Starting point of the hidden text.
8421 Ending point of the hidden text.
8423 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8425 Number of lines of hidden text.
8428 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8429 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8430 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8431 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8432 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8437 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8438 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8440 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8441 following two variables:
8444 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8445 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8446 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8447 50), hide the cited text.
8449 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8450 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8451 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8456 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8457 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8458 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8459 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8460 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8461 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8465 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8466 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8467 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8469 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8470 citation customization.
8472 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8476 @node Article Washing
8477 @subsection Article Washing
8479 @cindex article washing
8481 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8482 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8484 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8485 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8488 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8489 articles by default.
8494 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8495 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8499 Force redisplaying of the current article
8500 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8501 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8502 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8503 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8506 @kindex W l (Summary)
8507 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8508 Remove page breaks from the current article
8509 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8513 @kindex W r (Summary)
8514 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8515 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8516 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8517 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8518 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8519 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8521 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8522 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8523 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8524 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8527 @kindex W m (Summary)
8528 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8529 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8532 @kindex W i (Summary)
8533 @findex gnus-summary-idna-message
8534 Decode IDNA encoded domain names in the current articles. IDNA
8535 encoded domain names looks like @samp{xn--bar}. If a string remain
8536 unencoded after running invoking this, it is likely an invalid IDNA
8537 string (@samp{xn--bar} is invalid). You must have GNU Libidn
8538 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}) installed for this command
8543 @kindex W t (Summary)
8545 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8546 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8547 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8550 @kindex W v (Summary)
8551 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8552 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8553 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8556 @kindex W o (Summary)
8557 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8558 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8561 @kindex W d (Summary)
8562 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8563 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8565 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8567 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8568 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8569 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8570 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8573 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8574 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8575 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8576 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8579 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8580 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8581 @cindex Outlook Express
8582 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8583 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8584 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8587 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8588 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8589 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8590 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8591 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8592 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8593 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8594 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8595 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8596 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8599 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8600 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8601 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8602 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8605 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8606 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8607 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8608 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8611 @kindex W w (Summary)
8612 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8613 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8615 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8619 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8620 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8621 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8624 @kindex W C (Summary)
8625 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8626 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8627 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8630 @kindex W c (Summary)
8631 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8632 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8633 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8634 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8635 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8638 @kindex W q (Summary)
8639 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8640 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8641 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8642 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8643 makes strings like @samp{d@'ej@`a vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
8644 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
8645 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8646 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8647 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8650 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8651 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8652 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8653 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8654 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8655 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8656 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8657 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8660 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8661 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8662 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8663 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8664 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8667 @kindex W A (Summary)
8668 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
8669 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
8670 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
8671 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
8672 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
8675 @kindex W u (Summary)
8676 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8677 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8678 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8679 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8680 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8683 @kindex W h (Summary)
8684 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8685 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8686 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8687 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8689 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8691 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8692 The default is to use the function specified by
8693 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8694 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8695 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8696 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8704 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8707 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8710 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8713 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8718 @kindex W b (Summary)
8719 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8720 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8721 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8724 @kindex W B (Summary)
8725 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8726 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8727 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8730 @kindex W p (Summary)
8731 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8732 Verify a signed control message
8733 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8734 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8735 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8736 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8737 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8738 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8741 @kindex W s (Summary)
8742 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8743 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8744 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8745 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8748 @kindex W a (Summary)
8749 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8750 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8751 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8754 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8755 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8756 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8757 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8760 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8761 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8762 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8763 lines with a single empty line.
8764 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8767 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8768 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8769 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8770 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8773 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8774 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8775 Do all the three commands above
8776 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8779 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8780 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8781 Remove all blank lines
8782 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8785 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8786 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8787 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8788 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8791 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8792 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8793 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8794 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8798 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8801 @node Article Header
8802 @subsection Article Header
8804 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8809 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8810 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8811 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8814 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8815 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8816 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8817 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8820 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8821 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8822 Fold all the message headers
8823 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8826 @kindex W E w (Summary)
8827 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8828 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8829 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8834 @node Article Buttons
8835 @subsection Article Buttons
8838 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8839 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8840 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8841 button on these references.
8843 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8844 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8845 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8846 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8847 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8851 @item gnus-button-alist
8852 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8853 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8856 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8862 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8863 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8864 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8865 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8866 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8869 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8870 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8871 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8874 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8875 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8876 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8877 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8878 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8880 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8883 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8886 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8887 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8891 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8894 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8897 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8898 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8899 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8900 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8901 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8904 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8907 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8910 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8913 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8914 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8916 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8918 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8919 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8920 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8921 default values of the variables above.
8923 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8925 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8926 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8927 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8928 argument with a string naming the man page.
8930 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8932 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8933 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8934 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8936 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8937 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8938 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8939 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8940 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8941 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8942 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8943 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8944 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8945 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8946 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8947 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8949 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8950 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8951 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8952 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8953 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8956 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8957 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8958 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8959 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8961 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8963 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8964 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8965 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8966 argument, the string naming the URL.
8969 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8970 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8971 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8975 @item gnus-article-button-face
8976 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8977 Face used on buttons.
8979 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8980 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8981 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8985 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8988 @node Article Button Levels
8989 @subsection Article button levels
8990 @cindex button levels
8991 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8992 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8993 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8994 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8995 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8996 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8997 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8998 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
9001 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
9002 (setq gnus-parameters
9003 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
9004 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
9005 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
9010 @item gnus-button-browse-level
9011 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
9012 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
9013 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
9014 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
9015 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
9017 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
9018 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
9019 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
9020 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
9021 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
9022 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
9023 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
9024 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
9025 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
9026 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
9027 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
9028 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
9029 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
9031 @item gnus-button-man-level
9032 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
9033 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
9034 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
9036 @item gnus-button-message-level
9037 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
9038 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
9039 Related variables and functions include
9040 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
9041 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
9042 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
9043 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
9045 @item gnus-button-tex-level
9046 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
9047 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
9048 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
9049 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
9050 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
9051 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
9057 @subsection Article Date
9059 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
9060 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
9061 when the article was sent.
9066 @kindex W T u (Summary)
9067 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
9068 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
9069 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
9072 @kindex W T i (Summary)
9073 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
9075 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
9076 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
9079 @kindex W T l (Summary)
9080 @findex gnus-article-date-local
9081 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
9084 @kindex W T p (Summary)
9085 @findex gnus-article-date-english
9086 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
9087 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
9090 @kindex W T s (Summary)
9091 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
9092 @findex gnus-article-date-user
9093 @findex format-time-string
9094 Display the date using a user-defined format
9095 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
9096 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
9097 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
9098 for a list of possible format specs.
9101 @kindex W T e (Summary)
9102 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
9103 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
9104 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
9105 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
9106 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
9109 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
9112 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
9113 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
9114 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
9117 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
9118 into wonderful absurdities.
9120 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
9123 (gnus-start-date-timer)
9126 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
9127 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
9131 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9132 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9133 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9134 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9135 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9136 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9137 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9141 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9142 preferred format automatically.
9145 @node Article Display
9146 @subsection Article Display
9151 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9152 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9154 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9155 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9157 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9158 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9160 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9161 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9163 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9164 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9166 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9171 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9172 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9173 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9174 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9177 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9178 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9179 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9180 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9183 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9184 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9185 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9188 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9189 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9190 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9193 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9194 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9195 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9196 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9199 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9200 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9201 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9202 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9205 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9206 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9207 Remove all images from the article buffer
9208 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9214 @node Article Signature
9215 @subsection Article Signature
9217 @cindex article signature
9219 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9220 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9221 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9222 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9223 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9224 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9225 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9226 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9227 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9230 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9231 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9232 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9233 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9234 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9235 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9236 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9237 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9240 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9243 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9244 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9245 signature when displaying articles.
9249 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9252 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9255 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9256 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9258 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9259 in question is not a signature.
9262 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9263 listed above. Here's an example:
9266 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9267 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9270 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9271 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9272 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9273 signature after all.
9276 @node Article Miscellanea
9277 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9281 @kindex A t (Summary)
9282 @findex gnus-article-babel
9283 Translate the article from one language to another
9284 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9290 @section MIME Commands
9291 @cindex MIME decoding
9293 @cindex viewing attachments
9295 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9296 instance, @kbd{3 K v} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9302 @kindex K v (Summary)
9303 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9306 @kindex K o (Summary)
9307 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9310 @kindex K O (Summary)
9311 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} part and strip it
9312 from the article. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred
9313 via the message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
9316 @kindex K r (Summary)
9317 Replace the @acronym{MIME} part with an external body.
9320 @kindex K d (Summary)
9321 Delete the @acronym{MIME} part and add some information about the
9325 @kindex K c (Summary)
9326 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9329 @kindex K e (Summary)
9330 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9333 @kindex K i (Summary)
9334 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9337 @kindex K | (Summary)
9338 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9341 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9346 @kindex K b (Summary)
9347 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9348 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9352 @kindex K m (Summary)
9353 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9354 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9355 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9356 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9357 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9360 @kindex X m (Summary)
9361 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9362 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9363 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9364 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9367 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9368 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9369 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9370 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9373 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9374 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9375 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9376 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9379 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9380 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9381 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9382 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9384 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9385 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9386 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9387 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9388 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9389 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9392 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9393 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9394 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9395 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9402 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9403 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9404 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9405 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9408 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9411 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9415 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9416 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9417 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9418 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9419 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9420 default is @code{nil}.
9422 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9423 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9424 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9425 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9426 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9427 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9428 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9430 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9431 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9432 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9433 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9434 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9435 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9436 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9437 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9439 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9440 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9441 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9442 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9443 displayed. This variable overrides
9444 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9445 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9448 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9449 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9450 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9452 You could also add @code{"multipart/alternative"} to this list to
9453 display radio buttons that allow you to choose one of two media types
9454 those mails include. See also @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}
9455 (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The
9456 Emacs MIME Manual}).
9458 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9459 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9460 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9461 default value is @code{nil}.
9463 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9464 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9465 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9466 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9467 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9468 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9469 save all jpegs into some directory).
9471 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9474 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9475 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9477 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9478 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9479 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9480 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9481 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9484 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9485 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9486 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9488 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9489 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9490 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9492 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9493 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9494 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9496 If displaying "text/html" is discouraged, see
9497 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} in @ref{Display Customization,
9498 Display Customization, , emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}. Images or
9499 other material inside a "multipart/related" part might be overlooked
9500 when this variable is @code{nil}.
9502 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9503 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9504 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
9505 overrides @code{nil} values of
9506 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
9507 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
9509 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9510 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9511 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9512 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9514 Ready-made functions include@*
9515 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9516 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9517 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9518 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9519 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9520 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9521 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9522 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9523 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9524 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9525 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9526 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9528 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9529 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9531 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9532 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9533 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9536 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9537 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9538 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9539 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9543 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9552 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9553 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9554 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9555 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9556 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9557 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9558 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp}.
9560 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9561 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9562 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9563 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9565 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9566 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9567 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9568 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9569 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9570 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9571 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9572 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9573 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9575 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9576 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9577 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9578 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9579 quoted-printable header encoding.
9581 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9582 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9583 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9587 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9590 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9591 means encode all charsets),
9593 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9594 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9595 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9602 @cindex coding system aliases
9603 @cindex preferred charset
9605 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
9606 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
9607 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
9609 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9611 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9612 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9615 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9616 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9619 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9620 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9622 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9625 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9628 This will almost do the right thing.
9630 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9634 (codepage-setup 1251)
9635 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9639 @node Article Commands
9640 @section Article Commands
9647 @kindex A P (Summary)
9648 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9649 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9650 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9651 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9652 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9653 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9658 @node Summary Sorting
9659 @section Summary Sorting
9660 @cindex summary sorting
9662 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9663 can't really see why you'd want that.
9668 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9669 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9670 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9673 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9674 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9675 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9678 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
9679 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
9680 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
9683 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9684 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9685 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9688 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9689 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9690 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9693 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9694 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9695 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9698 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9699 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9700 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9703 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9704 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9705 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9708 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9709 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9710 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9713 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9714 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9715 Sort using the default sorting method
9716 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9719 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9720 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9721 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9722 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9723 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9727 @node Finding the Parent
9728 @section Finding the Parent
9729 @cindex parent articles
9730 @cindex referring articles
9735 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9736 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9737 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9738 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9739 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9740 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9741 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9742 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9743 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9745 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9746 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9747 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9748 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9749 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9753 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9754 @kindex A R (Summary)
9755 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9756 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9759 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9760 @kindex A T (Summary)
9761 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9762 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9763 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9764 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9765 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9766 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9767 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9769 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9770 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9771 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9772 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9773 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9774 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9777 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9778 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9780 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9781 You can also ask Gnus for an arbitrary article, no matter what group it
9782 belongs to. @kbd{M-^} (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you
9783 for a @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read
9784 thingies that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}.
9785 You have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9787 Gnus looks for the @code{Message-ID} in the headers that have already
9788 been fetched, but also tries all the select methods specified by
9789 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} if it is not found.
9792 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9793 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9794 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9795 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9796 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9797 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9800 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9801 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9802 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9805 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9806 then ask Google if that fails:
9809 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9811 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9814 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9815 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9816 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
9817 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9818 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
9819 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
9820 not support this at all.
9823 @node Alternative Approaches
9824 @section Alternative Approaches
9826 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9827 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9830 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9831 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9836 @subsection Pick and Read
9837 @cindex pick and read
9839 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9840 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9841 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9842 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9844 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9845 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9846 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9847 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9848 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9849 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9851 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9856 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9857 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9858 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9859 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9860 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9861 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9862 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9863 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9866 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9867 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9868 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9869 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9873 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9874 Unpick the thread or article
9875 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9876 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9877 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9878 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9879 the thread or article at that line.
9883 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9884 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9885 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9886 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9887 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9888 will still be visible when you are reading.
9892 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9893 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9894 which is mapped to the same function
9895 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9897 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9900 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9903 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9904 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9906 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9907 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9908 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9910 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9911 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9912 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9913 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9914 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9915 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9916 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9920 @subsection Binary Groups
9921 @cindex binary groups
9923 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9924 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9925 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9926 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9927 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9928 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9929 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9932 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9933 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9934 command, when you have turned on this mode
9935 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9937 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9938 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9942 @section Tree Display
9945 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9946 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9947 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9948 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9951 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9954 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9955 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9956 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9958 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9959 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9960 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9961 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9962 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9964 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9965 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9966 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9967 default is @code{modeline}.
9969 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9970 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9971 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9972 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9973 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9974 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9975 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9981 The name of the poster.
9983 The @code{From} header.
9985 The number of the article.
9987 The opening bracket.
9989 The closing bracket.
9994 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9996 Variables related to the display are:
9999 @item gnus-tree-brackets
10000 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
10001 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
10002 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
10004 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
10005 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
10006 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
10008 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
10010 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10011 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
10012 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
10013 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
10017 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
10018 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
10019 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
10020 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
10021 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
10022 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
10023 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
10024 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
10025 other windows displayed next to it.
10027 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
10031 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
10032 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
10035 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
10036 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
10037 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10038 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
10039 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
10040 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
10041 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
10045 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
10048 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
10058 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
10063 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
10064 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
10066 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
10068 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
10074 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
10075 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
10076 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
10079 (setq gnus-use-trees t
10080 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
10081 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
10082 (gnus-add-configuration
10086 (summary 0.75 point)
10091 @xref{Window Layout}.
10094 @node Mail Group Commands
10095 @section Mail Group Commands
10096 @cindex mail group commands
10098 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
10099 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
10101 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
10102 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10107 @kindex B e (Summary)
10108 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
10109 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
10110 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
10111 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
10112 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
10115 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
10116 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
10117 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
10118 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
10119 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
10120 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
10123 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
10124 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
10125 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
10126 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
10127 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
10128 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
10131 @kindex B m (Summary)
10133 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
10134 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
10135 Move the article from one mail group to another
10136 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10137 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10140 @kindex B c (Summary)
10142 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
10143 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
10144 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
10145 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10146 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10149 @kindex B B (Summary)
10150 @cindex crosspost mail
10151 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
10152 Crosspost the current article to some other group
10153 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
10154 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
10155 be properly updated.
10158 @kindex B i (Summary)
10159 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
10160 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
10161 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
10162 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10165 @kindex B I (Summary)
10166 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
10167 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
10168 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
10169 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10172 @kindex B r (Summary)
10173 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10174 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10175 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10176 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10177 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10178 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10179 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10180 (which is the default).
10184 @kindex B w (Summary)
10185 @kindex e (Summary)
10186 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10187 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10188 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10189 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10190 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10191 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10192 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10195 @kindex B q (Summary)
10196 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10197 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10198 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10199 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10202 @kindex B t (Summary)
10203 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10204 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10205 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10208 @kindex B p (Summary)
10209 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10210 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10211 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10212 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10213 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10214 article from your news server (or rather, from
10215 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10216 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10217 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10218 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10219 just not have arrived yet.
10222 @kindex K E (Summary)
10223 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10224 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10225 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10226 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10227 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10231 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10232 @cindex moving articles
10233 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
10234 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10235 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10236 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10237 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10238 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10239 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10242 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10243 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10244 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10245 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10249 @node Various Summary Stuff
10250 @section Various Summary Stuff
10253 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10254 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10255 * Summary Generation Commands::
10256 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10260 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10261 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10262 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10263 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10264 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10265 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10267 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10268 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10269 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10272 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10273 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10274 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10276 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10277 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10278 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10279 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10280 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10281 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10284 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10285 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10286 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10287 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10288 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10290 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10291 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10292 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10295 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10296 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10297 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10298 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10299 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10300 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10301 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
10302 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10303 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10304 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10306 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10307 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10308 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10309 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10310 list of articles to be selected.
10312 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10313 the list in one particular group:
10316 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10317 (if (string= group "some.group")
10318 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10322 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10323 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10324 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10325 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
10326 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
10329 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
10330 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
10331 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
10332 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
10333 variable will be used instead.
10335 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
10336 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
10337 buffers. For example:
10340 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10341 '(message-use-followup-to
10342 (gnus-visible-headers .
10343 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10346 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
10350 @node Summary Group Information
10351 @subsection Summary Group Information
10356 @kindex H f (Summary)
10357 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10358 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10359 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10360 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10361 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10362 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10363 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10364 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10365 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10368 @kindex H d (Summary)
10369 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10370 Give a brief description of the current group
10371 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10372 rereading the description from the server.
10375 @kindex H h (Summary)
10376 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10377 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10378 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10381 @kindex H i (Summary)
10382 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10383 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10387 @node Searching for Articles
10388 @subsection Searching for Articles
10393 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10394 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10395 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10396 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10399 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10400 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10401 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10402 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10405 @kindex & (Summary)
10406 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10407 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10408 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10409 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10410 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10411 search backward instead.
10413 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10414 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10417 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10418 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10419 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10420 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10423 @node Summary Generation Commands
10424 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10429 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10430 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10431 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10434 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10435 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10436 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10437 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10440 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10441 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10442 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10443 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10448 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10449 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10455 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10456 @kindex A D (Summary)
10457 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10458 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10459 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10460 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10461 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10462 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10463 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10464 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10468 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10469 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10470 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10471 several documents into one biiig group
10472 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10473 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10474 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10475 command understands the process/prefix convention
10476 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10479 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10480 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10481 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10482 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10483 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10484 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10487 @kindex = (Summary)
10488 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10489 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10490 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10493 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10494 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10495 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10496 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10499 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10500 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10501 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10502 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10507 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10508 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10509 @cindex summary exit
10510 @cindex exiting groups
10512 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10513 group and return you to the group buffer.
10520 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10521 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
10522 @kindex q (Summary)
10523 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10524 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10525 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10526 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10527 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10528 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10529 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10530 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10531 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10532 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10533 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10534 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10538 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10539 @kindex Q (Summary)
10540 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10541 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10542 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10546 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10547 @kindex c (Summary)
10548 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10549 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10550 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10551 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10554 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10555 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10556 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10557 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10560 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10561 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10562 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10563 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10566 @kindex Z p (Summary)
10567 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group
10568 Mark all articles as read and go to the previous group
10569 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group}).
10573 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10574 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
10575 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10576 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10577 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10578 all articles, both read and unread.
10582 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10583 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10584 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10585 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10586 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10587 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10588 articles, both read and unread.
10591 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10592 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10593 Exit the group and go to the next group
10594 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10597 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10598 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10599 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10600 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10603 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10604 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10605 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10606 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10607 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10608 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10611 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10612 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10613 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10614 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10616 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10617 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10618 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10619 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10620 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10621 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10622 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10623 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10624 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10625 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10626 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10627 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10629 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10631 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10632 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10633 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10634 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10635 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10636 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10637 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10638 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10639 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10642 @node Crosspost Handling
10643 @section Crosspost Handling
10647 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10648 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10649 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10650 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10651 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10652 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10655 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10656 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10657 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10658 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10659 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10661 @cindex cross-posting
10663 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10664 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10665 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10666 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10667 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10668 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10669 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10670 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10671 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10672 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10673 the cross reference mechanism.
10675 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10676 @cindex overview.fmt
10677 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10678 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10679 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10680 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10681 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10682 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10685 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10686 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10687 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10692 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10695 @node Duplicate Suppression
10696 @section Duplicate Suppression
10698 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10699 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10700 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10701 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10706 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10707 is evil and not very common.
10710 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10711 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10714 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10715 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10718 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10721 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10722 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10724 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10725 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10726 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10727 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10728 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10729 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10730 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10733 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10734 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10735 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10736 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10737 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10738 saw the article in.
10741 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10742 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10743 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10745 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10746 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10747 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10748 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10749 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10750 session are suppressed.
10752 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10753 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10754 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10755 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10757 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10758 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10759 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10760 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10763 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10764 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10765 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10766 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10767 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10768 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10769 to you to figure out, I think.
10774 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10775 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10776 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10781 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10782 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10783 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10784 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10787 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10788 or newer is recommended.
10792 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10793 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10796 @item mm-verify-option
10797 @vindex mm-verify-option
10798 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10799 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10800 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10802 @item mm-decrypt-option
10803 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10804 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10805 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10806 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10809 @vindex mml1991-use
10810 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10811 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10812 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10816 @vindex mml2015-use
10817 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10818 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10819 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10824 @cindex snarfing keys
10825 @cindex importing PGP keys
10826 @cindex PGP key ring import
10827 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10828 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10829 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10830 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10831 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10832 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10833 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10834 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10835 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10838 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10841 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10842 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10845 @section Mailing List
10846 @cindex mailing list
10849 @kindex A M (summary)
10850 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10851 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10852 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10853 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10856 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10861 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10862 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10863 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10866 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10867 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10868 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10871 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10872 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10873 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10877 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10878 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10879 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10882 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10883 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10884 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10887 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10888 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
10889 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10894 @node Article Buffer
10895 @chapter Article Buffer
10896 @cindex article buffer
10898 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10899 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10900 tell Gnus otherwise.
10903 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10904 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10905 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10906 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10907 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10911 @node Hiding Headers
10912 @section Hiding Headers
10913 @cindex hiding headers
10914 @cindex deleting headers
10916 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10917 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10919 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10920 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10921 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10922 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10923 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10924 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10925 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10926 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10927 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10929 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10933 @item gnus-visible-headers
10934 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10935 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10936 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10937 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10939 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10940 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10943 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10946 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10949 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10950 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10951 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10952 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10953 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10954 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10956 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10957 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10960 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10963 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10966 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10967 variable will have no effect.
10971 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10972 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10973 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10974 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10975 the headers are to be displayed.
10977 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10978 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10981 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10984 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10985 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10987 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10988 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10989 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10990 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10991 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10992 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
10993 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10996 These conditions are:
10999 Remove all empty headers.
11001 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
11002 @code{Newsgroups} header.
11004 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
11005 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
11008 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
11011 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11012 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
11014 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
11015 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11017 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
11018 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
11020 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
11023 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
11025 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
11028 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
11031 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
11032 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
11035 This is also the default value for this variable.
11039 @section Using MIME
11040 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11042 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
11043 while people stand around yawning.
11045 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
11046 while all newsreaders die of fear.
11048 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
11049 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
11050 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
11052 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
11053 @findex gnus-display-mime
11054 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
11055 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
11056 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
11057 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
11059 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
11060 @acronym{MIME} button:
11063 @findex gnus-article-press-button
11064 @item RET (Article)
11065 @kindex RET (Article)
11066 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
11067 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
11068 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
11069 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
11070 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
11071 object is displayed inline.
11073 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
11074 @item M-RET (Article)
11075 @kindex M-RET (Article)
11077 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11078 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
11080 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
11082 @kindex t (Article)
11083 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
11084 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
11086 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
11088 @kindex C (Article)
11089 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
11090 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
11092 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
11094 @kindex o (Article)
11095 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
11096 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
11098 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
11099 @item C-o (Article)
11100 @kindex C-o (Article)
11101 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
11102 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
11103 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
11104 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
11105 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
11106 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
11108 @findex gnus-mime-replace-part
11110 @kindex r (Article)
11111 Prompt for a file name, replace the @acronym{MIME} object with an
11112 external body refering to the file via the message/external-body
11113 @acronym{MIME} type. (@code{gnus-mime-replace-part}).
11115 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
11117 @kindex d (Article)
11118 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
11119 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
11120 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
11122 @c FIXME: gnus-auto-select-part should be documented here
11124 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
11126 @kindex c (Article)
11127 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
11128 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). If given a prefix, copy the raw contents
11129 without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual
11130 charset stuff (see @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in
11131 @ref{Paging the Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
11132 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
11133 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
11134 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11136 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
11138 @kindex p (Article)
11139 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
11140 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
11141 @file{.mailcap} file.
11143 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
11145 @kindex i (Article)
11146 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
11147 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
11148 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
11149 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
11150 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
11151 Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and @file{.bz2} are
11152 automatically decompressed depending on @code{jka-compr} regardless of
11153 @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed Files,, Accessing
11154 Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
11156 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
11158 @kindex E (Article)
11159 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
11160 viewer is available, use an external viewer
11161 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
11163 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
11165 @kindex e (Article)
11166 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
11167 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
11169 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
11171 @kindex | (Article)
11172 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
11174 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
11176 @kindex . (Article)
11177 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
11178 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
11182 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
11183 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
11184 @acronym{MIME} manual.
11186 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
11187 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
11188 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
11189 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
11190 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
11191 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
11192 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
11193 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
11194 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
11196 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
11198 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
11201 @node Customizing Articles
11202 @section Customizing Articles
11203 @cindex article customization
11205 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
11206 exist. You can call these functions interactively
11207 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
11208 called automatically when you select the articles.
11210 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
11211 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
11212 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
11213 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
11215 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
11216 for sensible values.
11220 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
11223 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
11226 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
11229 @code{first}: Do this treatment on the first body part.
11232 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last body part.
11235 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
11239 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
11240 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
11241 regexps in the list.
11244 A list where the first element is not a string:
11246 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
11247 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
11248 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
11252 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
11257 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
11258 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
11259 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
11260 considered to contain just a single part.
11262 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
11263 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
11264 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11265 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11266 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11267 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11268 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11270 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11271 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11272 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11273 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11276 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11277 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11279 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11281 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11282 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11283 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11284 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11285 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, first, integer)
11286 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11287 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11288 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11289 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11290 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11292 @xref{Article Washing}.
11294 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
11295 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
11296 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
11297 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
11298 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
11299 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
11300 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
11302 @xref{Article Date}.
11304 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11305 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11306 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11310 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11312 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11314 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11315 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11316 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11320 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11324 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11328 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11329 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11330 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11331 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11332 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11333 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11334 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11335 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11336 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11337 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11339 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11341 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11342 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11343 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11345 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11347 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11348 @item gnus-treat-translate
11349 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
11350 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11352 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11353 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11354 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11355 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11357 @xref{Article Header}.
11362 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11363 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11364 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11365 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11366 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11370 @node Article Keymap
11371 @section Article Keymap
11373 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11374 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11375 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11376 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11379 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11384 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11385 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11386 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11387 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11390 @kindex DEL (Article)
11391 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11392 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11393 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11396 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11397 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11398 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11399 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11400 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11403 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11404 @findex gnus-article-mail
11405 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11406 given a prefix, include the mail.
11409 @kindex s (Article)
11410 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11411 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11412 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11415 @kindex ? (Article)
11416 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11417 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11418 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11421 @kindex TAB (Article)
11422 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11423 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11424 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11427 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11428 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11429 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11432 @kindex R (Article)
11433 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11434 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11435 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11436 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11440 @kindex F (Article)
11441 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11442 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11443 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11444 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11452 @section Misc Article
11456 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11457 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11458 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11459 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11462 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11463 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11464 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11465 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11466 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11468 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11469 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11470 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11471 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11472 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11473 the contents of the article buffer.
11475 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11476 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11477 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11479 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11480 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11481 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11482 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11484 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11485 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11486 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11487 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11489 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11490 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11491 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11492 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
11493 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
11494 with two extensions:
11499 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11500 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11501 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11506 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11509 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11512 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11513 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11514 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11517 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11520 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11523 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11528 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11532 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11534 @item gnus-break-pages
11535 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11536 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11537 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11538 paging will not be done.
11540 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11541 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11542 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11546 @cindex internationalized domain names
11547 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11548 @item gnus-use-idna
11549 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11550 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11551 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
11552 for how to compose such messages. This requires
11553 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11554 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11559 @node Composing Messages
11560 @chapter Composing Messages
11561 @cindex composing messages
11564 @cindex sending mail
11569 @cindex using s/mime
11570 @cindex using smime
11572 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11573 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11574 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11575 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11576 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11577 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11580 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11581 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11582 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
11583 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11584 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11585 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11586 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11587 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11588 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11591 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11592 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11598 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11601 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11602 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11603 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11604 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11605 @code{nil} include all headers.
11607 @item gnus-add-to-list
11608 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11609 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11610 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11612 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11613 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11614 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you for a confirmation when you are
11615 about to reply to news articles by mail. If it is @code{nil}, nothing
11616 interferes in what you want to do. This can also be a function
11617 receiving the group name as the only parameter which should return
11618 non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is needed, or a regular expression
11619 matching group names, where confirmation should be asked for.
11621 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11622 press @kbd{R} anyway, this variable might be for you.
11624 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11625 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11626 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11627 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11628 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11633 @node Posting Server
11634 @section Posting Server
11636 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11637 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11639 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11641 It can be quite complicated.
11643 @vindex gnus-post-method
11644 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11645 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11646 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11647 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11648 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11649 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11650 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11651 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11652 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11655 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11658 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11659 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11660 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11661 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11663 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11664 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11666 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11667 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11670 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11671 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11673 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11674 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11675 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11676 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11677 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11678 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11679 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11680 package correctly. An example:
11683 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11684 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11687 To the thing similar to this, there is
11688 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your @acronym{ISP}
11689 requires the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication.
11690 @xref{POP before SMTP}.
11692 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11693 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11694 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11696 @node POP before SMTP
11697 @section POP before SMTP
11698 @cindex pop before smtp
11699 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
11700 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
11702 Does your @acronym{ISP} require the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
11703 authentication? It is whether you need to connect to the @acronym{POP}
11704 mail server within a certain time before sending mails. If so, there is
11705 a convenient way. To do that, put the following lines in your
11706 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
11709 (setq message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
11710 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
11714 It means to let Gnus connect to the @acronym{POP} mail server in advance
11715 whenever you send a mail. The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function
11716 does only a @acronym{POP} authentication according to the value of
11717 @code{mail-sources} without fetching mails, just before sending a mail.
11718 Note that you have to use @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} which runs
11719 @code{message-send-mail-hook} rather than @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
11720 set the value of @code{mail-sources} for a @acronym{POP} connection
11721 correctly. @xref{Mail Sources}.
11723 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
11724 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
11725 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
11726 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
11727 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
11728 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
11731 (setq mail-source-primary-source
11732 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11733 :password "secret"))
11737 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
11738 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
11741 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
11743 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
11744 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11745 :password "secret")))
11746 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
11749 @node Mail and Post
11750 @section Mail and Post
11752 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11756 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11757 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11758 @cindex mailing lists
11760 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11761 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11762 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11763 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11764 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11765 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11766 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11767 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11768 still a pain, though.
11770 @item gnus-user-agent
11771 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11774 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11775 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11776 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11777 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11778 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11779 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11780 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11784 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11785 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11786 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11789 @findex ispell-message
11791 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11794 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11795 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11798 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11802 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11803 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11805 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11808 Modify to suit your needs.
11811 @node Archived Messages
11812 @section Archived Messages
11813 @cindex archived messages
11814 @cindex sent messages
11816 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11817 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11818 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11819 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11822 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11823 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11826 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11827 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11828 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11831 (nnfolder "archive"
11832 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11833 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11834 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11835 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11838 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11839 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11840 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11841 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11844 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11845 '(nnfolder "archive"
11846 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11847 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11848 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11851 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11853 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11854 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11855 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11857 This variable can be used to do the following:
11861 Messages will be saved in that group.
11863 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11864 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11865 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11866 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11867 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11868 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11869 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11870 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11873 @item a list of strings
11874 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11876 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11877 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11880 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11885 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11887 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11890 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11892 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11895 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11897 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11898 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11899 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11900 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11903 More complex stuff:
11905 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11906 '((if (message-news-p)
11911 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11912 messages in one file per month:
11915 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11916 '((if (message-news-p)
11918 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11921 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11922 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11924 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11925 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11926 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11927 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11928 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11929 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11930 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11931 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11932 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11933 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11935 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11936 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11937 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11938 this will disable archiving.
11941 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11942 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11943 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11944 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11945 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11948 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11949 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11950 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11953 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11954 but the latter is the preferred method.
11956 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11957 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11958 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11960 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11961 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11962 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11963 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11964 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11965 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11966 changed in the future.
11971 @node Posting Styles
11972 @section Posting Styles
11973 @cindex posting styles
11976 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11978 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11979 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11980 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11983 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11984 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11985 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11986 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11987 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11992 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11993 (organization "What me?"))
11995 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11996 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11997 (organization "Emacs is it")))
12000 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
12001 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
12002 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
12003 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
12004 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
12005 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
12006 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
12007 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
12009 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
12010 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
12011 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
12012 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
12013 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
12014 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
12015 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
12016 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
12017 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
12018 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
12019 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
12020 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
12021 said to @dfn{match}.
12023 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
12024 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
12025 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
12026 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
12027 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
12028 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
12029 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
12030 name can be one of:
12033 @item @code{signature}
12034 @item @code{signature-file}
12035 @item @code{x-face-file}
12036 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
12037 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
12041 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
12042 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
12043 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
12044 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
12045 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
12047 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
12048 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
12049 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
12050 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
12051 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
12052 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
12053 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
12054 references chars lines xref extra.
12056 @vindex message-reply-headers
12058 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
12059 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
12060 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
12062 @findex message-mail-p
12063 @findex message-news-p
12065 So here's a new example:
12068 (setq gnus-posting-styles
12070 (signature-file "~/.signature")
12072 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
12073 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
12075 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
12076 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
12077 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
12078 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
12079 (signature my-news-signature))
12080 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
12081 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
12082 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
12083 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
12084 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
12085 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
12086 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
12087 (address "user@@bar.foo")
12088 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
12089 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
12091 (From (save-excursion
12092 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
12093 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
12095 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
12098 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
12099 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
12100 if you fill many roles.
12107 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
12108 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
12109 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
12110 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
12111 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
12113 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
12114 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
12115 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
12116 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
12117 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
12121 @vindex nndraft-directory
12122 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
12123 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
12124 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
12125 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
12126 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
12127 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
12129 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
12130 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
12131 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
12132 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
12133 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
12134 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
12135 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
12136 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
12137 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
12139 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
12140 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
12141 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
12142 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
12143 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
12144 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
12145 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
12146 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
12147 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
12148 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
12149 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
12150 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
12151 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
12152 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
12154 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
12155 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
12156 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
12158 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
12159 @kindex D e (Draft)
12160 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
12161 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
12162 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
12164 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
12167 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
12168 @kindex D s (Draft)
12169 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
12170 @kindex D S (Draft)
12171 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
12172 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
12173 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
12174 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
12175 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
12178 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
12179 @kindex D t (Draft)
12180 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
12181 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
12182 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
12185 @node Rejected Articles
12186 @section Rejected Articles
12187 @cindex rejected articles
12189 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
12190 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
12191 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
12192 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
12194 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
12195 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
12196 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
12197 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
12198 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
12200 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
12201 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
12202 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
12204 @node Signing and encrypting
12205 @section Signing and encrypting
12207 @cindex using s/mime
12208 @cindex using smime
12210 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
12211 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
12212 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
12213 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
12215 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
12216 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
12217 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
12218 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
12219 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
12220 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
12221 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
12222 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
12223 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
12224 automatically encrypted messages.
12226 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
12227 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
12228 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
12233 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
12234 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
12236 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12239 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
12240 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12242 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12245 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
12246 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12248 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12251 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
12252 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
12254 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12257 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
12258 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
12260 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12263 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
12264 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
12266 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12269 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
12270 @findex mml-unsecure-message
12271 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
12275 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
12277 @node Select Methods
12278 @chapter Select Methods
12279 @cindex foreign groups
12280 @cindex select methods
12282 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
12283 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
12284 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
12285 personal mail group.
12287 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
12288 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
12289 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
12290 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
12291 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
12292 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
12294 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
12295 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
12297 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
12300 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
12301 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
12302 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
12303 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
12304 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
12306 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
12309 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
12310 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
12311 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
12312 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
12313 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
12314 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
12315 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
12316 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
12317 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
12321 @node Server Buffer
12322 @section Server Buffer
12324 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
12325 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
12326 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
12327 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
12328 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
12329 back end represents a virtual server.
12331 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
12332 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
12333 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
12334 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
12336 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
12337 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
12338 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
12339 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
12340 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
12341 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
12342 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
12344 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
12345 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
12348 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
12349 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
12350 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12351 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12352 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12353 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12354 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12357 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12358 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12361 @node Server Buffer Format
12362 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12363 @cindex server buffer format
12365 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12366 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12367 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12368 variable, with some simple extensions:
12373 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12376 The name of this server.
12379 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12382 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12385 Whether this server is agentized.
12388 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12389 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12390 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12391 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12401 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12404 @node Server Commands
12405 @subsection Server Commands
12406 @cindex server commands
12412 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12413 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12417 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12418 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12421 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12422 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12423 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12427 @findex gnus-server-exit
12428 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12432 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12433 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12437 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12438 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12442 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12443 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12447 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12448 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12452 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12453 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12454 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12459 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12460 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12461 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12462 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12467 @node Example Methods
12468 @subsection Example Methods
12470 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12473 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12476 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12482 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12483 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12486 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12487 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12489 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12490 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12494 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12497 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12498 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12500 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12501 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12502 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12506 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12509 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12512 Here's the method for a public spool:
12516 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12517 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12523 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12524 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12525 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12526 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12527 should probably look something like this:
12531 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12532 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12533 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12534 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12537 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12538 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12539 configuration to the example above:
12542 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12545 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}. Here's an example for
12546 an indirect connection:
12548 (setq gnus-select-method
12550 (nntp-address "news.server.example")
12551 (nntp-via-user-name "intermediate_user_name")
12552 (nntp-via-address "intermediate.host.example")
12553 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12554 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
12555 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches ("-C" "-t" "-e" "none"))
12556 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)))
12559 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12560 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12561 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12565 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12566 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12567 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12568 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12571 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12572 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12573 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12574 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12577 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12578 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12580 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12581 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12583 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12584 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
12585 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12587 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
12589 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
12590 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12591 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12592 will contain the following:
12602 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
12603 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12606 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12607 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12608 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12611 @node Server Variables
12612 @subsection Server Variables
12613 @cindex server variables
12614 @cindex server parameters
12616 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12617 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12618 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12619 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12620 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12622 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12623 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12624 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12625 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12626 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12627 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12628 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12629 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12630 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12634 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12635 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12636 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12639 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12641 @node Servers and Methods
12642 @subsection Servers and Methods
12644 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12645 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12646 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12647 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12651 @node Unavailable Servers
12652 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12654 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12655 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12656 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12657 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12658 actually the case or not.
12660 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12661 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12662 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12663 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12664 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12665 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12666 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12667 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12669 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12670 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12672 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12673 with the following commands:
12679 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12680 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12681 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12685 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12686 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12687 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12691 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12692 Mark the current server as unreachable
12693 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12696 @kindex M-o (Server)
12697 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12698 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12699 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12702 @kindex M-c (Server)
12703 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12704 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12705 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12709 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12710 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12711 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12715 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12716 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12722 @section Getting News
12723 @cindex reading news
12724 @cindex news back ends
12726 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12727 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12728 or it can read from a local spool.
12731 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12732 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12740 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12741 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12742 server as the, uhm, address.
12744 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12745 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12746 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12747 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12749 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12750 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12751 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12753 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12758 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12759 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12760 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12762 @cindex authentification
12763 @cindex nntp authentification
12764 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12765 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12766 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12767 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12768 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12769 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12770 present in this hook.
12772 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12773 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12774 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12775 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12776 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12777 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12778 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12779 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12780 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12781 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12782 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12783 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12787 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12790 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12792 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12793 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12794 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12795 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12796 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12797 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12798 @samp{force} is explained below.
12802 Here's an example file:
12805 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12806 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12809 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12810 have to be first, for instance.
12812 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12813 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12814 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12815 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12816 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12817 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12818 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12820 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12821 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12827 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12828 previously mentioned.
12830 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12832 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12833 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12834 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12835 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12836 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12839 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12840 '(("innd" (ding))))
12843 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12845 The default value is
12848 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12849 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12850 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12853 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12854 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12856 @item nntp-maximum-request
12857 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12858 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12859 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12860 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12861 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12862 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12863 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12865 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12866 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12867 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12868 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12869 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12870 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12871 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12872 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12873 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12874 no timeouts are done.
12876 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12877 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12878 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12879 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12882 @item nntp-xover-commands
12883 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12884 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12886 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12887 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12891 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12892 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12893 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12894 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12895 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12896 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12897 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12898 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12899 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12900 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12901 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12903 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12904 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12905 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12907 @item nntp-record-commands
12908 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12909 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12910 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12911 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12912 that doesn't seem to work.
12914 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12915 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12916 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12917 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12918 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12919 Seven pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped
12920 in two categories: direct connection functions (four pre-made), and
12921 indirect ones (three pre-made).
12923 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12924 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12925 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12926 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12927 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12928 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12929 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12932 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12935 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12936 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12941 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12942 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12943 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12944 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
12948 @node Direct Functions
12949 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12950 @cindex direct connection functions
12952 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12953 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12954 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12955 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12958 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12959 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12960 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12963 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12964 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12965 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12966 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12967 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12970 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12971 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12973 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12974 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12975 (nntp-port-number )
12976 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12979 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12980 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12981 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12982 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12983 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12984 then define a server as follows:
12987 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12988 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12990 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12991 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12992 (nntp-port-number 563)
12993 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12996 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12997 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12998 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12999 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
13000 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
13001 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
13002 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
13003 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
13007 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
13008 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
13009 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
13012 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
13013 session, which is not a good idea.
13017 @node Indirect Functions
13018 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
13019 @cindex indirect connection functions
13021 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
13022 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13023 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
13024 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
13025 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
13026 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13029 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13030 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
13031 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
13032 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
13033 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
13035 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
13038 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13039 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13040 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13041 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13043 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13044 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13045 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13046 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
13047 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
13048 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
13049 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
13050 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
13054 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
13055 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13057 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13058 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
13059 Does essentially the same, but uses
13060 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} instead of @samp{telnet}
13061 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
13063 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
13066 @item nntp-via-netcat-command
13067 @vindex nntp-via-netcat-command
13068 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
13069 intermediate host. The default is @samp{nc}. You can also use other
13070 programs like @uref{http://www.imasy.or.jp/~gotoh/ssh/connect.html,
13073 @item nntp-via-netcat-switches
13074 @vindex nntp-via-netcat-switches
13075 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
13076 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{nil}.
13078 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
13079 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
13080 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
13081 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
13083 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13084 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
13085 List of strings to be used as the switches to
13086 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}.
13089 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
13090 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
13091 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
13092 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
13094 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
13097 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
13098 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
13099 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
13102 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
13103 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
13104 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
13105 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
13107 @item nntp-via-user-password
13108 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
13109 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
13111 @item nntp-via-envuser
13112 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
13113 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
13114 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
13115 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
13117 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
13118 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
13119 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
13120 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
13124 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
13125 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
13129 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
13134 @item nntp-via-user-name
13135 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
13136 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
13138 @item nntp-via-address
13139 @vindex nntp-via-address
13140 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
13145 @node Common Variables
13146 @subsubsection Common Variables
13148 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
13149 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
13150 affected (the values of the following variables will be used as the
13151 default if each virtual @code{nntp} server doesn't specify those server
13152 variables individually).
13156 @item nntp-pre-command
13157 @vindex nntp-pre-command
13158 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
13159 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
13160 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}). This is
13161 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
13164 @vindex nntp-address
13165 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13167 @item nntp-port-number
13168 @vindex nntp-port-number
13169 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
13170 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
13171 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
13172 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
13173 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
13174 not work with named ports.
13176 @item nntp-end-of-line
13177 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
13178 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
13179 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
13180 using a non native telnet connection function.
13182 @item nntp-telnet-command
13183 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
13184 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
13185 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
13186 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
13189 @item nntp-telnet-switches
13190 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
13191 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
13197 @subsubsection NNTP marks
13198 @cindex storing NNTP marks
13200 Gnus stores marks (@pxref{Marking Articles}) for @acronym{NNTP}
13201 servers in marks files. A marks file records what marks you have set
13202 in a group and each file is specific to the corresponding server.
13203 Marks files are stored in @file{~/News/marks}
13204 (@code{nntp-marks-directory}) under a classic hierarchy resembling
13205 that of a news server, for example marks for the group
13206 @samp{gmane.discuss} on the news.gmane.org server will be stored in
13207 the file @file{~/News/marks/news.gmane.org/gmane/discuss/.marks}.
13209 Marks files are useful because you can copy the @file{~/News/marks}
13210 directory (using rsync, scp or whatever) to another Gnus installation,
13211 and it will realize what articles you have read and marked. The data
13212 in @file{~/News/marks} has priority over the same data in
13213 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
13215 Note that marks files are very much server-specific: Gnus remembers
13216 the article numbers so if you don't use the same servers on both
13217 installations things are most likely to break (most @acronym{NNTP}
13218 servers do not use the same article numbers as any other server).
13219 However, if you use servers A, B, C on one installation and servers A,
13220 D, E on the other, you can sync the marks files for A and then you'll
13221 get synchronization for that server between the two installations.
13223 Using @acronym{NNTP} marks can possibly incur a performance penalty so
13224 if Gnus feels sluggish, try setting the @code{nntp-marks-is-evil}
13225 variable to @code{t}. Marks will then be stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
13231 @item nntp-marks-is-evil
13232 @vindex nntp-marks-is-evil
13233 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any marks files. The
13234 default is @code{nil}.
13236 @item nntp-marks-directory
13237 @vindex nntp-marks-directory
13238 The directory where marks for nntp groups will be stored.
13244 @subsection News Spool
13248 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
13249 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
13250 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
13253 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
13254 anything else) as the address.
13256 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
13257 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
13258 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
13259 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
13263 @item nnspool-inews-program
13264 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
13265 Program used to post an article.
13267 @item nnspool-inews-switches
13268 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
13269 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
13271 @item nnspool-spool-directory
13272 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
13273 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
13274 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
13276 @item nnspool-nov-directory
13277 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
13278 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
13279 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
13281 @item nnspool-lib-dir
13282 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
13283 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
13285 @item nnspool-active-file
13286 @vindex nnspool-active-file
13287 The name of the active file.
13289 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
13290 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
13291 The name of the group descriptions file.
13293 @item nnspool-history-file
13294 @vindex nnspool-history-file
13295 The name of the news history file.
13297 @item nnspool-active-times-file
13298 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
13299 The name of the active date file.
13301 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
13302 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
13303 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
13306 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13307 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13309 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
13310 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
13311 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
13318 @section Getting Mail
13319 @cindex reading mail
13322 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
13326 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
13327 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
13328 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
13329 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
13330 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
13331 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
13332 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
13333 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
13334 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
13335 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
13336 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
13337 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
13338 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
13342 @node Mail in a Newsreader
13343 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
13345 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
13346 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
13347 of a culture shock.
13349 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
13350 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
13352 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
13353 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
13354 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
13355 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
13357 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
13359 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
13360 deleted? How awful!
13362 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
13363 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
13364 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
13365 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
13368 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
13369 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
13370 they want to treat a message.
13372 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
13373 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
13374 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
13375 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
13376 archived somewhere else.
13378 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
13379 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
13380 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
13381 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
13382 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
13384 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
13385 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
13386 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13388 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13389 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13392 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13393 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13394 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13395 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13396 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13398 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13399 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13400 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13401 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13402 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13403 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13407 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13408 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13410 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13411 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13412 and things will happen automatically.
13414 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13415 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13418 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13421 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13422 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13423 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13424 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13425 like any other group.
13427 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13430 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13431 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13432 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13436 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13437 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13438 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13441 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13442 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13443 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13446 @node Splitting Mail
13447 @subsection Splitting Mail
13448 @cindex splitting mail
13449 @cindex mail splitting
13450 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13452 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13453 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13454 to be split into groups.
13457 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13458 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13459 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13460 ("mail.other" "")))
13463 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13464 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13465 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13466 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13467 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13468 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13469 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13472 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13476 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
13477 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
13479 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13480 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13481 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13482 mail belongs in that group.
13484 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
13485 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13486 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
13487 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13488 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
13489 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
13490 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
13491 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
13492 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
13493 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
13495 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13496 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13497 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13498 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13499 thinks should carry this mail message.
13501 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13502 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13503 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13504 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13506 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13507 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13508 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13509 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13510 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
13512 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13515 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13516 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13517 links. If that's the case for you, set
13518 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13519 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13521 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13522 @findex nnmail-split-history
13523 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13524 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13525 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13526 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13529 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13530 Header lines longer than the value of
13531 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13534 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13535 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13536 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13537 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13538 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13539 charset for decoding. The behavior can be turned off completely by
13540 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13541 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13543 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13544 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13545 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13546 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13547 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13548 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13549 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13550 other kinds of entries.)
13552 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13553 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13554 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13555 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13556 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13557 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13558 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13559 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13560 month's rent money.
13564 @subsection Mail Sources
13566 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13567 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13568 maildir, for instance.
13571 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13572 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13573 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13577 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13578 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13580 @cindex mail server
13583 @cindex mail source
13585 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13586 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13591 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13594 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13595 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13596 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13599 The following mail source types are available:
13603 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13609 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13610 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13611 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13615 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13618 An example file mail source:
13621 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13624 Or using the default file name:
13630 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13631 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13632 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13633 mail spool while moving the mail.
13635 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13639 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13642 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13646 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13649 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13651 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13654 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13658 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13659 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13660 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13661 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13662 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13663 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13664 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13665 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13666 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13667 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13669 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13670 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13671 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13672 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13678 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13682 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13686 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13687 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13688 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13689 predicate are considered.
13693 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13697 An example directory mail source:
13700 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13705 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13711 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13712 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13715 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13716 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13717 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13718 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13719 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13722 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13726 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13727 the user is prompted.
13730 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13731 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13734 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13737 The valid format specifier characters are:
13741 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13742 included in this string.
13745 The name of the server.
13748 The port number of the server.
13751 The user name to use.
13754 The password to use.
13757 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13758 corresponding keywords.
13761 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13762 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13765 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13766 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13769 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13770 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13771 mail should be moved to.
13773 @item :authentication
13774 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13775 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13780 @vindex pop3-movemail
13781 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
13782 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13783 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used. If the
13784 @code{pop3-leave-mail-on-server} is non-@code{nil} the mail is to be
13785 left on the @acronym{POP} server after fetching when using
13786 @code{pop3-movemail}. Note that POP servers maintain no state
13787 information between sessions, so what the client believes is there and
13788 what is actually there may not match up. If they do not, then the whole
13789 thing can fall apart and leave you with a corrupt mailbox.
13791 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13792 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13798 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13801 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13802 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13805 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13808 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13812 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13813 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13814 contains exactly one mail.
13820 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13821 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13824 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13825 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13827 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13828 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13829 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13832 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13833 from locking problems).
13837 Two example maildir mail sources:
13840 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13841 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13845 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13850 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13851 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13852 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13853 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13854 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13856 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13857 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13863 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13864 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13867 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13868 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13871 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13875 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13879 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13880 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13881 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13882 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13884 @item :authentication
13885 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13886 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13887 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13888 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13891 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13892 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13893 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13899 The valid format specifier characters are:
13903 The name of the server.
13906 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13909 The port number of the server.
13912 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13913 corresponding keywords.
13916 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13917 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13920 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13921 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13922 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13923 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13924 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13925 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13928 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13929 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13930 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13931 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13934 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13935 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13939 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13942 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13944 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13948 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
13949 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
13950 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
13952 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13953 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13955 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13961 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13962 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13965 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13969 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13973 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13974 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13978 An example webmail source:
13981 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13983 :password "secret")
13988 @item Common Keywords
13989 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13995 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13996 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
14001 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
14006 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
14007 useful when you use local mail and news.
14012 @subsubsection Function Interface
14014 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
14015 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
14016 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
14017 consider the following mail-source setting:
14020 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
14021 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
14024 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
14025 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
14026 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
14027 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
14028 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
14030 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
14033 @node Mail Source Customization
14034 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
14036 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
14037 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
14041 @item mail-source-crash-box
14042 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
14043 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
14044 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
14046 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
14047 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
14048 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
14049 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
14050 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
14051 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
14052 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
14053 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
14055 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
14056 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
14057 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
14058 files. This variable only applies when
14059 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
14061 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
14062 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
14063 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
14065 @item mail-source-directory
14066 @vindex mail-source-directory
14067 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
14068 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
14069 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
14070 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
14072 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
14073 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
14074 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
14075 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
14076 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
14077 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
14080 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
14081 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
14082 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
14084 @item mail-source-movemail-program
14085 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
14086 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
14087 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
14092 @node Fetching Mail
14093 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
14095 @vindex mail-sources
14096 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
14097 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
14098 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
14099 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
14101 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
14102 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
14105 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
14106 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
14111 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
14112 :password "secret")))
14115 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
14119 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
14120 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
14123 :password "secret")))
14127 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
14128 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
14129 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
14130 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
14131 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
14132 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
14136 @node Mail Back End Variables
14137 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
14139 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
14143 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
14144 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
14145 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
14146 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
14148 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
14149 @item nnmail-split-hook
14150 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
14151 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
14152 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
14153 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
14154 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
14155 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
14156 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
14157 in the buffer will show up in any files.
14158 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
14161 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14162 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14163 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14164 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14165 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
14166 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
14167 starting to handle the new mail) and
14168 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
14169 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
14170 default file modes the new mail files get:
14173 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
14174 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
14176 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
14177 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
14180 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
14181 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
14182 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
14183 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
14184 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
14185 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
14186 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
14188 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
14189 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
14190 @findex delete-file
14191 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
14193 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14194 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14195 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
14196 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
14197 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
14199 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
14200 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
14201 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
14202 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
14203 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
14205 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
14206 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
14207 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
14212 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
14213 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
14214 @cindex mail splitting
14215 @cindex fancy mail splitting
14217 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
14218 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
14219 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
14220 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
14221 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
14222 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
14224 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
14227 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
14228 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
14229 ;; @r{from real errors.}
14230 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
14232 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
14233 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
14234 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
14235 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
14236 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
14237 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
14238 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
14239 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
14240 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
14241 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
14242 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
14243 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
14244 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
14245 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
14246 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
14247 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
14248 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
14252 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
14253 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
14254 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
14259 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
14260 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
14262 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split})
14263 If the split is a list, the first element of which is a string, then
14264 store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field}
14265 (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict}
14266 (yet another regexp) matches some string after @var{field} and before
14267 the end of the matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If
14268 none of the @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
14270 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
14271 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
14272 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
14273 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
14274 stored in one or more groups.
14276 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
14277 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
14278 process all @var{split}s in the list.
14281 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
14282 this message. Use with extreme caution.
14284 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
14285 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
14286 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
14287 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
14290 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
14291 body of the messages:
14294 (defun split-on-body ()
14298 (goto-char (point-min))
14299 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
14303 The buffer is narrowed to the message in question when @var{function}
14304 is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called after
14305 @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
14306 above. Also note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will
14307 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
14308 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
14309 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
14311 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
14312 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
14313 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
14314 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
14315 should return a split.
14318 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
14322 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
14323 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
14324 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
14325 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
14326 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
14328 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
14329 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
14330 they are expanded as specified by the variable
14331 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
14332 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
14333 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
14334 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
14338 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
14340 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
14341 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
14343 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
14346 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
14347 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
14348 when all this splitting is performed.
14350 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
14351 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
14352 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
14355 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
14358 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
14359 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
14361 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
14362 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
14363 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
14364 groupings 1 through 9.
14366 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
14367 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
14368 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
14369 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
14370 groups when users send to an address using different case
14371 (i.e. mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
14374 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
14375 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} controls whether partial
14376 words are matched during fancy splitting.
14378 Normally, regular expressions given in @code{nnmail-split-fancy} are
14379 implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers, which are word
14380 delimiters. If this variable is true, they are not implicitly
14381 surrounded by anything.
14384 (any "joe" "joemail")
14387 In this example, messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will
14388 normally not be filed in @samp{joemail}. With
14389 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} set to @code{t},
14390 however, the match will happen. In effect, the requirement of a word
14391 boundary is removed and instead the match becomes more like a grep.
14393 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
14394 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
14395 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
14396 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
14397 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
14398 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
14399 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
14400 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
14401 it once per thread.
14403 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
14404 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
14405 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
14406 using the colon feature, like so:
14408 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
14409 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
14411 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
14412 ;; @r{other splits go here}
14416 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
14417 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
14418 in the file specified by the variable
14419 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
14420 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
14421 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
14422 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
14423 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
14424 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
14425 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
14426 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
14427 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
14428 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
14429 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
14430 300 kBytes in size.)
14431 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14432 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
14433 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
14434 messages goes into the new group.
14436 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
14437 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
14438 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14439 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14440 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14441 ``outgoing'' group.
14444 @node Group Mail Splitting
14445 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14446 @cindex mail splitting
14447 @cindex group mail splitting
14449 @findex gnus-group-split
14450 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14451 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14452 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
14453 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14454 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14455 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14456 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
14457 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14459 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14460 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
14461 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14462 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
14464 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14465 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14466 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14467 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
14468 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14469 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14470 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14472 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14473 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14474 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14475 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14476 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
14477 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14478 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14480 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14481 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14482 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14483 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14484 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14485 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14486 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14487 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14488 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14489 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14490 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14491 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14492 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14494 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14499 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14500 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14502 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14503 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14504 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14505 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14507 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14510 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14511 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14512 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14515 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14516 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14517 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14521 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14522 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14523 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14527 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14530 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14531 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14532 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14533 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14534 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14535 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
14536 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14537 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14538 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14540 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14541 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14542 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14543 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14544 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14545 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14546 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14547 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14548 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14550 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14551 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14552 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14553 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14554 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14555 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14558 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14561 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14562 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14563 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14564 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14565 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14568 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14569 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14570 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14571 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14573 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14574 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14575 @cindex incorporating old mail
14576 @cindex import old mail
14578 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14579 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14580 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14583 Doing so can be quite easy.
14585 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14586 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14587 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14588 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14589 your @code{nnml} groups.
14595 Go to the group buffer.
14598 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14599 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14602 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14605 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14606 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14609 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14610 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14613 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14614 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14615 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14616 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14617 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14619 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14620 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14621 using the new mail back end.
14624 @node Expiring Mail
14625 @subsection Expiring Mail
14626 @cindex article expiry
14628 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14629 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14630 different approach to mail reading.
14632 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14633 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14634 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14635 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14636 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14637 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14640 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14641 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14642 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14643 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14644 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14645 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14646 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14647 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14648 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14650 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14651 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14652 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14653 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14654 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14655 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14656 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14659 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14660 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14661 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14662 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14663 into its own group.)
14665 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14666 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14667 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14668 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14669 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14670 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14671 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14672 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14675 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14676 Groups that match the regular expression
14677 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14678 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14679 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14681 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14682 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14683 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14684 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14685 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14687 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14689 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14690 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14691 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14694 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14695 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14696 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14697 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14698 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14700 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14701 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14704 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14705 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14708 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14709 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14711 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14712 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14713 don't really mix very well.
14715 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14716 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14717 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14718 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14721 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14722 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14723 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14724 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14727 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14729 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14731 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14733 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14735 ((string= group "important")
14741 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14742 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14744 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14745 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14746 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14749 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14750 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14752 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14753 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14754 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14755 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14756 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14757 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14758 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14759 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14760 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14761 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14762 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14763 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14764 name or @code{delete}.
14766 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14768 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14771 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14772 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14773 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14774 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14775 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14778 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14779 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14780 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14781 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14782 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14785 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14786 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14787 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14788 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14789 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14790 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14792 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14793 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14794 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14795 easier for procmail users.
14797 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14798 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14799 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14800 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14801 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14802 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14803 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14804 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14805 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14806 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14807 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14808 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14809 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14812 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14814 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14815 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14816 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14817 auto-expire turned on.
14821 @subsection Washing Mail
14822 @cindex mail washing
14823 @cindex list server brain damage
14824 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14826 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14827 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14828 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14829 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14830 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14831 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14833 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14834 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14835 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14838 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14839 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14840 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14841 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14844 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14845 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14846 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14847 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14848 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14851 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14852 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14853 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14854 Emacs running on MS machines.
14858 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14859 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14860 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14861 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14864 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14865 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14866 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14867 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14869 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14870 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14871 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14872 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14873 into a feature by documenting it.)
14875 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14876 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14877 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14878 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14879 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14880 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14881 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14884 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14885 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14888 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14889 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14892 This can also be done non-destructively with
14893 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14895 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14896 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14897 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14899 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14900 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14902 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14903 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14904 @code{References} headers.
14908 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14909 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14910 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14914 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14915 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14916 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14923 @subsection Duplicates
14925 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14926 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14927 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14928 @cindex duplicate mails
14929 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14930 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14931 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14932 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14933 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14934 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14935 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14936 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14937 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14938 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14939 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14940 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14941 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14943 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14944 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14945 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14946 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14948 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14951 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14952 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14956 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14957 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14958 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14959 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14960 (any mail "mail.misc")
14961 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14967 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14968 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14969 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14973 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14974 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14975 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14976 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14977 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14980 @node Not Reading Mail
14981 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14983 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14984 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14985 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14987 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14988 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14989 mail, which should help.
14991 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14992 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14993 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14994 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14995 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14996 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14997 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14998 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14999 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
15000 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
15001 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
15003 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
15004 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
15008 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
15009 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
15011 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
15012 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
15013 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
15015 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
15016 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
15017 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
15021 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
15022 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
15023 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
15024 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
15025 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
15026 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
15027 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
15031 @node Unix Mail Box
15032 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
15034 @cindex unix mail box
15036 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
15037 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
15038 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
15039 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
15040 which group it belongs in.
15042 Virtual server settings:
15045 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
15046 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
15047 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
15050 @item nnmbox-active-file
15051 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
15052 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
15053 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
15055 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
15056 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
15057 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
15058 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
15063 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
15067 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
15068 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
15069 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
15070 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
15071 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
15073 Virtual server settings:
15076 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
15077 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
15078 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
15080 @item nnbabyl-active-file
15081 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
15082 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
15083 @file{~/.rmail-active}
15085 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
15086 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
15087 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
15093 @subsubsection Mail Spool
15095 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
15097 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
15098 format. It should be used with some caution.
15100 @vindex nnml-directory
15101 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
15102 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
15103 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
15104 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
15106 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
15109 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
15110 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
15111 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
15112 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
15113 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
15114 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
15115 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
15116 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
15118 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
15119 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
15120 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
15121 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
15123 @cindex self contained nnml servers
15125 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
15126 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15127 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15128 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
15129 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
15130 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
15131 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
15132 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
15135 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
15136 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
15137 them next time it starts.
15139 Virtual server settings:
15142 @item nnml-directory
15143 @vindex nnml-directory
15144 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
15145 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
15148 @item nnml-active-file
15149 @vindex nnml-active-file
15150 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
15151 @file{~/Mail/active}.
15153 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
15154 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
15155 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15156 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
15158 @item nnml-get-new-mail
15159 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
15160 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
15163 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
15164 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
15165 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15166 default is @code{nil}.
15168 @item nnml-nov-file-name
15169 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
15170 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
15172 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
15173 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
15174 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
15176 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
15177 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
15178 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15179 default is @code{nil}.
15181 @item nnml-marks-file-name
15182 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
15183 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
15185 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
15186 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
15187 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
15188 files. This variable requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be
15189 enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs
15192 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
15193 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
15194 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
15195 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
15196 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-nil.
15200 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
15201 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
15202 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
15203 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
15204 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
15205 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
15206 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
15211 @subsubsection MH Spool
15213 @cindex mh-e mail spool
15215 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
15216 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
15217 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
15218 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
15221 Virtual server settings:
15224 @item nnmh-directory
15225 @vindex nnmh-directory
15226 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
15227 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
15230 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
15231 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
15232 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
15236 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
15237 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
15238 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
15239 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
15240 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
15241 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
15242 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
15247 @subsubsection Maildir
15251 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
15252 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
15253 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
15254 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
15255 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
15258 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
15259 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
15260 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
15261 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
15262 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
15263 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
15264 that appear as group in Gnus.
15266 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
15267 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
15268 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
15270 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
15271 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
15272 another, and you will keep your marks.
15274 Virtual server settings:
15278 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
15279 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
15280 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
15281 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
15282 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
15283 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
15284 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
15285 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
15286 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
15287 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
15289 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
15290 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
15291 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
15292 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
15293 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
15294 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
15295 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
15296 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
15297 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
15298 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
15301 @item target-prefix
15302 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
15303 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
15304 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
15307 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
15308 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
15309 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
15310 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
15311 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
15312 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
15313 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
15314 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
15315 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
15317 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
15318 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
15319 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
15320 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
15321 symlinks pointing to them will be).
15323 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
15324 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
15325 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
15326 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
15327 @code{force} argument.
15329 @item directory-files
15330 This should be a function with the same interface as
15331 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
15332 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
15333 parameter is optional; the default is
15334 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
15335 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
15336 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
15337 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
15338 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
15339 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
15342 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
15343 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
15344 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
15345 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
15346 value is @code{nil}.
15348 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
15349 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
15350 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
15351 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
15352 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
15355 @subsubsection Group parameters
15357 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
15358 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
15359 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
15360 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
15361 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
15362 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
15365 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
15366 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
15367 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
15368 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
15369 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
15370 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
15371 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
15372 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
15373 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
15377 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
15378 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
15379 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
15380 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
15381 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
15382 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
15383 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
15384 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
15385 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
15386 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
15387 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
15388 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
15389 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
15392 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
15394 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
15396 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
15397 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
15398 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
15399 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
15400 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
15401 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
15402 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
15403 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
15404 article. So that form can refer to
15405 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
15406 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
15407 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
15408 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
15411 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
15412 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
15413 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
15414 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
15415 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
15416 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
15417 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
15418 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
15419 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
15420 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
15421 contain extra copies of the articles.
15423 @item directory-files
15424 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
15425 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
15426 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
15427 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
15429 @item distrust-Lines:
15430 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
15431 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
15432 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
15435 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
15436 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15437 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
15438 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
15439 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
15440 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15443 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
15444 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15445 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
15446 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
15447 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
15448 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15449 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15451 @item nov-cache-size
15452 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
15453 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
15454 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
15455 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
15456 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
15457 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
15458 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
15459 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
15460 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
15461 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
15462 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15465 @subsubsection Article identification
15466 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15467 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15468 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
15469 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15470 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15471 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15472 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15473 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15474 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15475 request the article in the summary buffer.
15477 @subsubsection NOV data
15478 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
15479 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15480 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15481 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15482 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
15483 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
15484 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
15485 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
15486 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
15487 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
15488 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15490 @subsubsection Article marks
15491 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15492 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15493 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15494 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
15495 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15496 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
15497 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
15498 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15500 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15501 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15502 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15503 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15504 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
15505 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
15506 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
15507 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
15508 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
15512 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15514 @cindex mbox folders
15515 @cindex mail folders
15517 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
15518 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
15519 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
15520 numbers and arrival dates.
15522 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15524 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15525 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15526 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15527 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15528 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15529 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15530 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
15531 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
15532 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
15533 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
15535 Virtual server settings:
15538 @item nnfolder-directory
15539 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15540 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
15541 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
15542 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
15544 @item nnfolder-active-file
15545 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15546 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15548 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15549 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15550 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15551 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15553 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15554 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15555 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
15556 default is @code{t}
15558 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15559 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15560 @cindex backup files
15561 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15562 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
15563 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
15564 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
15567 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15568 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15570 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15573 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15574 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15575 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15576 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15577 extract some information from it before removing it.
15579 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15580 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15581 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15582 default is @code{nil}.
15584 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15585 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15586 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15588 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15589 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15590 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15591 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15593 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15594 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15595 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15596 default is @code{nil}.
15598 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15599 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15600 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15602 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15603 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15604 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15605 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15610 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15611 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15612 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15613 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15614 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15615 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15618 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15619 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15621 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15622 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15623 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15624 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15625 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15627 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15628 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15629 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15630 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15631 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15632 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15633 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15634 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15637 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15638 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15639 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15640 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15645 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15646 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15647 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15648 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15649 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15650 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15651 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15652 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15653 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15654 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15655 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15656 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15657 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15662 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15663 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15664 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15665 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15666 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15667 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15668 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15669 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15670 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15671 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15672 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15673 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15674 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15675 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15677 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15678 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15683 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15684 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15685 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15686 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15687 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15688 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15689 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15690 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15691 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15692 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15693 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15694 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15695 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15696 provided by the active file and overviews.
15698 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15699 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15700 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15701 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15702 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15705 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15706 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15711 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15712 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15713 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15714 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15715 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15716 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15717 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15721 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15722 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15723 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15724 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15725 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15726 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15727 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15728 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15729 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15731 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15732 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15733 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15734 friendly mail back end all over.
15738 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15739 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15742 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15743 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15744 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15745 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15746 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15747 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15748 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15749 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15752 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15753 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15754 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15755 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15756 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15757 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15758 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15759 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15760 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15761 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15762 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15764 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15765 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15766 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15767 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15768 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15771 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15772 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15773 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15774 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15775 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15776 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15777 removed in the future.
15779 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15780 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15781 on your file system.
15783 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15784 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15789 @node Browsing the Web
15790 @section Browsing the Web
15792 @cindex browsing the web
15796 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15797 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15798 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15799 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15800 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15801 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15802 even know what a news group is.
15804 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15805 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15806 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15807 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15808 you mad in the end.
15810 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15813 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15814 interfaces to these sources.
15818 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15819 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15820 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15821 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15822 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15823 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
15826 All the web sources require Emacs/W3 and the url library or those
15827 alternatives to work.
15829 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15830 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15831 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15832 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15833 though, you should be ok.
15835 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15836 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15837 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15838 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15839 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15841 @node Archiving Mail
15842 @subsection Archiving Mail
15843 @cindex archiving mail
15844 @cindex backup of mail
15846 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15847 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15848 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15849 marks is fairly simple.
15851 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15852 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15855 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15856 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15857 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15858 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15859 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15860 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15861 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15862 before you restore the data.
15864 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15865 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15866 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15867 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15868 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15869 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15870 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15871 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15872 is unnecessary in that case.
15875 @subsection Web Searches
15880 @cindex Usenet searches
15881 @cindex searching the Usenet
15883 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15884 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15885 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15886 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15887 searches without having to use a browser.
15889 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15890 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15891 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15892 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15893 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15895 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15896 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15897 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15898 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15899 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15900 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15901 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15902 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15903 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15904 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15907 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15908 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15909 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'@^etre} is to
15910 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15911 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15912 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15914 You must have the @code{url} and @code{W3} package or those alternatives
15915 (try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{mm-url} variable group)
15916 installed to be able to use @code{nnweb}.
15918 Virtual server variables:
15923 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15924 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15925 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15928 @vindex nnweb-search
15929 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15931 @item nnweb-max-hits
15932 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15933 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15936 @item nnweb-type-definition
15937 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15938 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15939 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15944 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15948 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15951 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15954 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15958 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15965 @subsection Slashdot
15969 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15970 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15971 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15973 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15974 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15977 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15978 '((nnslashdot "")))
15981 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15982 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15983 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15984 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15985 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15988 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15989 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15991 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15992 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15993 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15994 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
15995 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15996 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15997 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15999 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
16002 @item nnslashdot-threaded
16003 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
16004 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
16005 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
16006 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
16007 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
16008 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
16010 @item nnslashdot-login-name
16011 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
16012 The login name to use when posting.
16014 @item nnslashdot-password
16015 @vindex nnslashdot-password
16016 The password to use when posting.
16018 @item nnslashdot-directory
16019 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
16020 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
16021 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
16023 @item nnslashdot-active-url
16024 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
16025 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
16026 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
16027 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
16029 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
16030 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
16031 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
16033 @item nnslashdot-article-url
16034 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
16035 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
16036 article. The default is
16037 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
16039 @item nnslashdot-threshold
16040 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
16041 The score threshold. The default is -1.
16043 @item nnslashdot-group-number
16044 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
16045 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
16046 updated. The default is 0.
16053 @subsection Ultimate
16055 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
16057 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
16058 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
16059 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
16060 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
16062 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
16063 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
16064 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
16065 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
16066 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
16067 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
16068 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
16070 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
16073 @item nnultimate-directory
16074 @vindex nnultimate-directory
16075 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
16076 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
16081 @subsection Web Archive
16083 @cindex Web Archive
16085 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
16086 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
16087 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
16088 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
16091 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
16092 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
16093 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
16094 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
16095 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
16096 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
16097 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
16098 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
16100 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
16103 @item nnwarchive-directory
16104 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
16105 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
16106 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
16108 @item nnwarchive-login
16109 @vindex nnwarchive-login
16110 The account name on the web server.
16112 @item nnwarchive-passwd
16113 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
16114 The password for your account on the web server.
16122 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
16123 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
16124 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
16125 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
16126 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
16128 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
16129 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
16131 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
16132 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
16133 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
16136 @kindex G R (Group)
16137 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
16138 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
16139 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
16140 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
16142 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
16143 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
16144 subscribe to groups.
16146 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
16147 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
16148 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
16149 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
16150 variable. If it is @code{nil}, in Emacs the coding system defaults to
16151 the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system}. If you are using
16152 XEmacs and want to use non-@acronym{ASCII} group names, you should set
16153 the value for the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} variable properly.
16155 The @code{nnrss} back end generates @samp{multipart/alternative}
16156 @acronym{MIME} articles in which each contains a @samp{text/plain} part
16157 and a @samp{text/html} part.
16160 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
16161 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
16164 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
16165 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
16169 @defun nnrss-opml-export
16170 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
16171 @acronym{OPML} format.
16174 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
16177 @item nnrss-directory
16178 @vindex nnrss-directory
16179 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
16180 @file{~/News/rss/}.
16182 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
16183 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
16184 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
16185 data files. The default is the value of
16186 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
16187 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
16189 @item nnrss-use-local
16190 @vindex nnrss-use-local
16191 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
16192 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
16193 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
16194 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
16195 download script using @command{wget}.
16197 @item nnrss-wash-html-in-text-plain-parts
16198 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{nnrss} renders text in @samp{text/plain}
16199 parts as @acronym{HTML}. The function specified by the
16200 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} variable (@pxref{Display Customization,
16201 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) will be used
16202 to render text. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default, text will
16203 simply be folded. Leave it @code{nil}, if you prefer to see
16204 @samp{text/html} parts.
16207 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
16208 the summary buffer.
16211 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
16212 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
16214 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
16216 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
16217 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
16220 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
16224 (require 'browse-url)
16226 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
16228 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
16231 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
16232 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
16235 (browse-url (cdr url))
16236 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
16237 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
16239 (eval-after-load "gnus"
16240 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
16241 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
16242 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
16245 Even if you have added @code{"text/html"} to the
16246 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} variable (@pxref{Display
16247 Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
16248 Manual}) since you don't want to see @acronym{HTML} parts, it might be
16249 more useful especially in @code{nnrss} groups to display
16250 @samp{text/html} parts. Here's an example of setting
16251 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} as a group parameter (@pxref{Group
16252 Parameters}) in order to display @samp{text/html} parts only in
16253 @code{nnrss} groups:
16256 ;; @r{Set the default value of @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}.}
16257 (eval-after-load "gnus-sum"
16259 'gnus-newsgroup-variables
16260 '(mm-discouraged-alternatives
16261 . '("text/html" "image/.*"))))
16263 ;; @r{Display @samp{text/html} parts in @code{nnrss} groups.}
16266 '("\\`nnrss:" (mm-discouraged-alternatives nil)))
16270 @node Customizing W3
16271 @subsection Customizing W3
16277 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/W3 (or those
16278 alternatives) to display web pages. Emacs/W3 is documented in its own
16279 manual, but there are some things that may be more relevant for Gnus
16282 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/W3 follow links
16283 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
16284 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
16287 (eval-after-load "w3"
16289 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
16290 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
16291 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
16292 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
16294 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
16297 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in W3-rendered
16298 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
16305 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
16307 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
16308 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
16309 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
16310 specify the network address of the server.
16312 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
16313 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
16314 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
16315 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
16316 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
16317 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
16319 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
16320 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
16321 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
16322 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
16324 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
16325 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
16326 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
16327 usage explained in this section.
16329 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
16330 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
16331 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
16335 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
16336 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
16337 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
16339 (nnimap-address "localhost")
16340 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
16341 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
16343 (nnimap-server-port 143)
16344 (nnimap-address "localhost")
16345 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
16346 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
16347 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
16348 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
16349 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
16350 (nnimap-stream network))
16351 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
16353 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
16354 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
16355 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
16358 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
16359 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
16360 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
16361 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
16363 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
16368 @item nnimap-address
16369 @vindex nnimap-address
16371 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
16372 server name if not specified.
16374 @item nnimap-server-port
16375 @vindex nnimap-server-port
16376 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
16378 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
16381 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16382 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
16385 @item nnimap-list-pattern
16386 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
16387 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
16388 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
16389 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
16390 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
16391 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
16393 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
16394 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
16395 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
16398 Example server specification:
16401 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16402 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
16403 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
16406 @item nnimap-stream
16407 @vindex nnimap-stream
16408 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
16409 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
16410 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
16411 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
16412 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
16414 Example server specification:
16417 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16418 (nnimap-stream ssl))
16421 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
16425 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
16426 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
16428 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
16430 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
16431 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
16434 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
16435 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
16437 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
16438 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
16440 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
16442 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
16445 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
16446 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
16447 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
16448 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
16449 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
16450 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
16451 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
16452 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
16453 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
16456 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
16457 needed. It is available from
16458 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
16460 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
16461 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
16462 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
16463 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
16464 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
16465 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
16466 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
16469 @vindex imap-ssl-program
16470 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
16471 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
16472 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
16473 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
16474 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
16475 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
16478 @vindex imap-shell-program
16479 @vindex imap-shell-host
16480 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
16481 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
16483 @item nnimap-authenticator
16484 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
16486 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
16487 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
16489 Example server specification:
16492 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16493 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
16496 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
16500 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
16501 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
16503 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
16506 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
16507 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
16509 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
16511 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
16513 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
16516 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
16518 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
16519 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
16520 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
16521 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
16522 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
16523 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
16526 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
16527 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
16528 running in circles yet?
16530 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
16531 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
16534 The possible options are:
16539 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
16542 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
16543 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
16544 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16545 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16547 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16552 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16553 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16555 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16556 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16557 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16558 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16559 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16562 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16563 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16566 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16567 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16568 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16569 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16572 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16573 as ticked for other users.
16575 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16577 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16579 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16580 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16581 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16582 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16584 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16585 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16586 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16587 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16589 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16590 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16592 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16593 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16594 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16595 @ref{NNTP}. An example of an .authinfo line for an IMAP server, is:
16598 machine students.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis port imap
16601 Note that it should be @code{port imap}, or @code{port 143}, if you
16602 use a @code{nnimap-stream} of @code{tls} or @code{ssl}, even if the
16603 actual port number used is port 993 for secured IMAP. For
16604 convenience, Gnus will accept @code{port imaps} as a synonym of
16607 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16608 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16610 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16611 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16617 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16618 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16619 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16620 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16621 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16622 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
16627 @node Splitting in IMAP
16628 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16629 @cindex splitting imap mail
16631 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
16632 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16633 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
16634 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
16635 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16639 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
16640 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
16641 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
16643 Here are the variables of interest:
16647 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16648 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16650 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16652 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16653 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16654 found will be used.
16656 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16658 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16659 @cindex splitting, inbox
16661 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16663 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16664 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16665 splitting is disabled!
16668 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16669 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16672 No nnmail equivalent.
16674 @item nnimap-split-rule
16675 @cindex splitting, rules
16676 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16678 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16681 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16682 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16683 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16684 Neither did I, we need examples.
16687 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16689 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16690 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16691 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16694 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16695 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16696 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16698 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16699 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16703 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16706 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16707 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16709 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16710 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16711 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16712 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16714 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16715 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16716 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16717 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16718 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16719 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16721 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16722 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16723 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16725 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16726 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16727 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16729 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16731 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16732 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16733 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16736 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16737 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16738 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16739 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16740 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16741 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16744 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16745 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16746 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16747 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16748 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16749 group/function elements.
16751 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16753 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16755 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16757 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16758 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16760 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16761 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16762 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16765 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16766 @cindex splitting, fancy
16767 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16768 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16770 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16771 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16772 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16774 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16775 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16776 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16777 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16782 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16783 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16786 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16788 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16789 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16790 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16792 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16793 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16794 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16795 splitting function that analyzes the body to split the article.
16799 @node Expiring in IMAP
16800 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16801 @cindex expiring imap mail
16803 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16804 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16805 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16806 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16807 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16808 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16811 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16812 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16813 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16814 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16815 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16816 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16817 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16818 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16822 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16823 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16825 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16826 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16828 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16830 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16831 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16832 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16833 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16837 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16838 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16839 @cindex editing imap acls
16840 @cindex Access Control Lists
16841 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16842 @kindex G l (Group)
16843 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16845 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16846 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16847 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16850 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16851 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16852 editing window with detailed instructions.
16854 Some possible uses:
16858 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16859 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16860 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16862 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16863 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16864 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16868 @node Expunging mailboxes
16869 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16873 @cindex manual expunging
16874 @kindex G x (Group)
16875 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16877 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16878 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16879 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16881 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16884 @node A note on namespaces
16885 @subsection A note on namespaces
16886 @cindex IMAP namespace
16889 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16890 by the following text in the RFC2060:
16893 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16895 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16896 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16897 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16898 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16900 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16901 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16902 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16903 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16904 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16905 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16908 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16909 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16910 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16912 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16913 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16914 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16915 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16916 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16917 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16918 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16919 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16922 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16923 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16924 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16926 @node Debugging IMAP
16927 @subsection Debugging IMAP
16928 @cindex IMAP debugging
16929 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
16931 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
16932 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
16933 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behavior, chances
16934 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
16936 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
16937 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
16938 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
16939 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
16940 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
16941 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
16942 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
16946 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
16947 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
16954 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
16955 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
16956 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
16957 @code{BAD}---but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
16960 @node Other Sources
16961 @section Other Sources
16963 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16964 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16968 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16969 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16970 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16971 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16972 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16976 @node Directory Groups
16977 @subsection Directory Groups
16979 @cindex directory groups
16981 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16982 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16985 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16986 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16987 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16988 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16990 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16991 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16992 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16993 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16994 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16996 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16998 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16999 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
17000 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
17001 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
17004 @node Anything Groups
17005 @subsection Anything Groups
17008 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
17009 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
17010 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
17013 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
17014 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
17015 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
17016 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
17017 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
17018 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
17019 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
17020 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
17021 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
17022 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
17025 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
17026 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
17027 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
17028 in the article buffer, just as usual.
17030 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
17031 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
17032 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
17033 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
17035 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
17036 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
17037 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
17038 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
17039 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
17040 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
17041 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
17042 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
17047 @item nneething-map-file-directory
17048 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
17049 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
17050 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
17052 @item nneething-exclude-files
17053 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
17054 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
17055 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
17057 @item nneething-include-files
17058 @vindex nneething-include-files
17059 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
17060 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
17062 @item nneething-map-file
17063 @vindex nneething-map-file
17064 Name of the map files.
17068 @node Document Groups
17069 @subsection Document Groups
17071 @cindex documentation group
17074 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
17075 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
17081 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
17086 The standard Unix mbox file.
17088 @cindex MMDF mail box
17090 The MMDF mail box format.
17093 Several news articles appended into a file.
17095 @cindex rnews batch files
17097 The rnews batch transport format.
17100 Netscape mail boxes.
17103 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
17105 @item standard-digest
17106 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
17109 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
17111 @item lanl-gov-announce
17112 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
17114 @cindex forwarded messages
17115 @item rfc822-forward
17116 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
17119 The Outlook mail box.
17122 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
17125 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
17128 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
17131 An RFC934-forwarded message.
17137 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
17140 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
17146 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
17147 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
17148 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
17151 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
17152 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
17153 group. And that's it.
17155 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
17156 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
17157 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
17158 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
17159 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
17160 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
17161 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
17162 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
17163 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
17164 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
17166 Virtual server variables:
17169 @item nndoc-article-type
17170 @vindex nndoc-article-type
17171 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
17172 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
17173 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
17174 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
17175 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
17177 @item nndoc-post-type
17178 @vindex nndoc-post-type
17179 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
17180 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
17185 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
17189 @node Document Server Internals
17190 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
17192 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
17193 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
17194 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
17195 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
17197 First, here's an example document type definition:
17201 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
17202 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
17205 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
17206 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
17207 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
17208 types can be defined with very few settings:
17211 @item first-article
17212 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
17213 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
17216 @item article-begin
17217 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
17218 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
17219 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
17220 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
17222 @item article-begin-function
17223 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
17224 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
17227 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
17228 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
17229 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
17231 @item head-begin-function
17232 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
17233 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
17236 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
17237 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
17240 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
17241 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
17242 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
17244 @item body-begin-function
17245 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
17246 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
17249 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
17250 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
17251 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
17253 @item body-end-function
17254 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
17255 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
17258 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
17259 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
17262 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
17263 regexp will be totally ignored.
17267 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
17268 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
17269 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
17270 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
17271 something that's palatable for Gnus:
17274 @item prepare-body-function
17275 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
17276 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
17277 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
17279 @item article-transform-function
17280 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
17281 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
17282 body of the article.
17284 @item generate-head-function
17285 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
17286 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
17287 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
17288 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
17290 @item generate-article-function
17291 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
17292 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
17293 parameter when requesting all articles.
17295 @item dissection-function
17296 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
17297 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
17298 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
17299 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
17300 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
17301 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
17305 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
17310 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17311 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17312 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
17313 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
17314 (head-end . "^ ?$")
17315 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
17316 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
17317 (subtype digest guess))
17320 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
17321 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
17322 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
17323 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
17324 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
17326 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
17327 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
17328 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
17329 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
17330 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
17331 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
17332 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
17333 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
17334 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
17335 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
17336 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
17337 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
17345 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
17346 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
17347 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
17349 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
17350 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
17351 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
17354 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
17355 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
17356 that interested in doing things properly.
17358 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
17359 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
17362 First some terminology:
17367 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
17368 get news and/or mail from.
17371 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
17372 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
17375 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
17379 @item message packets
17380 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
17381 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
17382 default, where @var{x} is a number.
17384 @item response packets
17385 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
17386 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
17387 default, where @var{x} is a number.
17397 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
17398 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
17399 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
17400 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
17403 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
17406 You put the packet in your home directory.
17409 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
17410 the native or secondary server.
17413 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
17414 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
17417 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
17421 You transfer this packet to the server.
17424 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
17427 You then repeat until you die.
17431 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
17432 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
17435 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
17436 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
17437 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
17441 @node SOUP Commands
17442 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
17444 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
17448 @kindex G s b (Group)
17449 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
17450 Pack all unread articles in the current group
17451 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
17452 process/prefix convention.
17455 @kindex G s w (Group)
17456 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
17457 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
17460 @kindex G s s (Group)
17461 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
17462 Send all replies from the replies packet
17463 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
17466 @kindex G s p (Group)
17467 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
17468 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
17471 @kindex G s r (Group)
17472 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
17473 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
17476 @kindex O s (Summary)
17477 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
17478 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
17479 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
17480 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17485 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
17490 @item gnus-soup-directory
17491 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
17492 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
17493 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
17495 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
17496 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
17497 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
17498 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
17500 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
17501 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
17502 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
17503 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
17505 @item gnus-soup-packer
17506 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
17507 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17508 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
17510 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
17511 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
17512 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17513 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17515 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
17516 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
17517 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
17519 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17520 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17521 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
17522 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
17528 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
17531 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
17532 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
17533 you can read them at leisure.
17535 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
17539 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
17540 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
17541 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
17542 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
17544 @item nnsoup-directory
17545 @vindex nnsoup-directory
17546 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
17547 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
17549 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
17550 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
17551 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
17552 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
17554 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
17555 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
17556 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
17557 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
17558 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
17560 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
17561 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
17562 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
17563 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
17565 @item nnsoup-active-file
17566 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
17567 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
17568 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
17569 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
17570 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
17572 @item nnsoup-packer
17573 @vindex nnsoup-packer
17574 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
17575 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
17577 @item nnsoup-unpacker
17578 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
17579 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
17580 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17582 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
17583 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
17584 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
17587 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
17588 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
17589 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
17592 @item nnsoup-always-save
17593 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
17594 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
17600 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
17602 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
17603 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
17604 more for that to happen.
17606 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
17607 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
17608 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
17611 In specific, this is what it does:
17614 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
17615 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17618 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17619 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17620 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17623 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17624 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17625 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17628 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17629 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17630 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17632 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17638 @item nngateway-address
17639 @vindex nngateway-address
17640 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17642 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17643 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17644 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17645 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17646 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17647 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17648 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17651 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17652 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17653 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17656 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17659 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17662 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17665 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17667 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17670 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17671 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17672 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17674 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17676 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17677 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17678 @code{nngateway-address}.
17686 (setq gnus-post-method
17688 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17689 (nngateway-header-transformation
17690 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17693 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17696 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17701 @node Combined Groups
17702 @section Combined Groups
17704 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17708 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17709 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17713 @node Virtual Groups
17714 @subsection Virtual Groups
17716 @cindex virtual groups
17717 @cindex merging groups
17719 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17722 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17723 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17724 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17726 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17727 regexp to match component groups.
17729 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17730 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17731 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17732 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17733 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17734 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17735 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17736 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17738 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17739 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17742 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17745 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17746 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17748 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17749 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17750 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17751 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17754 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17757 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17758 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17759 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17761 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17762 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17763 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17764 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17765 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17767 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17768 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17769 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17771 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17772 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17773 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17774 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17775 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17776 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17777 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17778 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17779 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17780 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17781 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17783 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17784 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17785 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17786 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17787 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17788 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17789 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17791 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17792 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17794 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17795 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17799 @node Kibozed Groups
17800 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17804 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
17805 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
17806 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
17807 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17809 @kindex G k (Group)
17810 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17813 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17814 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17815 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17816 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17818 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17819 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17820 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17822 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17823 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17824 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17825 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17826 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17827 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17828 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17829 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17831 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17832 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17833 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17834 Stranger things have happened.
17836 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17837 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17839 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17840 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17841 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
17842 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
17843 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
17844 information on what groups have been searched through to find
17845 component articles.
17847 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17848 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17851 @node Email Based Diary
17852 @section Email Based Diary
17854 @cindex email based diary
17857 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
17858 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
17859 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
17860 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
17861 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
17862 namely, as event reminders.
17864 Here is a typical scenario:
17868 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
17869 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
17871 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
17873 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
17875 From time to time, as you type `g' in the group buffer and as the date
17876 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
17877 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
17879 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
17880 of the night you're gonna have.
17882 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
17883 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
17886 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
17887 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
17888 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
17889 explained in the sections below.
17892 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
17893 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
17894 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
17898 @node The NNDiary Back End
17899 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
17901 @cindex the nndiary back end
17903 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
17904 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
17905 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
17906 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
17907 directory per group.
17909 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
17910 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
17911 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
17912 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
17915 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
17916 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
17917 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
17920 @node Diary Messages
17921 @subsubsection Diary Messages
17922 @cindex nndiary messages
17923 @cindex nndiary mails
17925 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
17926 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
17927 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
17928 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
17929 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
17930 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
17931 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
17935 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
17936 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
17937 (separated by a comma).
17939 A field is either an integer, or a range.
17941 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
17943 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
17944 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
17945 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
17947 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
17948 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
17949 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
17951 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
17952 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
17953 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
17954 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
17955 list of available time zone values, see the variable
17956 @code{nndiary-headers}.
17959 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
17960 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
17961 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
17966 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
17969 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
17971 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
17974 @node Running NNDiary
17975 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
17976 @cindex running nndiary
17977 @cindex nndiary operation modes
17979 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
17980 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
17981 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
17982 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
17983 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
17984 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
17986 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
17987 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
17988 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
17989 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
17990 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
17991 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
17992 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
17995 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
18000 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
18001 line in your @file{gnusrc} file:
18004 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
18007 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
18008 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
18009 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
18010 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
18011 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
18013 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
18014 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
18023 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
18024 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
18026 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
18027 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
18028 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
18029 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
18032 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
18033 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
18034 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
18037 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
18038 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
18039 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
18041 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
18042 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
18043 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
18044 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
18045 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
18047 @node Customizing NNDiary
18048 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
18049 @cindex customizing nndiary
18050 @cindex nndiary customization
18052 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
18053 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
18054 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
18055 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
18057 @defvar nndiary-reminders
18058 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
18059 appointements (e.g. 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
18060 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
18061 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
18065 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
18066 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
18071 @node The Gnus Diary Library
18072 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
18074 @cindex the gnus diary library
18076 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
18077 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
18078 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
18079 useful things for you.
18081 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{gnusrc} file:
18084 (require 'gnus-diary)
18087 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
18088 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
18089 (sorry if you used them before).
18093 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
18094 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
18095 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
18096 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
18099 @node Diary Summary Line Format
18100 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
18101 @cindex diary summary buffer line
18102 @cindex diary summary line format
18104 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
18105 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
18106 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
18107 see the event's date.
18109 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
18110 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
18111 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
18112 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximative remaining time until the
18113 next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
18115 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
18116 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
18117 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
18120 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
18123 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
18124 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
18127 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
18130 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
18131 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
18132 with the following user options:
18134 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
18135 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
18136 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
18137 diary groups'parameters.
18140 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
18141 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
18142 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
18145 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
18146 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
18147 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
18148 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
18149 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
18152 @node Diary Articles Sorting
18153 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
18154 @cindex diary articles sorting
18155 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
18156 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
18157 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
18158 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
18160 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
18161 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
18162 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
18163 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
18164 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
18166 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
18167 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
18168 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
18169 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
18172 @node Diary Headers Generation
18173 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
18174 @cindex diary headers generation
18175 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
18177 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
18178 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
18179 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
18180 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
18183 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
18184 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
18185 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c D c} in @code{message-mode}
18186 and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the process of converting
18187 a usual mail to a diary one.
18189 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
18190 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
18191 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
18194 @node Diary Group Parameters
18195 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
18196 @cindex diary group parameters
18198 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
18199 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
18200 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
18201 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
18202 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
18203 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
18204 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
18205 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
18207 @node Sending or Not Sending
18208 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
18210 Well, assuming you've read of of the above, here are two final notes on
18211 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
18215 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
18216 messsages for real. This means for instance that you can give
18217 appointements to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
18218 sending the diary message to them as well.
18220 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
18221 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
18222 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
18223 comes in very handy for private appointments.
18226 @node Gnus Unplugged
18227 @section Gnus Unplugged
18232 @cindex Gnus unplugged
18234 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
18235 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
18236 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
18237 read news. Believe it or not.
18239 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
18240 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
18241 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
18242 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
18243 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
18245 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
18246 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
18247 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
18248 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
18249 reading news on a machine.
18251 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
18252 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
18253 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
18255 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
18258 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
18259 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
18260 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
18261 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
18262 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
18263 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
18264 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
18265 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
18266 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
18267 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
18268 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
18269 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
18270 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
18271 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
18276 @subsection Agent Basics
18278 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
18280 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
18281 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
18282 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
18283 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
18285 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
18286 connected to the net continuously.
18288 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
18289 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
18291 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
18292 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
18293 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
18294 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
18295 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
18297 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
18298 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
18299 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
18300 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
18301 they're kinda like plugged always).
18303 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
18304 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
18305 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
18308 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
18309 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
18310 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
18311 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
18312 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
18314 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
18319 @findex gnus-unplugged
18320 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
18321 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
18322 already fetched while in this mode.
18325 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
18326 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
18327 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
18328 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
18329 Source Specifiers}).
18332 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
18333 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
18334 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
18335 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
18336 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
18339 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
18340 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
18341 then you read the news offline.
18344 And then you go to step 2.
18347 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
18353 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
18354 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
18355 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
18356 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
18357 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
18358 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
18359 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
18360 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
18363 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
18364 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
18365 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
18366 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
18368 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
18369 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
18370 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
18371 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
18372 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
18373 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
18377 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
18381 @node Agent Categories
18382 @subsection Agent Categories
18384 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
18385 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
18386 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
18387 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
18388 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
18389 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
18390 you're interested in the articles anyway.
18392 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
18393 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
18394 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
18395 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
18396 buffer for creating and managing categories.
18398 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
18399 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
18400 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
18401 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
18402 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
18405 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
18406 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
18407 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
18408 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
18409 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
18410 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
18414 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
18415 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
18416 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
18420 @node Category Syntax
18421 @subsubsection Category Syntax
18423 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
18424 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
18425 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
18428 @cindex Agent Parameters
18431 The list of groups that are in this category.
18433 @item agent-predicate
18434 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
18435 are eligible for downloading; and
18438 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
18439 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
18440 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
18442 @item agent-enable-expiration
18443 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
18444 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
18445 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
18446 only groups that should not be expired.
18448 @item agent-days-until-old
18449 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
18450 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
18452 @item agent-low-score
18453 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
18455 @item agent-high-score
18456 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
18458 @item agent-short-article
18459 an integer that overrides the value of
18460 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
18462 @item agent-long-article
18463 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
18465 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
18466 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
18467 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
18468 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
18469 undownloaded faces.
18472 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
18475 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
18476 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
18477 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
18480 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
18481 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
18482 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
18483 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
18485 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
18486 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
18487 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
18489 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
18490 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
18491 operators sprinkled in between.
18493 Perhaps some examples are in order.
18495 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
18496 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
18502 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
18503 short (for some value of ``short'').
18505 Here's a more complex predicate:
18514 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
18515 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
18518 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
18519 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
18520 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
18522 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
18523 you want to do, you can write your own.
18525 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
18526 bound to the value determined by calling
18527 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
18528 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
18529 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
18530 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
18531 predicate to individual groups.
18535 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
18536 lines; default 100.
18539 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
18540 lines; default 200.
18543 True iff the article has a download score less than
18544 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
18547 True iff the article has a download score greater than
18548 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
18551 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
18552 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
18553 checksum and sees whether articles match.
18562 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
18563 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
18564 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
18567 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
18568 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
18569 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
18570 something along the lines of the following:
18573 (defun my-article-old-p ()
18574 "Say whether an article is old."
18575 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
18576 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
18579 with the predicate then defined as:
18582 (not my-article-old-p)
18585 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
18586 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
18590 (require 'gnus-agent)
18591 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
18592 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
18593 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
18596 and simply specify your predicate as:
18602 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
18603 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
18604 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
18605 just don't give a damn.
18607 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
18608 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
18609 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
18610 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
18611 parameters like so:
18614 (agent-predicate . short)
18617 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
18618 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
18619 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
18621 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
18624 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
18627 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
18628 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
18629 predicate is assumed to be a list.
18632 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
18633 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
18634 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
18635 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
18636 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
18637 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
18639 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
18640 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
18641 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
18642 if it's to be specific to that group.
18644 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
18651 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
18652 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
18658 Category specification
18662 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18668 Group/Topic Parameter specification
18671 (agent-score ("from"
18672 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18677 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
18683 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
18684 keywords stated above.
18690 Category specification
18693 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
18699 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
18703 Group Parameter specification
18706 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
18709 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
18714 Use @code{normal} score files
18716 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
18717 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
18718 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
18719 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
18721 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
18722 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
18723 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
18724 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
18728 Category Specification
18735 Group Parameter specification
18738 (agent-score . file)
18743 @node Category Buffer
18744 @subsubsection Category Buffer
18746 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
18747 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
18748 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
18750 The following commands are available in this buffer:
18754 @kindex q (Category)
18755 @findex gnus-category-exit
18756 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
18759 @kindex e (Category)
18760 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
18761 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
18762 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
18765 @kindex k (Category)
18766 @findex gnus-category-kill
18767 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
18770 @kindex c (Category)
18771 @findex gnus-category-copy
18772 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
18775 @kindex a (Category)
18776 @findex gnus-category-add
18777 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
18780 @kindex p (Category)
18781 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
18782 Edit the predicate of the current category
18783 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
18786 @kindex g (Category)
18787 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
18788 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
18789 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
18792 @kindex s (Category)
18793 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
18794 Edit the download score rule of the current category
18795 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
18798 @kindex l (Category)
18799 @findex gnus-category-list
18800 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
18804 @node Category Variables
18805 @subsubsection Category Variables
18808 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
18809 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
18810 Hook run in category buffers.
18812 @item gnus-category-line-format
18813 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
18814 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
18815 Variables}). Valid elements are:
18819 The name of the category.
18822 The number of groups in the category.
18825 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
18826 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
18827 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
18829 @item gnus-agent-short-article
18830 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
18831 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
18833 @item gnus-agent-long-article
18834 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
18835 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
18837 @item gnus-agent-low-score
18838 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
18839 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
18842 @item gnus-agent-high-score
18843 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
18844 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18847 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18848 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18849 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18850 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18851 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18852 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18853 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18854 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18858 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18859 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18860 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18861 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18862 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18863 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18864 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18869 @node Agent Commands
18870 @subsection Agent Commands
18871 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18872 @kindex J j (Agent)
18874 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18875 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18876 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18880 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18881 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18882 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18888 @node Group Agent Commands
18889 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18893 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18894 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18895 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18896 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18899 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18900 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18901 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18904 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18905 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18906 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18907 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18910 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18911 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18912 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18913 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18916 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18917 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18918 Add the current group to an Agent category
18919 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18920 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18923 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18924 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18925 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18926 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18927 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18930 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18931 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18932 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18938 @node Summary Agent Commands
18939 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18943 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18944 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18945 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18948 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18949 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18950 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18951 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18955 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18956 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18957 Toggle whether to download the article
18958 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18962 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18963 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18964 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18967 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18968 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18969 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18970 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18973 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18974 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
18975 Download all processable articles in this group.
18976 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
18979 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18980 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18981 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18982 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18987 @node Server Agent Commands
18988 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18992 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18993 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18994 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18995 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18998 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18999 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
19000 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
19001 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
19006 @node Agent Visuals
19007 @subsection Agent Visuals
19009 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
19010 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
19011 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
19012 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
19013 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
19014 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
19015 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
19016 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
19017 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
19018 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
19020 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
19021 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
19022 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
19023 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
19024 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
19025 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
19026 the download status of each article so that you always know which
19027 articles will be available when unplugged.
19029 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
19030 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
19031 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
19032 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
19033 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
19034 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
19035 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
19036 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
19038 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
19039 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
19040 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
19041 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
19042 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
19043 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
19044 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
19045 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
19046 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
19048 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
19049 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
19050 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
19051 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
19052 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
19053 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
19054 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
19055 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
19056 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
19057 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
19059 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
19060 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
19061 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
19062 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
19063 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
19064 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19066 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
19067 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
19068 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
19069 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
19070 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
19071 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
19072 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
19073 expiring'' articles.
19075 @node Agent as Cache
19076 @subsection Agent as Cache
19078 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
19079 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
19080 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
19081 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
19082 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
19083 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
19084 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
19085 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
19086 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
19088 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
19089 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
19090 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
19091 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
19092 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
19095 @subsection Agent Expiry
19097 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
19098 @findex gnus-agent-expire
19099 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
19100 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
19101 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
19102 @cindex agent expiry
19103 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
19106 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
19107 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
19108 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
19109 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
19110 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
19111 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
19112 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
19113 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
19115 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
19116 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
19117 synchronized with the group.
19119 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
19120 prevent expiration in selected groups.
19122 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
19123 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
19124 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
19125 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
19126 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
19127 be kept indefinitely.
19129 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
19130 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
19131 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
19132 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
19134 @node Agent Regeneration
19135 @subsection Agent Regeneration
19137 @cindex agent regeneration
19138 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
19139 @cindex regeneration
19141 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
19142 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
19143 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
19144 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
19145 internal inconsistencies.
19147 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
19148 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
19149 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
19150 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
19151 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
19152 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
19154 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
19155 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
19156 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
19157 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
19158 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
19159 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
19161 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19162 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19163 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
19164 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
19165 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
19166 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
19169 @node Agent and flags
19170 @subsection Agent and flags
19172 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
19173 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc) on the server. Sadly,
19174 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
19175 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
19176 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
19177 to the flags in its own files.
19179 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
19180 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
19181 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
19183 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19184 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19185 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19186 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19187 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19188 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19190 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
19191 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
19192 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
19193 in the group buffer.
19195 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
19196 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
19197 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
19198 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
19199 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
19200 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
19201 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
19202 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
19204 @node Agent and IMAP
19205 @subsection Agent and IMAP
19207 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
19208 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
19209 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
19210 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
19212 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
19213 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
19218 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
19221 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
19225 @node Outgoing Messages
19226 @subsection Outgoing Messages
19228 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
19229 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
19230 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
19232 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
19233 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
19234 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
19236 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
19237 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
19238 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
19239 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
19242 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
19243 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
19244 ask you to confirm your action (see
19245 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
19247 @node Agent Variables
19248 @subsection Agent Variables
19253 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
19254 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
19255 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
19256 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
19258 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
19259 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
19262 @item gnus-agent-directory
19263 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
19264 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
19265 @file{~/News/agent/}.
19267 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
19268 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
19269 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
19270 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
19271 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
19274 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19275 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19276 Hook run when connecting to the network.
19278 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19279 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19280 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
19282 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19283 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19284 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
19286 @item gnus-agent-cache
19287 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
19288 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
19289 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
19290 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
19292 @item gnus-agent-go-online
19293 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
19294 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
19295 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
19296 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
19297 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
19298 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
19301 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19302 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19303 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
19304 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
19305 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
19306 read. The default is @code{t}.
19308 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19309 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19310 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19311 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19312 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19313 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19314 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19316 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19317 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19318 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
19319 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
19320 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
19321 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
19322 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
19323 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
19324 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
19325 over and over again.
19327 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19328 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19329 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
19330 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
19331 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
19332 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
19333 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
19334 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
19335 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
19336 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
19337 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
19338 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
19341 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
19342 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
19343 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
19344 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
19345 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
19346 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
19347 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
19348 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
19349 is only valid if the Agent is used.
19351 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19352 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19353 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
19354 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
19355 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
19356 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
19358 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
19359 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
19360 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
19361 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
19362 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
19364 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
19365 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
19366 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
19367 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
19368 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
19369 mail. The default is @code{t}.
19371 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19372 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19373 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
19374 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
19375 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
19377 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19378 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19379 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
19380 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
19381 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
19382 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
19383 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
19384 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
19385 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
19386 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
19387 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
19392 @node Example Setup
19393 @subsection Example Setup
19395 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
19396 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
19397 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
19400 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
19401 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
19402 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
19404 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
19405 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
19406 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
19408 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
19409 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
19411 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
19412 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
19413 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
19416 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
19417 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
19420 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
19421 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
19422 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
19423 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
19424 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
19427 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
19428 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
19429 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
19430 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
19431 back all the killed groups.)
19433 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
19434 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
19435 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
19438 @node Batching Agents
19439 @subsection Batching Agents
19440 @findex gnus-agent-batch
19442 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
19443 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
19444 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
19446 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
19447 following incantation:
19451 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
19455 @node Agent Caveats
19456 @subsection Agent Caveats
19458 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
19459 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
19463 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
19465 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
19466 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
19467 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
19469 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
19470 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
19472 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
19476 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
19477 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
19478 locally stored articles.
19485 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
19486 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
19487 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
19490 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
19491 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
19492 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
19493 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
19494 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
19496 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
19497 before generating the summary buffer.
19499 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
19500 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
19501 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
19503 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
19504 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
19505 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
19506 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
19509 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
19510 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
19511 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
19512 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
19513 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
19514 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
19515 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
19516 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
19517 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
19518 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
19519 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
19520 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
19521 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
19522 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
19523 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
19524 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
19528 @node Summary Score Commands
19529 @section Summary Score Commands
19530 @cindex score commands
19532 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
19533 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
19534 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
19535 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
19536 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
19538 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
19539 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
19540 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
19541 score file the current one.
19543 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
19548 @kindex V s (Summary)
19549 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
19550 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
19553 @kindex V S (Summary)
19554 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
19555 Display the score of the current article
19556 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
19559 @kindex V t (Summary)
19560 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
19561 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
19562 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
19563 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
19564 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
19565 score file and edit it.
19568 @kindex V w (Summary)
19569 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
19570 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
19573 @kindex V R (Summary)
19574 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
19575 Run the current summary through the scoring process
19576 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
19577 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
19578 effect you're having.
19581 @kindex V c (Summary)
19582 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
19583 Make a different score file the current
19584 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
19587 @kindex V e (Summary)
19588 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
19589 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
19590 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
19594 @kindex V f (Summary)
19595 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
19596 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
19597 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
19600 @kindex V F (Summary)
19601 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19602 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
19603 after editing score files.
19606 @kindex V C (Summary)
19607 @findex gnus-score-customize
19608 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
19609 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
19613 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
19618 @kindex V m (Summary)
19619 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
19620 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
19621 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
19624 @kindex V x (Summary)
19625 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
19626 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
19627 expunge all articles below this score
19628 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
19631 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
19632 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
19635 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
19636 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
19640 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
19641 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
19643 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
19644 keys are available:
19648 Score on the author name.
19651 Score on the subject line.
19654 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
19657 Score on the @code{References} line.
19663 Score on the number of lines.
19666 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
19669 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
19670 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
19673 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
19674 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
19675 @file{ADAPT} files.)
19684 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
19690 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
19691 what headers you are scoring on.
19703 Substring matching.
19706 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
19735 Greater than number.
19740 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
19741 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
19742 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
19747 Temporary score entry.
19750 Permanent score entry.
19753 Immediately scoring.
19757 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
19758 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
19759 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
19763 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
19764 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
19765 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
19766 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
19768 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
19769 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
19770 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
19771 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
19772 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
19774 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
19775 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
19776 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
19777 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
19778 current score file.
19780 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
19781 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
19782 pretend they are keymaps or not.
19785 @node Group Score Commands
19786 @section Group Score Commands
19787 @cindex group score commands
19789 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
19794 @kindex W e (Group)
19795 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
19796 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
19797 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
19800 @kindex W f (Group)
19801 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19802 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
19803 all the time. This command will flush the cache
19804 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
19808 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
19810 @findex gnus-batch-score
19811 @cindex batch scoring
19813 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
19817 @node Score Variables
19818 @section Score Variables
19819 @cindex score variables
19823 @item gnus-use-scoring
19824 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
19825 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
19826 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
19828 @item gnus-kill-killed
19829 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
19830 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
19831 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
19832 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
19833 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
19834 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
19835 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
19837 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
19838 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
19839 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
19840 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
19841 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
19843 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
19844 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
19845 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
19846 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
19848 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19849 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19850 @cindex score cache
19851 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
19852 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
19853 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
19854 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
19855 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
19856 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
19857 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
19860 @item gnus-save-score
19861 @vindex gnus-save-score
19862 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
19863 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
19864 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19866 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
19867 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
19868 across group visits.
19870 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19871 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19872 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
19873 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
19874 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
19875 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
19876 manually entered data.
19878 @item gnus-summary-default-score
19879 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
19880 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
19882 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
19883 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
19884 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
19885 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
19886 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
19887 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
19889 @item gnus-score-over-mark
19890 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
19891 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
19892 default. Default is @samp{+}.
19894 @item gnus-score-below-mark
19895 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
19896 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
19897 default. Default is @samp{-}.
19899 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19900 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19901 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19902 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19904 Predefined functions available are:
19907 @item gnus-score-find-single
19908 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19909 Only apply the group's own score file.
19911 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19912 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19913 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19914 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19915 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19916 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19917 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19918 then a regexp match is done.
19920 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19921 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19923 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19924 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19925 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19926 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19928 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19929 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19930 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19931 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19932 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19936 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19937 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19938 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19939 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19940 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19941 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19942 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19945 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19946 overall score file, you could use the value
19948 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19949 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19952 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19953 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19954 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19955 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19956 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19958 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19959 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19960 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19961 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19962 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19963 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19964 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19965 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19967 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19968 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19969 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19971 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19972 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19973 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19974 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19975 threading---according to the current value of
19976 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19977 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19978 simplified in this manner.
19983 @node Score File Format
19984 @section Score File Format
19985 @cindex score file format
19987 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19988 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19989 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19991 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19995 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19997 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19999 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
20001 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
20006 (mark-and-expunge -10)
20010 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
20011 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
20012 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
20013 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
20017 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
20018 Scoring}, for a different approach.
20020 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
20021 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
20022 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
20024 Six keys are supported by this alist:
20029 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
20030 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
20031 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
20032 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
20033 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
20034 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
20035 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
20036 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
20037 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
20038 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
20039 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
20040 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
20041 to articles that matches these score entries.
20043 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
20044 score entry has one to four elements.
20048 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
20049 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
20053 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
20054 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
20055 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
20056 is successful. If this element is not present, the
20057 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
20058 instead. This is 1000 by default.
20061 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
20062 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
20063 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
20064 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
20065 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
20068 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
20069 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
20070 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
20071 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
20074 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
20075 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
20076 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
20077 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
20078 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
20079 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
20080 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
20081 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
20082 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
20083 instead, if you feel like.
20086 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
20087 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
20088 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
20089 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
20090 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
20091 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
20095 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
20096 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
20100 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
20101 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
20103 These predicates are true if
20106 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
20109 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
20110 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
20117 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
20118 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
20119 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
20120 it's not. I think.)
20122 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
20123 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
20124 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
20125 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
20128 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
20129 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
20130 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
20131 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
20132 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
20133 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
20134 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
20138 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
20139 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
20140 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
20141 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
20142 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
20143 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
20144 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
20145 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
20148 @item Head, Body, All
20149 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
20153 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
20154 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
20155 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
20156 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
20157 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
20158 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
20159 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
20163 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
20164 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
20165 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
20166 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
20167 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
20168 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
20169 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
20170 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
20171 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
20172 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
20173 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
20177 @cindex score file atoms
20179 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20180 lower than this number will be marked as read.
20183 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20184 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
20186 @item mark-and-expunge
20187 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20188 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
20191 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
20192 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
20193 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
20194 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
20195 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
20198 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
20199 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
20202 @item exclude-files
20203 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
20204 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
20208 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
20209 ignored when handling global score files.
20212 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
20213 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
20214 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
20215 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
20218 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
20219 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
20220 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
20221 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
20223 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
20227 (mark-and-expunge -100)
20230 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
20231 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
20232 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
20233 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
20234 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
20236 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
20237 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
20238 scoring rules exist.
20241 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
20242 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
20243 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
20244 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
20245 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
20246 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
20247 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20248 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
20249 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
20250 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
20251 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
20255 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
20256 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
20257 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
20258 file for a number of groups.
20261 @cindex local variables
20262 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
20263 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
20264 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
20265 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
20266 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
20271 @node Score File Editing
20272 @section Score File Editing
20274 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
20275 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
20276 with a mode for that.
20278 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
20279 additional commands:
20284 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
20285 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
20286 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
20287 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
20290 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
20291 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
20292 Insert the current date in numerical format
20293 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
20294 you were wondering.
20297 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
20298 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
20299 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
20300 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
20301 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
20306 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
20308 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
20309 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
20311 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
20312 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
20315 @node Adaptive Scoring
20316 @section Adaptive Scoring
20317 @cindex adaptive scoring
20319 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
20320 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
20321 stupidity, to be precise.
20323 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
20324 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
20325 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
20326 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
20327 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20328 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
20329 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
20330 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
20331 variable to @code{(word line)}.
20333 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20334 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
20335 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
20336 might look something like this:
20339 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20340 '((gnus-unread-mark)
20341 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
20342 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
20343 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
20344 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
20345 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
20346 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
20347 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
20348 (gnus-ancient-mark)
20349 (gnus-low-score-mark)
20350 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
20353 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
20354 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
20355 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
20356 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
20357 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
20358 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
20361 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
20362 will be applied to each article.
20364 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
20365 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
20366 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
20367 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
20369 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
20370 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
20371 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
20372 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
20374 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
20375 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
20376 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
20377 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
20379 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
20380 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
20381 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
20382 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
20383 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
20384 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
20386 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
20387 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
20388 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
20390 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
20391 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
20392 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
20394 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
20395 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
20396 let you use different rules in different groups.
20398 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
20399 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
20400 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
20403 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
20404 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
20405 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
20406 deafult) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
20408 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
20409 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
20410 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
20411 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
20412 the length of the match is less than
20413 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
20414 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
20417 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20418 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
20419 headers. If you adapt on words, the
20420 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
20421 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
20424 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20425 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
20426 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
20427 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
20428 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
20431 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
20432 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
20433 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
20434 score with 30 points.
20436 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
20437 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
20438 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
20439 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
20440 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
20442 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
20443 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
20444 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
20445 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
20446 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
20448 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
20449 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
20450 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
20451 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
20453 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
20454 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
20455 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
20456 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
20458 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
20459 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
20460 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
20461 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
20462 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
20464 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
20465 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
20466 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
20468 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
20469 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
20470 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
20471 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
20474 @node Home Score File
20475 @section Home Score File
20477 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
20478 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
20479 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
20480 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
20482 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
20483 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
20484 could perhaps use the same home score file.
20486 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
20487 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
20492 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
20496 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
20497 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
20501 A list. The elements in this list can be:
20505 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
20506 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
20509 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
20510 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
20511 name of the group as the parameter.
20514 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
20517 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
20522 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
20525 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20526 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
20529 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
20530 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
20532 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
20534 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20535 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
20538 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
20539 Other functions include
20542 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
20543 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
20544 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
20545 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
20549 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
20550 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
20551 their own home score files:
20554 (setq gnus-home-score-file
20555 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
20556 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
20557 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
20558 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
20561 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
20562 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
20563 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
20564 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
20565 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
20567 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
20568 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
20569 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
20570 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
20571 precedence over this variable.
20574 @node Followups To Yourself
20575 @section Followups To Yourself
20577 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
20578 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
20579 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
20580 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
20581 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
20582 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
20586 @item gnus-score-followup-article
20587 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
20588 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
20591 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
20592 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
20593 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
20597 @vindex message-sent-hook
20598 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
20599 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
20601 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
20605 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
20606 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
20610 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20611 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
20614 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
20615 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
20620 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
20624 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
20625 is system-dependent.
20628 @node Scoring On Other Headers
20629 @section Scoring On Other Headers
20630 @cindex scoring on other headers
20632 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
20633 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
20634 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
20635 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
20636 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
20638 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
20639 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
20640 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
20641 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
20642 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
20644 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
20647 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
20648 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
20651 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
20652 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
20653 time if you have much mail.
20655 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
20656 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
20662 @section Scoring Tips
20663 @cindex scoring tips
20669 @cindex scoring crossposts
20670 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
20671 the @code{Xref} header.
20673 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
20676 @item Multiple crossposts
20677 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
20678 more than, say, 3 groups:
20681 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
20685 @item Matching on the body
20686 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
20687 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
20688 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
20689 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
20690 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
20691 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
20692 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
20695 @item Marking as read
20696 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
20697 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
20698 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
20702 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
20704 @item Negated character classes
20705 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
20706 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
20707 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
20711 @node Reverse Scoring
20712 @section Reverse Scoring
20713 @cindex reverse scoring
20715 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
20716 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
20717 like this in your score file:
20721 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
20726 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
20727 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
20730 @node Global Score Files
20731 @section Global Score Files
20732 @cindex global score files
20734 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
20735 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
20736 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
20738 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
20739 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
20740 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
20742 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
20743 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
20744 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
20745 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
20746 files are applicable to which group.
20748 To use the score file
20749 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
20750 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
20754 (setq gnus-global-score-files
20755 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
20756 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
20759 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
20761 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
20762 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
20763 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
20764 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
20766 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
20767 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
20769 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
20770 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
20771 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
20772 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
20773 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
20774 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
20776 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
20782 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
20784 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
20786 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
20788 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
20789 lowered out of existence.
20791 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
20792 articles completely.
20795 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
20796 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
20797 old articles for a long time.
20800 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
20801 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
20802 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
20803 holding our breath yet?
20807 @section Kill Files
20810 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
20811 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
20812 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
20814 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
20815 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
20816 files into score files.
20818 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
20819 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
20820 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
20821 that isn't a very good idea.
20823 Normal kill files look like this:
20826 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20827 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
20831 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
20832 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
20834 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
20835 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
20838 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
20843 @kindex M-k (Summary)
20844 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
20845 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
20848 @kindex M-K (Summary)
20849 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
20850 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
20853 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
20858 @kindex M-k (Group)
20859 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
20860 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
20863 @kindex M-K (Group)
20864 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
20865 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
20868 Kill file variables:
20871 @item gnus-kill-file-name
20872 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
20873 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
20874 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
20875 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
20876 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
20877 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
20879 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20880 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20881 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
20882 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
20885 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
20886 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
20887 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
20888 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
20889 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
20890 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
20891 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
20892 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
20893 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
20895 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20896 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20897 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
20902 @node Converting Kill Files
20903 @section Converting Kill Files
20905 @cindex converting kill files
20907 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20908 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20909 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20912 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
20913 You can fetch it from
20914 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20916 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20917 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20918 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20922 @node Advanced Scoring
20923 @section Advanced Scoring
20925 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20926 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20927 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20928 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20929 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20931 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20935 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20936 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20937 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20941 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20942 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20944 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20945 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20946 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20947 non-@code{nil} value.
20949 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20950 operator, and various match operators.
20957 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20958 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20959 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20964 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20965 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20966 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20971 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20972 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20976 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20977 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20978 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20979 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20980 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20981 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20982 the ancestry you want to go.
20984 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20985 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20986 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20987 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20988 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20991 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20992 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20994 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20995 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20998 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20999 when he's talking about Gnus:
21004 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
21005 ("subject" "Gnus"))
21012 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
21016 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
21023 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
21024 really don't want to read what he's written:
21028 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
21029 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
21033 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
21034 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
21035 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
21042 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
21043 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
21044 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
21045 ("body" "white.*socks"))
21049 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
21050 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
21051 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
21052 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
21055 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
21057 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
21061 The possibilities are endless.
21063 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
21064 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
21066 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
21067 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
21068 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
21069 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
21070 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
21071 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
21072 @samp{subject}) first.
21074 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
21075 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
21086 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
21087 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
21093 ("subject" "Gnus")))
21100 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
21101 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
21106 @section Score Decays
21107 @cindex score decays
21110 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
21111 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
21112 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
21113 use them in any sensible way.
21115 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
21116 @findex gnus-decay-score
21117 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
21118 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
21119 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
21120 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
21121 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
21122 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
21123 regexp are treated. E.g. you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
21124 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
21125 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
21126 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
21130 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
21131 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
21132 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
21134 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
21136 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
21138 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
21139 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
21140 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
21141 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
21142 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
21144 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
21148 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
21149 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
21150 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
21151 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
21155 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
21158 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
21161 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
21165 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
21166 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
21167 the new score, which should be an integer.
21169 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
21170 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
21175 @include message.texi
21176 @chapter Emacs MIME
21177 @include emacs-mime.texi
21179 @include sieve.texi
21191 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
21192 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
21193 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
21194 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
21195 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
21196 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
21197 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
21198 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
21199 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
21200 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
21201 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
21202 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
21203 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
21204 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
21205 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
21206 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
21207 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
21208 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
21209 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
21210 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
21211 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
21215 @node Process/Prefix
21216 @section Process/Prefix
21217 @cindex process/prefix convention
21219 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
21220 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
21222 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
21223 command to be performed on.
21227 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
21228 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
21229 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
21230 with the current one.
21232 @vindex transient-mark-mode
21233 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
21234 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
21236 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
21237 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
21240 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
21241 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
21243 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
21246 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
21247 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
21248 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
21249 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
21251 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
21252 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
21253 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
21254 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
21255 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
21256 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
21257 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
21258 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
21260 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
21261 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
21262 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
21263 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
21264 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
21268 @section Interactive
21269 @cindex interaction
21273 @item gnus-novice-user
21274 @vindex gnus-novice-user
21275 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
21276 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
21277 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
21278 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
21281 @item gnus-expert-user
21282 @vindex gnus-expert-user
21283 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
21284 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
21285 matter how strange.
21287 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
21288 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
21289 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
21290 is @code{t} by default.
21292 @item gnus-interactive-exit
21293 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
21294 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21299 @node Symbolic Prefixes
21300 @section Symbolic Prefixes
21301 @cindex symbolic prefixes
21303 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
21304 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
21305 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
21306 rule of 900 to the current article.
21308 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
21309 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
21310 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
21311 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
21312 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
21313 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
21314 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
21316 @kindex M-i (Summary)
21317 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
21318 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
21319 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
21320 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
21321 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
21322 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
21323 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
21324 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
21326 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
21327 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
21328 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
21330 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
21334 @node Formatting Variables
21335 @section Formatting Variables
21336 @cindex formatting variables
21338 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
21339 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
21340 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
21341 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
21342 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
21345 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
21346 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
21347 lots of percentages everywhere.
21350 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
21351 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
21352 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
21353 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
21354 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
21355 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
21356 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
21357 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
21360 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
21361 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
21362 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
21363 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
21364 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
21365 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
21366 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
21367 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
21369 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
21370 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
21372 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
21373 @findex gnus-update-format
21374 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
21375 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
21376 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
21377 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
21381 @node Formatting Basics
21382 @subsection Formatting Basics
21384 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
21385 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
21386 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
21388 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
21389 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
21390 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
21391 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
21392 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
21395 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
21396 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
21397 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
21398 less than 4 characters wide.
21400 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
21401 @samp{%&user-date;}.
21404 @node Mode Line Formatting
21405 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
21407 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
21408 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
21409 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
21410 with the following two differences:
21415 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
21418 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
21419 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
21420 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
21421 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
21422 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
21423 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
21424 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
21429 @node Advanced Formatting
21430 @subsection Advanced Formatting
21432 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
21433 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
21434 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
21435 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
21437 These are the valid modifiers:
21442 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
21446 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
21451 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
21454 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
21459 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
21462 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
21465 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
21468 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
21474 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
21479 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
21480 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
21481 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
21482 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
21483 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
21484 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
21485 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
21487 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
21488 last operation, padding.
21490 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
21491 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
21492 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
21493 @xref{Compilation}.
21496 @node User-Defined Specs
21497 @subsection User-Defined Specs
21499 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
21500 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
21501 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
21502 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
21503 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
21504 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
21505 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
21506 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
21507 should protect against that.
21509 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
21510 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
21512 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
21513 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
21514 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
21515 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
21519 @node Formatting Fonts
21520 @subsection Formatting Fonts
21522 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
21523 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
21524 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
21525 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
21528 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
21529 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
21530 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
21531 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
21532 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
21533 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
21535 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
21536 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
21537 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
21538 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
21539 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
21540 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
21541 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
21542 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
21543 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
21544 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
21545 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
21548 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
21551 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
21552 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
21553 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
21555 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
21556 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
21557 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
21558 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
21559 ;; @r{Set the color.}
21560 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
21561 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
21563 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
21564 (setq gnus-group-line-format
21565 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
21568 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
21569 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
21571 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
21572 mode-line variables.
21574 @node Positioning Point
21575 @subsection Positioning Point
21577 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
21578 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
21579 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
21581 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
21583 @findex gnus-goto-colon
21584 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
21585 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
21587 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
21588 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
21589 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
21594 @subsection Tabulation
21596 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
21597 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
21598 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
21599 about lining up the following text afterwards.
21601 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
21602 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
21604 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
21605 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
21606 This is the soft tabulator.
21608 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
21609 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
21610 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
21613 @node Wide Characters
21614 @subsection Wide Characters
21616 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
21617 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
21618 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
21620 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
21621 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
21622 these countries, that's not true.
21624 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
21625 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
21626 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
21627 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
21631 @node Window Layout
21632 @section Window Layout
21633 @cindex window layout
21635 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
21637 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
21638 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
21639 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
21640 @code{t} by default.
21642 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
21643 glitches. Use at your own peril.
21645 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
21646 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
21647 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
21650 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
21651 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
21652 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
21656 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
21657 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
21658 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
21659 possible names is listed below.
21661 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
21662 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
21665 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
21669 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
21670 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
21671 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
21672 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
21673 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
21674 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
21675 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
21676 size spec per split.
21678 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
21679 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
21680 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
21681 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
21682 present) gets focus.
21684 Here's a more complicated example:
21687 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
21688 (summary 0.25 point)
21689 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
21693 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
21694 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
21695 occupy, not a percentage.
21697 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
21698 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
21699 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
21700 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
21701 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
21704 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
21707 (article (horizontal 1.0
21712 (summary 0.25 point)
21717 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
21718 @code{horizontal} thingie?
21720 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
21721 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
21722 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
21723 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
21724 the screen is to be given to this strip.
21726 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
21727 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
21728 lines from the splits.
21730 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
21735 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
21736 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
21737 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
21738 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
21739 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
21740 size = number | frame-params
21741 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
21745 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
21746 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
21747 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
21748 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
21750 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
21751 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
21752 @cindex window height
21753 @cindex window width
21754 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
21755 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
21756 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
21757 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
21758 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
21759 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
21761 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
21762 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
21763 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
21764 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
21766 @findex gnus-configure-frame
21767 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
21768 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
21769 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
21770 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
21771 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
21772 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
21773 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
21774 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
21775 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
21776 configuration list.
21779 (gnus-configure-frame
21783 (article 0.3 point))
21791 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
21792 @code{frame} split:
21795 (gnus-configure-frame
21798 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
21800 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
21801 (user-position . t)
21802 (left . -1) (top . 1))
21807 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
21808 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
21809 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
21810 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
21811 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
21812 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
21813 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
21814 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
21816 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
21817 be found in its default value.
21819 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
21820 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
21821 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
21825 (message (horizontal 1.0
21826 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
21828 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
21833 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
21834 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
21835 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
21840 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
21841 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
21842 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
21843 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
21844 (name . "Message"))
21845 (message 1.0 point))))
21848 @findex gnus-add-configuration
21849 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
21850 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
21851 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
21852 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
21855 (gnus-add-configuration
21856 '(article (vertical 1.0
21858 (summary .25 point)
21862 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
21863 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
21864 Gnus has been loaded.
21866 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
21867 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
21868 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
21869 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
21870 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
21872 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
21873 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
21874 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
21877 @subsection Example Window Configurations
21881 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
21882 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
21897 (gnus-add-configuration
21900 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21902 (summary 0.16 point)
21905 (gnus-add-configuration
21908 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21909 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21915 @node Faces and Fonts
21916 @section Faces and Fonts
21921 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21922 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21923 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21928 @section Compilation
21929 @cindex compilation
21930 @cindex byte-compilation
21932 @findex gnus-compile
21934 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21935 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21936 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
21937 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21938 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21939 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21942 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21943 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21944 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21945 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
21946 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
21947 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
21948 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
21952 @section Mode Lines
21955 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21956 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21957 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21958 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21959 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21960 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21961 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21964 @cindex display-time
21966 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21967 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21968 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21969 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21970 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21971 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21972 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21973 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21976 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21978 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21979 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21981 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21982 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21983 (length display-time-string)))))
21986 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21987 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21988 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21989 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21990 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21993 @node Highlighting and Menus
21994 @section Highlighting and Menus
21996 @cindex highlighting
21999 @vindex gnus-visual
22000 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
22001 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
22002 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
22005 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
22006 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
22009 @item group-highlight
22010 Do highlights in the group buffer.
22011 @item summary-highlight
22012 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
22013 @item article-highlight
22014 Do highlights in the article buffer.
22016 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
22018 Create menus in the group buffer.
22020 Create menus in the summary buffers.
22022 Create menus in the article buffer.
22024 Create menus in the browse buffer.
22026 Create menus in the server buffer.
22028 Create menus in the score buffers.
22030 Create menus in all buffers.
22033 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
22034 buffers, you could say something like:
22037 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
22040 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
22043 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
22046 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
22047 in all Gnus buffers.
22049 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
22052 @item gnus-mouse-face
22053 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22054 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
22055 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
22059 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
22063 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
22064 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
22065 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
22067 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
22068 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
22069 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
22071 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
22072 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
22073 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
22075 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
22076 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
22077 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
22079 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
22080 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
22081 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
22083 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
22084 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
22085 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
22096 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
22097 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
22098 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
22099 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
22100 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
22104 @vindex gnus-carpal
22105 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
22106 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
22107 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
22112 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
22113 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
22114 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
22116 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
22117 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
22118 Face used on buttons.
22120 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
22121 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
22122 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
22124 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
22125 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
22126 Buttons in the group buffer.
22128 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
22129 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
22130 Buttons in the summary buffer.
22132 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
22133 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
22134 Buttons in the server buffer.
22136 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
22137 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
22138 Buttons in the browse buffer.
22141 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
22142 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
22143 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
22151 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
22152 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
22153 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
22154 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
22155 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
22157 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
22158 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
22159 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
22161 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
22162 been idle for thirty minutes:
22165 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
22168 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
22172 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
22175 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
22176 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
22177 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
22179 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
22180 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
22181 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
22182 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
22184 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
22185 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
22186 @var{idle} minutes.
22188 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
22189 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
22192 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
22193 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
22194 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
22196 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
22197 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
22198 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
22199 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
22201 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
22202 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22204 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
22206 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
22209 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
22210 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
22211 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
22212 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
22213 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
22214 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
22215 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
22216 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
22217 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
22218 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
22219 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
22221 @findex gnus-demon-init
22222 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
22223 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
22224 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
22225 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
22226 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
22228 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
22229 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
22230 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
22239 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
22240 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
22242 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
22243 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
22244 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
22245 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
22248 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
22249 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
22250 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
22251 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
22253 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
22254 this will make spam disappear.
22256 There are some variables to customize, of course:
22259 @item gnus-use-nocem
22260 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
22261 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
22264 @item gnus-nocem-groups
22265 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
22266 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
22269 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
22270 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
22273 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
22274 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
22275 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
22276 people you want to listen to. The default is
22278 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
22279 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
22281 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
22283 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
22284 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
22286 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
22287 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
22288 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
22289 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
22290 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
22291 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
22292 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
22293 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
22294 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
22295 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
22297 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
22298 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
22301 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
22304 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
22305 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
22308 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
22311 The specs are applied left-to-right.
22314 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
22315 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
22317 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
22318 says she is. The default is @code{pgg-verify}, which returns
22319 non-@code{nil} if the verification is successful, otherwise (including
22320 the case the NoCeM message was not signed) returns @code{nil}. If this
22321 is too slow and you don't care for verification (which may be dangerous),
22322 you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
22324 Formerly the default was @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
22325 function. While you can still use it, you can change it into
22326 @code{pgg-verify} running with GnuPG if you are willing to add the
22327 @acronym{PGP} public keys to GnuPG's keyring.
22329 @item gnus-nocem-directory
22330 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
22331 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
22332 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
22334 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
22335 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
22336 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
22337 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
22338 might then see old spam.
22340 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
22341 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
22342 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
22343 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
22344 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
22347 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
22348 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
22349 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
22350 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
22354 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
22355 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
22356 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
22357 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
22364 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
22365 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
22366 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
22368 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
22369 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
22370 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
22371 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
22372 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
22373 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
22374 @code{undo} function.
22376 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
22377 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
22378 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
22379 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
22380 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
22381 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
22382 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
22383 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
22384 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
22385 never be totally undoable.
22387 @findex gnus-undo-mode
22388 @vindex gnus-use-undo
22390 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
22391 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
22392 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
22393 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
22397 @node Predicate Specifiers
22398 @section Predicate Specifiers
22399 @cindex predicate specifiers
22401 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
22402 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
22403 to type all that much.
22405 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
22410 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
22411 gnus-article-unread-p)
22414 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
22415 functions all take one parameter.
22417 @findex gnus-make-predicate
22418 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
22419 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
22420 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
22425 @section Moderation
22428 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
22429 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
22430 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
22433 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
22437 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
22440 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
22442 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
22447 You split your incoming mail by matching on
22448 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
22449 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
22452 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
22453 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
22456 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
22457 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
22461 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
22464 (setq gnus-moderated-list
22465 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
22469 @node Fetching a Group
22470 @section Fetching a Group
22471 @cindex fetching a group
22473 @findex gnus-fetch-group
22474 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
22475 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
22476 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
22477 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
22478 It takes the group name as a parameter.
22481 @node Image Enhancements
22482 @section Image Enhancements
22484 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
22485 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
22486 taken advantage of that.
22489 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
22490 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
22491 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
22492 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
22493 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
22501 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
22502 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
22503 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
22507 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
22508 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
22509 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
22517 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
22518 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
22519 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
22520 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
22522 The variable that controls this is the
22523 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
22524 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
22525 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
22526 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
22527 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
22529 The default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
22530 @code{display} program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick
22531 package. For the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look
22532 for a package like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux
22533 system.} to view the face.
22535 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
22536 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
22537 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
22538 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
22539 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
22540 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
22541 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
22542 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
22544 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
22552 @vindex gnus-x-face
22553 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
22554 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
22555 default colors are black and white.
22557 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
22558 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
22559 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
22560 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
22561 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
22562 XEmacs. Here are examples:
22565 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
22566 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
22567 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
22568 (png . (:ascent 80))))
22570 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
22571 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
22572 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
22573 (png . (:relief -2))))
22576 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
22577 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
22578 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
22579 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
22580 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
22581 @samp{libcompface} library.
22584 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
22585 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
22587 @findex gnus-random-x-face
22588 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
22589 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
22590 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
22591 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
22592 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
22593 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
22594 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
22595 header data as a string.
22597 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
22598 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
22599 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
22600 randomly generated data.
22602 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
22603 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
22604 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
22605 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
22606 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
22608 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
22609 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22612 (setq message-required-news-headers
22613 (nconc message-required-news-headers
22614 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
22617 Using the last function would be something like this:
22620 (setq message-required-news-headers
22621 (nconc message-required-news-headers
22622 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
22623 (gnus-x-face-from-file
22624 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
22632 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
22634 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
22635 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
22636 represent the author of the message.
22639 @findex gnus-article-display-face
22640 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
22641 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
22644 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
22645 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
22647 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
22648 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
22650 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
22651 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
22652 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
22654 @findex gnus-face-from-file
22655 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
22656 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
22657 converts the file to Face format by using the
22658 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
22660 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
22661 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22664 (setq message-required-news-headers
22665 (nconc message-required-news-headers
22666 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
22667 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
22672 @subsection Smileys
22677 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
22682 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
22683 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
22685 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
22686 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22689 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
22692 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
22693 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
22694 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
22695 text and maps that to file names.
22697 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
22698 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
22699 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
22700 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
22701 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
22704 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
22709 @item smiley-data-directory
22710 @vindex smiley-data-directory
22711 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
22713 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
22714 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
22715 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
22729 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
22730 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
22731 over your shoulder as you read news.
22733 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
22742 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
22743 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
22744 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
22745 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
22746 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
22747 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
22748 @code{GIF} formats.
22751 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
22752 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
22753 point your Web browser at
22754 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
22756 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
22757 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
22759 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
22760 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
22763 @vindex gnus-picon-style
22764 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
22765 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
22766 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
22768 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
22772 @item gnus-picon-databases
22773 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
22774 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
22775 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
22776 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
22777 "/usr/local/faces")}.
22779 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
22780 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
22781 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22782 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
22784 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
22785 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
22786 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
22787 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
22789 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
22790 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
22791 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22792 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
22793 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
22795 @item gnus-picon-file-types
22796 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
22797 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
22798 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
22804 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
22807 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22808 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22809 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
22810 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
22811 unusual directory structure.
22813 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22814 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22815 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
22820 @subsubsection Toolbar
22824 @item gnus-use-toolbar
22825 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
22826 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
22827 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-nil, it should be one
22828 of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom}, @code{right},
22829 and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default toolbar, the
22830 rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those names show.
22831 The default is @code{default}.
22833 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
22834 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
22835 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
22836 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
22837 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
22838 The default is that of the default toolbar.
22840 @item gnus-group-toolbar
22841 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
22842 The toolbar in the group buffer.
22844 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
22845 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
22846 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
22848 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22849 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22850 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
22861 @node Fuzzy Matching
22862 @section Fuzzy Matching
22863 @cindex fuzzy matching
22865 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
22866 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
22868 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
22869 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
22870 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
22872 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
22873 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
22874 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
22875 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
22876 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
22879 @node Thwarting Email Spam
22880 @section Thwarting Email Spam
22884 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22886 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
22887 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
22888 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
22889 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
22890 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
22891 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
22892 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
22893 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
22896 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
22897 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
22898 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
22899 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
22900 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
22901 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
22903 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
22906 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
22907 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
22908 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
22909 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
22910 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
22911 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
22914 @node The problem of spam
22915 @subsection The problem of spam
22917 @cindex spam filtering approaches
22918 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
22920 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22922 First, some background on spam.
22924 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
22925 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
22926 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
22927 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
22928 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
22929 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
22930 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
22931 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
22932 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
22934 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
22935 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
22936 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
22937 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
22938 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
22939 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
22940 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
22941 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
22942 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
22945 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
22946 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
22947 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
22948 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
22949 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
22950 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
22951 from Bulgarian IPs.
22953 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
22954 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
22955 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
22956 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
22958 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
22959 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
22960 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
22961 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
22963 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22964 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22965 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22966 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22967 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
22968 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
22969 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
22970 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
22971 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22973 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22974 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22975 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22976 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22977 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22978 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
22979 down for some time because of the incident.
22981 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22982 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22983 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22984 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22985 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22986 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22987 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22988 to store the database of spam analyses. Statistical analysis on the
22989 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
22990 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
22991 the server that it has misclassified mail.
22993 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
22994 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
22995 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
22996 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
22997 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
22998 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
22999 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
23002 @node Anti-Spam Basics
23003 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
23007 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23009 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
23010 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
23012 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
23013 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
23014 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
23015 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
23016 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
23017 part of the mail address.)
23020 (setq message-default-news-headers
23021 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
23024 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23025 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23029 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
23030 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
23031 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
23036 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
23037 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
23038 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
23039 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
23041 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
23042 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
23043 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
23044 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
23045 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
23046 your fancy split rule in this way:
23051 (to "larsi" "misc")
23055 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
23056 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
23057 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
23058 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
23059 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
23061 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
23062 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
23063 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
23064 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
23066 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
23070 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
23071 @cindex SpamAssassin
23072 @cindex Vipul's Razor
23075 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
23076 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
23077 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
23078 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
23079 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
23080 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
23081 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
23083 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
23084 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
23085 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
23088 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
23089 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
23090 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
23091 Specifiers}) follow.
23095 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
23099 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
23102 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
23103 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
23104 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
23107 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
23111 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23114 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
23115 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
23119 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
23120 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
23121 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
23122 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
23125 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
23127 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
23131 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
23132 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
23136 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
23137 downloaded by default. You need to set
23138 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
23139 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
23141 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
23142 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
23143 spam. And here is the nifty function:
23146 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
23147 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
23149 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
23150 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
23151 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
23155 @subsection Hashcash
23158 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
23159 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
23160 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
23161 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
23162 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
23164 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
23165 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
23166 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
23167 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
23168 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
23169 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
23170 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
23171 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
23172 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
23173 one of them separately.
23176 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
23177 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
23178 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
23179 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
23180 need to install to use this feature, see
23181 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
23182 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
23184 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
23185 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
23186 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
23189 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
23192 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
23196 @item hashcash-default-payment
23197 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
23198 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
23199 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
23202 @item hashcash-payment-alist
23203 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
23204 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
23205 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
23206 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
23207 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
23208 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
23209 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
23210 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
23212 @item hashcash-path
23213 @vindex hashcash-path
23214 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
23215 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
23216 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
23217 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
23218 when you generate hashcash payments.
23222 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
23223 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
23224 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
23225 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
23226 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
23227 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
23228 Hashcash Payments}).
23230 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
23231 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
23232 @cindex spam filtering
23235 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
23236 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
23237 filters new mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
23238 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @code{spam.el} to indicate
23241 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
23242 events. See @xref{Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events}.
23244 @cindex spam-initialize
23245 To use @code{spam.el}, you @strong{must} run the function
23246 @code{spam-initialize} to autoload @file{spam.el} and to install the
23247 @code{spam.el} hooks. There is one exception: if you use the
23248 @code{spam-use-stat} (@pxref{spam-stat spam filtering}) setting, you
23249 should turn it on before @code{spam-initialize}:
23252 (setq spam-use-stat t) ;; if needed
23256 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
23258 First, some hooks will get installed by @code{spam-initialize}. There
23259 are some hooks for @code{spam-stat} so it can save its databases, and
23260 there are hooks so interesting things will happen when you enter and
23261 leave a group. More on the sequence of events later (@pxref{Spam
23262 ELisp Package Sequence of Events}).
23264 You get the following keyboard commands:
23274 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
23275 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
23277 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
23278 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
23279 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
23280 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
23286 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
23287 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
23289 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
23295 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
23296 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
23300 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
23301 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
23302 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
23303 * Spam ELisp Package Sorting and Score Display in Summary Buffer::
23304 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
23305 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
23306 * BBDB Whitelists::
23307 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
23308 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
23310 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
23312 * SpamAssassin back end::
23313 * ifile spam filtering::
23314 * spam-stat spam filtering::
23316 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
23319 @node Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
23320 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
23321 @cindex spam filtering
23322 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
23324 You must read this section to understand how @code{spam.el} works.
23325 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
23327 There are two @emph{contact points}, if you will, between
23328 @code{spam.el} and the rest of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and
23331 Getting new mail in Gnus is done in one of two ways. You can either
23332 split your incoming mail or you can classify new articles as ham or
23333 spam when you enter the group.
23335 Splitting incoming mail is better suited to mail back ends such as
23336 @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap} where new mail appears in a single file
23337 called a @dfn{Spool File}. See @xref{Spam ELisp Package Filtering of
23340 @vindex gnus-spam-autodetect
23341 @vindex gnus-spam-autodetect-methods
23342 For back ends such as @code{nntp} there is no incoming mail spool, so
23343 an alternate mechanism must be used. This may also happen for
23344 back ends where the server is in charge of splitting incoming mail, and
23345 Gnus does not do further splitting. The @code{spam-autodetect} and
23346 @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameters (accessible with
23347 @kbd{G c} and @kbd{G p} as usual), and the corresponding variables
23348 @code{gnus-spam-autodetect} and @code{gnus-spam-autodetect-methods}
23349 (accessible with @kbd{M-x customize-variable} as usual) can help.
23351 When @code{spam-autodetect} is used (you can turn it on for a
23352 group/topic or wholesale by regular expression matches, as needed), it
23353 hooks into the process of entering a group. Thus, entering a group
23354 with unseen or unread articles becomes the substitute for checking
23355 incoming mail. Whether only unseen articles or all unread articles
23356 will be processed is determined by the
23357 @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages}. When set to @code{t}, unread
23358 messages will be rechecked. You should probably stick with the
23359 default of only checking unseen messages.
23361 @code{spam-autodetect} grants the user at once more and less control
23362 of spam filtering. The user will have more control over each group's
23363 spam methods, so for instance the @samp{ding} group may have
23364 @code{spam-use-BBDB} as the autodetection method, while the
23365 @samp{suspect} group may have the @code{spam-use-blacklist} and
23366 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods enabled. Every article detected to
23367 be spam will be marked with the spam mark @samp{$} and processed on
23368 exit from the group as normal spam. The user has less control over
23369 the @emph{sequence} of checks, as he might with @code{spam-split}.
23371 When the newly split mail goes into groups, or messages are
23372 autodetected to be ham or spam, those groups must be exited (after
23373 entering, if needed) for further spam processing to happen. It
23374 matters whether the group is considered a ham group, a spam group, or
23375 is unclassified, based on its @code{spam-content} parameter
23376 (@pxref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). Spam groups have the
23377 additional characteristic that, when entered, any unseen or unread
23378 articles (depending on the @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam}
23379 variable) will be marked as spam. Thus, mail split into a spam group
23380 gets automatically marked as spam when you enter the group.
23382 Thus, when you exit a group, the @code{spam-processors} are applied,
23383 if any are set, and the processed mail is moved to the
23384 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination}
23385 depending on the article's classification. If the
23386 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination},
23387 whichever is appropriate, are @code{nil}, the article is left in the
23390 If a spam is found in any group (this can be changed to only non-spam
23391 groups with @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only}), it is
23392 processed by the active @code{spam-processors} (@pxref{Spam ELisp
23393 Package Global Variables}) when the group is exited. Furthermore, the
23394 spam is moved to the @code{spam-process-destination} (@pxref{Spam
23395 ELisp Package Global Variables}) for further training or deletion.
23396 You have to load the @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
23397 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want spam to be processed
23398 no more than once. Thus, spam is detected and processed everywhere,
23399 which is what most people want. If the
23400 @code{spam-process-destination} is @code{nil}, the spam is marked as
23401 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
23403 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
23404 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
23406 If a ham mail is found in a ham group, as determined by the
23407 @code{ham-marks} parameter, it is processed as ham by the active ham
23408 @code{spam-processor} when the group is exited. With the variables
23409 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
23410 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} the behavior can be further
23411 altered so ham found anywhere can be processed. You have to load the
23412 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
23413 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want ham to be processed
23414 no more than once. Thus, ham is detected and processed only when
23415 necessary, which is what most people want. More on this in
23416 @xref{Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples}.
23418 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
23419 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
23421 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
23422 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
23423 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
23425 @node Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
23426 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
23427 @cindex spam filtering
23428 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
23431 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
23432 must add the following to your fancy split list
23433 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
23439 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
23440 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
23441 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
23443 Also, @code{spam-split} will not modify incoming mail in any way.
23445 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
23446 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
23447 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
23448 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}. Make sure the contents
23449 of @code{spam-split-group} are an @emph{unqualified} group name, for
23450 instance in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server} the value
23451 @samp{spam} will turn out to be @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The
23452 value @samp{nnimap+server:spam}, therefore, is wrong and will
23453 actually give you the group
23454 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam} which may or may not
23455 work depending on your server's tolerance for strange group names.
23457 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
23458 e.g. @code{spam-use-regex-headers} or @code{"maybe-spam"}. Why is
23461 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
23462 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
23465 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
23466 (any "ding" "ding")
23468 ;; @r{default mailbox}
23472 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
23473 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
23474 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
23475 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
23476 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
23477 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
23479 You can let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, but all other
23480 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
23481 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
23486 ;; @r{all spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
23487 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
23488 (any "ding" "ding")
23489 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
23491 ;; @r{default mailbox}
23495 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
23496 your particular needs, and to target the results of those checks to a
23497 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
23498 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
23499 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
23500 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
23501 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
23503 You should still have specific checks such as
23504 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you
23505 specifically invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is
23506 that when loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done
23507 depending on what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. This
23508 is usually not critical, though.
23510 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
23512 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
23513 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
23514 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
23515 message headers. If you use a @emph{statistical} filter,
23516 e.g. @code{spam-check-bogofilter}, @code{spam-check-ifile}, or
23517 @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that can benefit from the full
23518 message body), this variable will be set automatically. It is not set
23519 for non-statistical back ends by default because it will slow
23520 @acronym{IMAP} down.
23522 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
23524 @node Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
23525 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
23526 @cindex spam filtering
23527 @cindex spam filtering variables
23528 @cindex spam variables
23531 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
23532 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
23533 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
23534 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
23535 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
23536 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
23537 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
23538 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
23539 will be detected later.
23541 The format of the spam or ham processor entry used to be a symbol,
23542 but now it is a @sc{cons} cell. See the individual spam processor entries
23543 for more information.
23545 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
23546 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
23547 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
23548 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
23549 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
23550 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
23551 by customizing the corresponding variable
23552 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
23553 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
23554 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
23555 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
23556 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
23557 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
23558 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
23561 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
23563 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
23564 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
23565 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
23566 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
23567 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
23568 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
23569 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
23570 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
23571 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
23572 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
23573 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
23574 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
23575 processor which will study them as spam samples.
23577 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
23578 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
23579 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
23580 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
23581 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
23582 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
23583 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
23584 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
23587 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
23588 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
23589 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
23590 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
23591 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
23592 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
23593 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
23598 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
23599 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
23600 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
23601 you really want to.
23604 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
23605 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
23606 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
23607 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
23608 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
23609 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
23612 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
23613 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
23614 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
23615 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
23616 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
23617 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
23618 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
23619 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
23620 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
23621 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
23622 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
23623 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
23624 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
23625 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
23626 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
23628 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
23629 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
23631 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
23632 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
23633 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
23635 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
23636 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
23638 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
23639 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
23640 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
23641 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
23642 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
23644 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
23645 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
23646 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
23647 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
23648 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
23651 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
23652 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
23653 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
23654 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
23655 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
23656 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
23657 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
23658 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
23659 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
23660 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
23661 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
23662 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
23663 group buffer then you need it here as well.
23665 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
23666 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
23668 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
23669 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
23672 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
23673 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
23674 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
23675 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
23676 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
23677 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
23678 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
23680 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
23681 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
23682 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
23683 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
23685 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
23686 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
23687 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
23688 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
23689 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
23690 from the mail server.
23692 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
23693 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
23694 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
23695 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
23697 @node Spam ELisp Package Sorting and Score Display in Summary Buffer
23698 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Sorting and Score Display in Summary Buffer
23699 @cindex spam scoring
23700 @cindex spam sorting
23701 @cindex spam score summary buffer
23702 @cindex spam sort summary buffer
23705 You can display the spam score of articles in your summary buffer, and
23706 you can sort articles by their spam score.
23708 First you need to decide which back end you will be using. If you use
23709 the @code{spam-use-spamassassin},
23710 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}, or @code{spam-use-regex-headers}
23711 back end, the @code{X-Spam-Status} header will be used. If you use
23712 @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, the @code{X-Bogosity} header will be used.
23713 If you use @code{spam-use-crm114}, any header that matches the CRM114
23714 score format will be used. As long as you set the appropriate back end
23715 variable to t @emph{before} you load @file{spam.el}, you will be
23716 fine. @code{spam.el} will automatically add the right header to the
23717 internal Gnus list of required headers.
23719 To show the spam score in your summary buffer, add this line to your
23720 @code{gnus.el} file (note @code{spam.el} does not do that by default
23721 so it won't override any existing @code{S} formats you may have).
23724 (defalias 'gnus-user-format-function-S 'spam-user-format-function-S)
23727 Now just set your summary line format to use @code{%uS}. Here's an
23728 example that formats the spam score in a 5-character field:
23731 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
23732 "%U%R %10&user-date; $%5uS %6k %B %(%4L: %*%-25,25a%) %s \n")
23735 Finally, to sort by spam status, either do it globally:
23739 gnus-show-threads nil
23740 gnus-article-sort-functions
23741 '(spam-article-sort-by-spam-status))
23744 or per group (@pxref{Sorting the Summary Buffer}).
23746 @node Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
23747 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
23748 @cindex spam filtering
23749 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
23750 @cindex spam configuration examples
23753 @subsubheading Ted's setup
23755 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
23757 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
23758 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
23759 (gnus-registry-initialize)
23762 ;; @r{I like @kbd{C-s} for marking spam}
23763 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map "\C-s" 'gnus-summary-mark-as-spam)
23766 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
23768 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
23769 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
23770 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
23771 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
23772 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
23773 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
23774 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
23775 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
23776 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23777 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
23778 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
23779 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
23780 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
23781 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
23782 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
23783 (any "ding" "ding")
23784 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
23786 ;; @r{default mailbox}
23789 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
23791 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
23792 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
23793 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
23794 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
23796 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
23798 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
23799 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
23800 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
23801 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
23802 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
23804 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
23805 ((spam-autodetect . t))
23807 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
23809 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
23810 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
23812 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
23813 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
23814 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
23816 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
23818 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
23819 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
23821 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
23822 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
23823 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
23825 (gnus-ticked-mark))
23826 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
23827 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
23828 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
23830 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
23831 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
23832 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
23836 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
23837 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
23839 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
23840 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
23841 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
23842 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
23843 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
23844 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
23845 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
23846 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
23847 @samp{training.spam} folders.
23849 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
23850 does most of the job for me:
23853 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
23854 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
23855 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
23856 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
23857 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
23858 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
23859 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
23864 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
23866 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
23867 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
23868 bogofilter or DCC).
23870 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
23871 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
23872 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark (@code{ham-marks},
23873 @ref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). On group exit, those
23874 messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want to have
23875 the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter) and
23876 deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
23878 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
23879 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
23880 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
23881 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
23882 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
23883 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
23885 @item @b{Ham folders:}
23887 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
23888 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
23889 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
23890 @samp{training.spam}.
23893 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
23895 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
23897 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
23898 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
23899 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
23903 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
23906 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
23907 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
23908 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
23909 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
23910 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
23912 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
23913 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
23914 @cindex spam filtering
23915 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
23916 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
23919 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
23921 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
23922 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
23923 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
23924 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
23929 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
23931 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
23932 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
23933 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23934 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
23935 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23939 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
23941 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
23942 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23943 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
23947 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
23949 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23950 customizing the group parameters or the
23951 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23952 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23953 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
23957 Instead of the obsolete
23958 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
23959 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
23960 the same way, we promise.
23964 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
23966 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23967 customizing the group parameters or the
23968 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23969 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23970 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23975 Instead of the obsolete
23976 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
23977 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
23978 the same way, we promise.
23982 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
23983 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
23984 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
23985 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
23986 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
23988 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
23989 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
23990 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
23991 Emacs regular expression syntax.
23993 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
23994 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
23995 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
23996 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
23997 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
23998 @file{blacklist} respectively.
24000 @node BBDB Whitelists
24001 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
24002 @cindex spam filtering
24003 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
24004 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
24007 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
24009 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24010 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
24011 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
24012 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
24013 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24014 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
24015 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24019 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
24021 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
24022 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24023 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
24024 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
24025 classified as spammers.
24027 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
24028 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
24029 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
24030 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to t, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
24035 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
24037 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24038 customizing the group parameters or the
24039 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24040 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24041 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24046 Instead of the obsolete
24047 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
24048 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
24049 the same way, we promise.
24053 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
24054 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
24055 @cindex spam reporting
24056 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24057 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24060 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
24062 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24063 customizing the group parameters or the
24064 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24065 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
24066 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
24069 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
24073 Instead of the obsolete
24074 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
24075 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
24076 same way, we promise.
24080 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
24082 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
24083 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
24084 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
24085 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
24086 @code{spam-report.el} will fetch the number from the article headers.
24090 @defvar spam-report-user-mail-address
24092 Mail address exposed in the User-Agent spam reports to Gmane. It allows
24093 the Gmane administrators to contact you in case of misreports. The
24094 default is @code{user-mail-address}.
24098 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
24099 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
24100 @cindex spam filtering
24101 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
24104 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
24106 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24107 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
24108 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
24109 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
24110 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
24111 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24116 @subsubsection Blackholes
24117 @cindex spam filtering
24118 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
24121 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
24123 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
24124 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
24125 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
24126 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
24127 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
24128 contains outdated servers.
24130 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
24131 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
24132 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
24133 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
24134 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
24135 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
24139 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
24141 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
24145 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
24147 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
24148 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
24152 @defvar spam-use-dig
24154 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
24155 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
24159 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
24160 ham processor for blackholes.
24162 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
24163 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
24164 @cindex spam filtering
24165 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
24168 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
24170 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
24171 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
24172 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
24173 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
24174 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
24175 message is spam or ham, respectively.
24179 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
24181 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
24182 the message, positively identify it as spam.
24186 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
24188 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
24189 the message, positively identify it as ham.
24193 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
24194 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
24197 @subsubsection Bogofilter
24198 @cindex spam filtering
24199 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
24202 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
24204 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
24207 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
24208 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
24209 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
24210 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
24211 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
24212 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
24214 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
24215 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
24218 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
24219 processing will be turned off.
24221 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
24225 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
24227 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
24228 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
24229 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
24230 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
24231 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
24232 installation documents for details.
24234 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
24238 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
24239 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24240 customizing the group parameters or the
24241 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24242 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
24243 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
24247 Instead of the obsolete
24248 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
24249 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
24250 the same way, we promise.
24253 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
24254 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24255 customizing the group parameters or the
24256 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24257 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
24258 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
24259 of non-spam messages.
24263 Instead of the obsolete
24264 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
24265 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
24266 the same way, we promise.
24269 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
24271 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
24272 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
24273 database directory.
24277 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
24278 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
24279 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
24280 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
24281 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
24282 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
24284 @node SpamAssassin back end
24285 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
24286 @cindex spam filtering
24287 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
24290 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
24292 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
24294 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
24295 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
24296 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
24297 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
24300 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
24301 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
24302 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
24303 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
24306 You should not enable this is you use
24307 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
24311 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
24313 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
24314 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
24316 You should not enable this is you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
24320 @defvar spam-spamassassin-path
24322 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
24323 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
24324 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
24325 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
24329 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
24330 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
24331 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
24332 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
24333 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
24334 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
24335 to test this functionality.
24337 @node ifile spam filtering
24338 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
24339 @cindex spam filtering
24340 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
24343 @defvar spam-use-ifile
24345 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
24346 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
24350 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
24352 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
24353 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
24354 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
24358 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
24360 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
24361 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
24362 the default value of @samp{spam}.
24365 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
24367 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
24368 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
24372 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
24373 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
24374 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
24375 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
24378 @node spam-stat spam filtering
24379 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
24380 @cindex spam filtering
24381 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
24385 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
24387 @defvar spam-use-stat
24389 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
24390 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
24394 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
24395 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24396 customizing the group parameters or the
24397 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24398 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
24399 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
24403 Instead of the obsolete
24404 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
24405 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
24406 the same way, we promise.
24409 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
24410 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24411 customizing the group parameters or the
24412 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24413 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
24414 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
24415 of non-spam messages.
24419 Instead of the obsolete
24420 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
24421 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
24422 the same way, we promise.
24425 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
24426 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
24427 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
24428 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
24429 @code{spam-split} are provided.
24432 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
24433 @cindex spam filtering
24437 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
24438 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
24439 installed separately.
24441 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
24442 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
24443 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
24444 mail as a spam mail or not.
24446 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
24447 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
24448 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
24450 The easiest method is to make @code{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
24451 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
24453 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
24454 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
24455 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
24456 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
24457 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
24458 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
24459 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
24460 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
24464 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
24465 spam-split-group "Junk"
24466 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
24467 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
24468 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
24471 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
24472 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
24476 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
24477 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
24478 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
24482 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
24483 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
24484 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
24485 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
24486 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
24487 database to live somewhere special, set
24488 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
24491 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
24492 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
24493 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
24494 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
24495 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
24496 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
24497 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @code{spam.el}'s
24498 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
24499 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
24500 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
24502 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
24503 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24504 customizing the group parameter or the
24505 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
24506 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
24507 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
24511 Instead of the obsolete
24512 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
24513 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
24514 the same way, we promise.
24517 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
24518 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24519 customizing the group parameter or the
24520 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
24521 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
24522 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
24527 Instead of the obsolete
24528 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
24529 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
24530 the same way, we promise.
24533 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
24534 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
24537 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
24538 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
24539 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
24541 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
24542 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
24543 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
24544 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
24545 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
24546 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
24548 @node Extending the Spam ELisp package
24549 @subsubsection Extending the Spam ELisp package
24550 @cindex spam filtering
24551 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
24552 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
24554 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
24555 incoming mail, provide the following:
24563 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
24564 "True if blackbox should be used.")
24567 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
24569 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
24570 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
24571 register/unregister routines as a start, or other restister/unregister
24572 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
24573 register/unregister spam and ham.
24578 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
24579 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
24580 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
24581 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
24586 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
24593 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
24594 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
24596 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
24597 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
24598 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
24599 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
24602 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
24603 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
24604 Only applicable to spam groups.")
24606 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
24607 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
24608 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
24617 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
24618 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
24620 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
24621 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
24622 variable customization.
24626 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
24628 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
24629 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
24631 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
24632 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
24638 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
24640 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
24641 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
24642 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
24645 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
24647 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
24648 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
24652 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
24654 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
24655 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
24656 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
24660 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
24662 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
24663 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
24664 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
24667 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
24669 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
24670 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
24674 @code{spam-install-backend}
24676 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
24677 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
24678 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
24681 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
24683 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
24684 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
24685 never install such a back end.
24691 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
24692 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
24693 @cindex Paul Graham
24694 @cindex Graham, Paul
24695 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
24696 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
24697 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
24699 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
24700 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
24701 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
24702 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
24703 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
24704 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
24705 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
24706 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
24707 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
24710 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
24711 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
24712 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
24713 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
24714 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
24715 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
24716 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
24717 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
24719 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
24720 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
24721 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
24722 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
24723 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
24726 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
24727 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
24728 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
24731 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
24732 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
24734 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
24735 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
24736 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
24737 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
24738 need several hundred emails in both collections.
24740 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
24741 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
24742 per mail. Use the following:
24744 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
24745 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
24746 is treated as one spam mail.
24749 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
24750 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
24751 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
24754 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
24755 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
24756 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
24757 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
24758 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
24759 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
24761 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
24762 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
24763 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
24764 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
24765 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
24768 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
24769 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
24770 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
24771 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
24774 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
24775 reset the dictionary.
24777 @defun spam-stat-reset
24778 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
24781 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
24782 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
24783 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
24784 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
24785 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
24786 only non-spam mails.
24788 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
24789 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
24790 to update the dictionary incrementally.
24793 @defun spam-stat-save
24794 Save the dictionary.
24797 @defvar spam-stat-file
24798 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
24799 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
24802 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
24803 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
24805 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
24806 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24809 (require 'spam-stat)
24813 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
24816 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
24817 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
24818 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
24819 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
24821 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
24822 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
24823 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
24824 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
24827 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24828 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24832 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
24833 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
24836 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
24837 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
24838 expression are considered potential spam.
24841 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24842 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24843 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24847 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
24848 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
24849 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
24850 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
24851 mails, when creating the dictionary!
24854 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24855 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24856 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24860 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
24861 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
24862 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
24863 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
24864 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
24868 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24869 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
24870 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24871 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24876 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
24877 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
24879 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
24881 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
24882 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
24883 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
24886 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
24887 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
24888 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
24891 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
24892 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
24893 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
24894 already been processed as non-spam.
24897 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
24898 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
24899 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
24900 been processed as spam.
24903 @defun spam-stat-save
24904 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
24905 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
24908 @defun spam-stat-load
24909 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
24910 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
24913 @defun spam-stat-score-word
24914 Return the spam score for a word.
24917 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
24918 Return the spam score for a buffer.
24921 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
24922 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
24923 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
24926 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
24927 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24930 (require 'spam-stat)
24934 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
24937 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
24938 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24939 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24940 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24941 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
24942 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
24943 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24944 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24945 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
24946 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24947 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
24948 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
24949 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24950 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24953 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
24956 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
24957 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24958 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24959 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
24960 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
24961 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24965 @section Interaction with other modes
24970 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provided some useful functions for dired
24971 buffers. It is enabled with
24973 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
24978 @findex gnus-dired-attach
24979 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
24980 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
24983 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
24984 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
24985 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
24989 @findex gnus-dired-print
24990 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
24991 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
24994 @node Various Various
24995 @section Various Various
25001 @item gnus-home-directory
25002 @vindex gnus-home-directory
25003 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
25004 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
25006 @item gnus-directory
25007 @vindex gnus-directory
25008 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
25009 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
25010 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
25012 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
25013 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
25014 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
25015 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
25017 @item gnus-default-directory
25018 @vindex gnus-default-directory
25019 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
25020 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
25021 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
25022 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
25023 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
25024 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
25027 @vindex gnus-verbose
25028 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
25029 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
25030 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
25031 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
25032 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
25034 @item gnus-verbose-backends
25035 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
25036 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
25037 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
25039 @item nnheader-max-head-length
25040 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
25041 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
25042 as little as possible. This variable (default 8192) specifies
25043 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
25044 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
25045 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
25046 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
25047 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
25048 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
25050 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
25051 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
25052 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
25053 read when doing the operation described above.
25055 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
25056 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
25058 @cindex invalid characters in file names
25059 @cindex characters in file names
25060 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
25061 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
25062 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
25066 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
25071 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
25072 Windows (phooey) systems.
25074 @item gnus-hidden-properties
25075 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
25076 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
25077 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
25078 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
25080 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
25081 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
25082 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
25083 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
25084 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
25086 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
25087 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
25088 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
25090 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
25091 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
25093 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
25094 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
25095 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
25096 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
25099 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
25107 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
25108 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
25110 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
25112 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
25118 Not because of victories @*
25121 but for the common sunshine,@*
25123 the largess of the spring.
25127 but for the day's work done@*
25128 as well as I was able;@*
25129 not for a seat upon the dais@*
25130 but at the common table.@*
25135 @chapter Appendices
25138 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
25139 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
25140 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
25141 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
25142 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
25143 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
25144 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
25145 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
25146 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
25153 @cindex installing under XEmacs
25155 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
25156 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
25157 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
25158 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
25159 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{W3},
25160 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
25167 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
25168 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
25170 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
25171 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
25172 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
25173 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
25174 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
25176 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
25177 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
25178 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
25179 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
25180 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
25181 appropriate name, don't you think?)
25183 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
25184 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
25185 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
25186 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
25189 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
25190 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
25191 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
25192 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
25193 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
25194 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
25195 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
25196 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
25197 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
25201 @node Gnus Versions
25202 @subsection Gnus Versions
25204 @cindex September Gnus
25206 @cindex Quassia Gnus
25207 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
25210 @cindex Gnus versions
25212 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
25213 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
25214 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
25216 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
25217 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
25219 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
25220 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
25222 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
25223 It was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
25225 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
25226 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
25229 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
25231 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
25232 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
25233 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
25234 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
25235 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
25236 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
25239 @node Other Gnus Versions
25240 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
25243 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
25244 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
25245 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
25246 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
25248 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
25249 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
25250 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
25251 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
25258 What's the point of Gnus?
25260 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
25261 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
25262 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
25263 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
25264 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
25265 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
25266 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
25267 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
25268 keep track of millions of people who post?
25270 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
25271 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
25272 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
25273 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
25274 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
25275 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
25276 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
25277 every one of you to explore and invent.
25279 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
25280 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
25283 @node Compatibility
25284 @subsection Compatibility
25286 @cindex compatibility
25287 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
25288 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
25289 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
25294 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
25298 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
25301 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
25304 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
25305 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
25306 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
25307 important variables have their values copied into their global
25308 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
25309 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
25311 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
25312 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
25313 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
25314 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
25315 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
25319 @cindex highlighting
25320 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
25321 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
25322 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
25323 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
25324 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
25325 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
25328 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
25329 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
25330 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
25331 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
25333 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
25334 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
25335 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
25336 to stop doing it the old way.
25338 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
25340 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
25342 @cindex reporting bugs
25344 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
25345 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
25346 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
25348 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
25349 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
25350 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
25351 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
25356 @subsection Conformity
25358 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
25359 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
25367 There are no known breaches of this standard.
25371 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
25373 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
25374 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
25375 We do have some breaches to this one.
25381 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
25382 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
25383 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
25384 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
25385 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
25390 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
25391 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
25392 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
25393 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
25395 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
25396 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
25397 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
25399 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
25400 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
25402 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
25405 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
25406 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
25407 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
25408 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
25409 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
25412 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
25413 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
25414 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
25415 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
25417 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
25418 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
25420 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
25421 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
25422 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
25423 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
25424 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
25425 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
25426 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
25427 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
25431 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
25432 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
25437 @subsection Emacsen
25443 Gnus should work on:
25451 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
25455 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
25456 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
25459 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
25460 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
25461 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
25465 @node Gnus Development
25466 @subsection Gnus Development
25468 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
25469 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
25470 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
25471 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
25472 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
25473 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
25474 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
25475 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
25477 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
25478 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
25479 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
25480 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
25481 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
25484 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
25485 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
25486 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
25487 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
25488 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
25490 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
25491 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
25492 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
25493 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
25494 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
25495 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
25496 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
25497 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
25498 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
25499 can't be assumed to do so.
25504 @subsection Contributors
25505 @cindex contributors
25507 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
25508 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
25509 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
25510 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
25511 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
25512 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
25513 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
25514 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
25515 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
25516 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
25518 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
25524 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
25527 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
25528 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
25529 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
25530 functionality and stuff.
25533 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
25534 well as numerous other things).
25537 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
25540 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
25543 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
25546 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
25549 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
25550 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
25553 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
25556 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
25559 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
25562 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
25565 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
25568 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
25571 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
25572 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
25575 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
25578 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
25581 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
25584 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
25588 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
25591 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
25594 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
25597 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
25598 well as autoconf support.
25602 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
25603 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
25605 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
25620 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
25622 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
25626 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
25636 Alexei V. Barantsev,
25651 Massimo Campostrini,
25656 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
25657 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
25661 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
25664 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
25670 Michael Welsh Duggan,
25675 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
25679 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
25687 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
25689 Michelangelo Grigni,
25693 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
25695 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
25697 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
25704 Fran@,{c}ois Felix Ingrand,
25705 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
25706 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
25708 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
25718 Peter Skov Knudsen,
25719 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
25721 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
25722 Thor Kristoffersen,
25725 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
25743 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
25744 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
25751 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
25756 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
25760 John McClary Prevost,
25766 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
25771 Christian von Roques,
25774 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
25781 Philippe Schnoebelen,
25783 Randal L. Schwartz,
25797 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
25802 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
25822 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
25823 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
25824 (550kB and counting).
25826 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
25829 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
25830 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
25834 @subsection New Features
25835 @cindex new features
25838 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
25839 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
25840 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
25841 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
25842 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
25843 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
25844 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
25847 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
25848 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
25849 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
25852 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
25854 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
25859 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
25860 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
25863 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
25864 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
25867 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
25870 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
25871 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
25872 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
25875 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
25876 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
25877 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
25878 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
25881 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
25882 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25885 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
25886 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
25887 (@pxref{The Active File}).
25890 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
25891 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
25894 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
25895 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
25896 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
25899 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
25900 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
25901 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
25904 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
25905 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
25908 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
25909 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
25912 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
25913 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
25916 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
25917 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25920 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
25921 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
25924 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
25925 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
25928 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
25931 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
25932 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
25935 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
25936 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
25939 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
25940 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
25943 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
25946 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
25947 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
25950 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
25954 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
25958 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
25959 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
25962 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
25968 @node September Gnus
25969 @subsubsection September Gnus
25973 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
25977 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
25982 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
25983 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
25987 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
25988 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
25992 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
25996 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
25997 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
26000 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
26004 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
26007 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
26010 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
26013 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
26017 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
26018 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
26021 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
26025 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
26029 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
26033 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
26037 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
26040 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
26041 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
26044 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
26048 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
26049 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
26052 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
26055 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
26056 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
26057 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
26060 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
26064 The Gnus cache is much faster.
26067 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
26071 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
26072 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
26075 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
26076 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
26079 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
26080 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
26083 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
26084 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
26085 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
26088 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
26089 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
26092 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
26095 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
26098 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
26101 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
26104 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
26105 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
26108 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
26112 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
26115 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
26120 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
26123 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
26127 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
26130 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
26134 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
26137 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
26140 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
26141 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
26144 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
26145 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
26149 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
26150 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
26153 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
26157 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
26158 buffer to allow easier treatment.
26161 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
26164 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
26168 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
26172 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
26173 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
26176 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
26180 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
26181 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
26184 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
26185 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
26188 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
26192 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
26195 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
26198 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
26204 @subsubsection Red Gnus
26206 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
26210 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
26217 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
26220 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
26221 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
26224 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
26225 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
26229 Article washing status can be displayed in the
26230 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
26233 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
26236 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
26237 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
26240 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
26244 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
26245 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
26249 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
26250 Server Internals}).
26253 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
26257 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
26260 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
26261 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
26264 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
26265 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
26266 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
26269 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
26270 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
26273 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
26274 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
26277 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
26281 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
26282 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
26285 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
26286 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
26289 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
26293 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
26296 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
26300 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
26301 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
26304 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
26305 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
26308 A new command for reading collections of documents
26309 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
26310 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
26313 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
26317 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
26318 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
26321 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
26322 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
26323 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
26326 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
26327 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
26331 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
26335 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
26339 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
26344 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
26348 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
26352 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
26353 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
26356 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
26362 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
26364 New features in Gnus 5.6:
26369 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
26370 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
26371 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
26374 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
26375 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
26376 group, which is created automatically.
26379 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
26383 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
26386 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
26387 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
26390 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
26394 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
26397 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
26398 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
26401 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
26404 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
26408 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
26409 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
26412 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
26413 control over simplification.
26416 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
26419 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
26423 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
26426 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
26429 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
26430 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
26431 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
26434 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
26435 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
26438 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
26442 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
26443 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
26446 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
26447 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
26450 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
26454 A history of where mails have been split is available.
26457 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
26460 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
26461 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
26464 A new function for citing in Message has been
26465 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
26468 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
26471 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
26475 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
26476 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
26479 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
26480 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
26483 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
26486 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
26490 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
26491 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
26493 New features in Gnus 5.8:
26498 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
26499 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
26501 If you used procmail like in
26504 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
26505 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
26506 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
26507 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
26510 this now has changed to
26514 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
26518 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
26521 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
26522 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
26525 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
26526 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
26529 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
26530 called to position point.
26533 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
26534 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
26537 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
26538 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
26541 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
26542 subtly different manner.
26545 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
26546 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
26547 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
26550 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
26555 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
26558 New features in Gnus 5.10:
26563 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
26564 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
26565 region if the region is active.
26568 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
26572 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
26573 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
26576 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
26577 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
26580 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
26582 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
26583 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
26584 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
26585 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
26586 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
26587 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
26588 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
26589 isn't save in general.
26594 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
26595 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
26596 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
26597 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
26602 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
26603 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
26604 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
26608 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
26611 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
26616 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
26617 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
26619 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
26620 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
26624 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
26625 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
26628 Retrieval of charters and control messages
26630 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
26631 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
26636 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
26637 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
26638 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
26641 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
26642 decompressed when activated.
26645 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
26646 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
26649 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
26652 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
26653 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
26656 Warn about email replies to news
26658 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
26659 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
26663 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
26664 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
26668 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
26669 opposed to old but unread messages).
26672 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
26673 Gcc articles as read.
26676 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
26679 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
26680 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
26683 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
26684 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
26687 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
26688 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
26691 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
26692 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
26695 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
26697 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
26698 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
26699 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
26700 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
26703 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
26705 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
26706 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
26707 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
26708 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
26709 the second parameter.
26711 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
26712 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
26713 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
26714 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
26715 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
26716 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
26717 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
26718 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
26719 cycle used under Unix systems.
26721 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
26725 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
26727 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
26728 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
26729 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
26730 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
26731 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
26735 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
26737 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
26738 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
26739 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
26740 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
26744 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
26746 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
26747 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
26748 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
26749 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
26751 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
26752 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
26753 message cited below.
26756 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
26759 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
26761 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
26762 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
26763 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
26764 variable in @file{~/.gnus.el} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
26765 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
26768 (setq gnus-parameters
26770 (gnus-show-threads nil)
26771 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
26772 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
26773 (to-group . "\\1"))))
26777 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
26779 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.gnus.el} to
26783 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
26785 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
26786 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
26787 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
26788 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
26789 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
26790 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
26791 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
26792 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
26793 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
26796 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
26798 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
26799 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
26800 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
26801 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
26802 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
26803 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
26806 References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
26807 start composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
26811 Improved anti-spam features.
26813 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
26814 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
26815 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
26816 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
26817 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
26820 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
26823 Face headers handling.
26826 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
26827 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
26830 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
26833 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
26835 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
26836 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
26837 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
26838 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
26839 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
26840 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
26841 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
26842 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
26843 when getting new mail, remove the function.
26846 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
26848 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
26849 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
26850 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
26851 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
26852 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
26853 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
26854 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
26855 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
26856 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
26857 was inserted directly.
26860 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
26862 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
26863 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
26869 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
26870 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
26871 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
26872 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
26873 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
26874 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
26875 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
26876 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
26877 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
26878 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
26879 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
26880 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
26881 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
26882 is not needed any more.
26885 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
26887 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
26888 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
26889 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
26890 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
26891 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
26895 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
26897 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
26898 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
26901 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
26903 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
26904 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
26905 lisp directory into load-path.
26907 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
26908 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
26911 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
26913 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
26916 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
26918 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
26919 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
26920 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
26921 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
26924 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
26926 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
26928 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
26929 'bbdb-complete-name)
26933 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
26935 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
26936 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
26937 local files as external parts.
26939 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
26940 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
26941 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
26942 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
26943 that support editing.
26946 @code{gnus-default-charset}
26948 The default value is determined from the
26949 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
26950 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
26951 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
26954 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
26956 Add a new format of match like
26958 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
26959 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
26961 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
26963 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
26964 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
26968 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
26970 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
26971 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
26972 need add those two headers too.
26975 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
26977 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
26978 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
26979 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
26982 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
26983 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
26984 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
26988 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
26990 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
26993 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
26995 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
26998 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
27000 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
27001 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
27002 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
27005 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
27007 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
27011 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
27013 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
27014 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
27015 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
27016 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
27017 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
27018 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
27019 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
27020 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
27023 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
27025 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
27026 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
27027 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
27028 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
27029 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
27032 Extended format specs.
27034 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
27035 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
27036 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
27037 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
27038 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
27039 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
27042 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
27044 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
27045 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
27046 out other articles.
27049 Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
27051 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
27052 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
27053 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
27054 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
27057 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
27059 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
27060 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
27061 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
27064 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
27066 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
27067 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
27068 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
27069 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
27070 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
27071 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
27072 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
27073 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
27074 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
27075 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
27076 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
27079 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
27080 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
27083 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
27084 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
27085 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
27086 message, Message Manual}).
27089 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
27090 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
27092 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
27093 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
27094 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
27096 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
27100 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
27101 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
27103 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
27104 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
27105 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
27106 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
27109 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
27112 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
27115 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
27116 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
27119 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to symbol @code{best}.
27121 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
27122 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
27123 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
27124 invalidate the digital signature.
27128 @subsubsection No Gnus
27131 New features in No Gnus:
27132 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
27134 @include gnus-news.texi
27140 @section The Manual
27144 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
27145 either @code{texi2dvi}
27147 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
27148 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
27150 to get what you hold in your hands now.
27152 The following conventions have been used:
27157 This is a @samp{string}
27160 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
27163 This is a @file{file}
27166 This is a @code{symbol}
27170 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
27174 (setq flargnoze "yes")
27177 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
27180 (setq flumphel 'yes)
27183 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
27184 ever get them confused.
27188 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
27189 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
27190 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
27191 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
27192 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
27193 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
27194 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
27200 @node On Writing Manuals
27201 @section On Writing Manuals
27203 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
27204 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
27205 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
27206 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
27207 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
27208 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
27211 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
27212 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
27213 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
27216 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
27217 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
27222 @section Terminology
27224 @cindex terminology
27229 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
27230 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
27231 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
27232 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
27233 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
27237 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
27238 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
27239 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
27240 not posting, and replying is not following up.
27244 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
27248 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
27253 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
27254 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
27255 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
27256 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
27257 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
27258 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
27259 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
27260 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
27261 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
27264 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
27265 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
27266 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
27267 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
27268 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
27269 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
27271 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
27272 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
27273 access the articles.
27275 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
27276 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
27277 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
27282 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
27283 default, way of getting news.
27287 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
27288 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
27293 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
27294 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
27298 A message that has been posted as news.
27301 @cindex mail message
27302 A message that has been mailed.
27306 A mail message or news article
27310 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
27315 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
27320 A line from the head of an article.
27324 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
27325 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
27327 @item @acronym{NOV}
27328 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
27329 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
27330 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
27331 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
27332 normal @sc{head} format.
27336 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
27337 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
27338 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
27339 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
27340 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
27341 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
27343 @item killed groups
27344 @cindex killed groups
27345 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
27346 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
27348 @item zombie groups
27349 @cindex zombie groups
27350 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
27353 @cindex active file
27354 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
27355 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
27356 is rather large, as you might surmise.
27359 @cindex bogus groups
27360 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
27361 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
27362 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
27365 @cindex activating groups
27366 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
27367 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
27368 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
27372 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
27373 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
27374 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
27378 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
27380 @item select method
27381 @cindex select method
27382 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
27385 @item virtual server
27386 @cindex virtual server
27387 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
27388 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
27389 whole is a virtual server.
27393 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
27394 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
27397 @item ephemeral groups
27398 @cindex ephemeral groups
27399 @cindex temporary groups
27400 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
27401 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
27402 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
27405 @cindex solid groups
27406 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
27407 group buffer are solid groups.
27409 @item sparse articles
27410 @cindex sparse articles
27411 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
27412 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
27416 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
27417 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
27421 @cindex thread root
27422 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
27423 articles in the thread.
27427 An article that has responses.
27431 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
27435 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
27436 specified by RFC 1153.
27439 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
27440 @cindex mail sorting
27441 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
27442 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
27443 incorrectly called mail filtering.
27449 @node Customization
27450 @section Customization
27451 @cindex general customization
27453 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
27454 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
27455 for some quite common situations.
27458 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
27459 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
27460 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
27461 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
27465 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
27466 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
27468 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
27469 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
27470 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
27474 @item gnus-read-active-file
27475 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
27476 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
27477 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
27478 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
27479 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
27481 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
27482 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
27483 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
27484 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
27488 @node Slow Terminal Connection
27489 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
27491 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
27492 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
27493 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
27497 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
27498 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
27499 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
27500 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
27501 horizontal and vertical recentering.
27503 @item gnus-visible-headers
27504 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
27505 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
27506 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
27507 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
27509 Use the following to enable all the available hiding features:
27511 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
27512 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
27513 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
27516 @item gnus-use-full-window
27517 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
27518 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
27519 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
27520 want to read them anyway.
27522 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
27523 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
27527 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
27528 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
27529 lines, which might save some time.
27533 @node Little Disk Space
27534 @subsection Little Disk Space
27537 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
27538 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
27542 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
27543 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
27544 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
27545 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
27548 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
27549 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
27550 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
27551 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
27554 @item gnus-save-killed-list
27555 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
27556 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
27557 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
27558 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
27564 @subsection Slow Machine
27565 @cindex slow machine
27567 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
27568 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
27570 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
27571 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
27573 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
27574 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
27575 summary buffer faster.
27579 @node Troubleshooting
27580 @section Troubleshooting
27581 @cindex troubleshooting
27583 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
27591 Make sure your computer is switched on.
27594 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
27595 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
27599 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
27600 like @samp{Gnus v5.10.6} you have the right files loaded. Otherwise
27601 you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
27604 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
27605 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
27608 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
27609 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
27610 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
27611 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
27612 something like that.
27615 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
27618 @cindex reporting bugs
27620 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
27622 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
27623 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
27624 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
27625 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
27627 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
27628 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
27629 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
27630 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
27633 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
27634 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
27635 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
27636 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
27637 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
27638 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
27640 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
27641 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
27642 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
27646 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
27647 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
27650 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
27651 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
27652 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
27653 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
27654 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
27655 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
27656 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
27657 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
27658 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
27659 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
27660 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
27661 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
27662 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
27663 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
27668 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
27669 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
27670 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
27671 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
27672 helps isolating the real problem areas).
27674 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
27675 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
27676 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
27677 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
27678 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
27679 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
27680 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
27681 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
27682 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
27683 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
27684 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
27685 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
27686 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
27689 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
27690 @cindex ding mailing list
27691 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
27692 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
27693 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
27694 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
27698 @node Gnus Reference Guide
27699 @section Gnus Reference Guide
27701 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
27702 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
27703 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
27704 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
27707 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
27708 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
27709 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
27710 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
27711 and general methods of operation.
27714 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
27715 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
27716 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
27717 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
27718 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
27719 * Group Info:: The group info format.
27720 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
27721 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
27722 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
27726 @node Gnus Utility Functions
27727 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
27728 @cindex Gnus utility functions
27729 @cindex utility functions
27731 @cindex internal variables
27733 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
27734 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
27735 Below is a list of the most common ones.
27739 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
27740 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
27741 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
27743 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
27744 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
27745 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
27747 @item gnus-group-real-name
27748 @findex gnus-group-real-name
27749 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
27752 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
27753 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
27754 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
27755 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
27757 @item gnus-get-info
27758 @findex gnus-get-info
27759 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
27761 @item gnus-group-unread
27762 @findex gnus-group-unread
27763 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
27767 @findex gnus-active
27768 The active entry for @var{group}.
27770 @item gnus-set-active
27771 @findex gnus-set-active
27772 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
27774 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
27775 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
27776 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
27779 @item gnus-continuum-version
27780 @findex gnus-continuum-version
27781 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
27782 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
27785 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
27786 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
27787 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
27789 @item gnus-news-group-p
27790 @findex gnus-news-group-p
27791 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
27793 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
27794 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
27795 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
27797 @item gnus-server-to-method
27798 @findex gnus-server-to-method
27799 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
27801 @item gnus-server-equal
27802 @findex gnus-server-equal
27803 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
27805 @item gnus-group-native-p
27806 @findex gnus-group-native-p
27807 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
27809 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
27810 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
27811 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
27813 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
27814 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
27815 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
27817 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
27818 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
27819 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
27820 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
27822 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
27823 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
27824 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
27826 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
27827 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
27828 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
27830 @item gnus-check-backend-function
27831 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
27832 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
27833 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
27836 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
27840 @item gnus-read-method
27841 @findex gnus-read-method
27842 Prompts the user for a select method.
27847 @node Back End Interface
27848 @subsection Back End Interface
27850 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
27851 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
27852 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
27853 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
27854 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
27855 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
27857 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
27858 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
27859 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
27860 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
27861 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
27862 been opened, the function should fail.
27864 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
27865 name. Take this example:
27869 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
27870 (nntp-port-number 4324))
27873 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
27874 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
27876 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
27877 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
27878 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
27880 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
27881 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
27882 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
27884 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
27885 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
27886 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
27887 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
27888 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
27889 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
27892 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
27893 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
27894 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
27895 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
27898 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
27899 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
27900 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
27901 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
27902 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
27903 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
27904 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
27905 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
27906 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
27907 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
27909 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
27910 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
27911 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
27912 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
27913 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
27914 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
27915 of numbers as long as possible.
27917 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
27918 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
27919 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
27921 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
27924 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
27927 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
27928 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
27929 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
27930 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
27931 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
27932 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
27936 @node Required Back End Functions
27937 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
27941 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
27943 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
27944 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
27945 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
27946 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
27948 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
27949 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
27950 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
27951 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
27953 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
27954 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
27955 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
27956 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
27957 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
27958 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
27959 number, do maximum fetches.
27961 Here's an example HEAD:
27964 221 1056 Article retrieved.
27965 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
27966 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
27967 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
27968 Subject: Re: Something very droll
27969 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
27970 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
27972 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
27973 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
27974 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
27978 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
27979 these in the data buffer.
27981 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
27985 head = error / valid-head
27986 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
27987 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
27988 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
27989 header = <text> eol
27993 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
27995 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
27996 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
28000 nov-buffer = *nov-line
28001 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
28002 field = <text except TAB>
28005 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
28009 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
28011 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
28012 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
28014 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
28015 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
28016 server. In fact, it should do so.
28018 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
28019 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
28022 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
28024 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
28025 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
28028 There should be no data returned.
28031 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
28033 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
28034 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
28035 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
28036 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
28038 There should be no data returned.
28041 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
28043 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
28044 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
28045 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
28046 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
28048 There should be no data returned.
28051 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
28053 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
28055 There should be no data returned.
28058 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
28060 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
28061 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
28062 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
28063 it would be nice if that were possible.
28065 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
28066 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
28067 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
28068 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
28069 into its article buffer.
28071 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
28072 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
28073 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
28074 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
28075 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
28076 on successful article retrieval.
28079 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
28081 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
28082 making @var{group} the current group.
28084 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
28087 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
28090 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
28093 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
28094 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
28095 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
28096 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
28097 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
28098 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
28099 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
28100 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
28101 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
28105 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
28106 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
28107 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
28111 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
28113 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
28114 a no-op on most back ends.
28116 There should be no data returned.
28119 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
28121 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
28124 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
28127 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
28128 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
28131 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
28132 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
28133 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
28134 and the highest as 0.
28137 active-file = *active-line
28138 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
28140 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
28143 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
28144 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
28145 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
28148 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
28150 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
28151 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
28152 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
28153 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
28154 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
28155 clear if the posting could not be completed.
28157 There should be no result data from this function.
28162 @node Optional Back End Functions
28163 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
28167 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
28169 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
28170 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
28171 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
28173 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
28174 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
28175 former is in the same format as the data from
28176 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
28177 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
28180 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
28184 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
28186 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
28187 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
28188 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
28189 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
28190 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
28191 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
28192 the network resources).
28194 There should be no result data from this function.
28197 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
28199 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
28200 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
28201 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
28202 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
28203 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
28204 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
28205 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
28206 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
28208 There should be no result data from this function.
28211 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
28213 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
28214 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
28215 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
28216 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
28217 propagate the mark information to the server.
28219 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
28222 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
28225 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
28226 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
28227 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
28228 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
28229 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
28230 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
28231 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
28232 possible, not limit itself to these.
28234 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
28235 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
28236 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
28237 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
28239 An example action list:
28242 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
28243 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
28244 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
28247 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
28248 mark on (currently not used for anything).
28250 There should be no result data from this function.
28252 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
28254 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
28255 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
28256 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
28257 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
28258 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
28260 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
28261 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
28262 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
28265 There should be no result data from this function.
28268 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
28270 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
28271 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
28272 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
28273 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
28274 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
28275 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
28276 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
28277 local if that's practical.
28279 There should be no result data from this function.
28282 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
28284 The result data from this function should be a description of
28288 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
28290 description = <text>
28293 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
28295 The result data from this function should be the description of all
28296 groups available on the server.
28299 description-buffer = *description-line
28303 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
28305 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
28306 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
28307 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
28308 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
28309 in the active buffer format.
28311 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
28312 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
28313 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
28314 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
28315 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
28316 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
28317 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
28320 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
28322 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
28324 There should be no return data.
28327 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
28329 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
28330 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
28331 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
28332 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
28333 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
28336 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
28339 There should be no result data returned.
28342 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
28344 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
28345 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
28347 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
28348 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
28349 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
28350 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
28351 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
28352 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
28354 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
28355 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
28358 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
28359 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
28361 There should be no data returned.
28364 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
28366 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
28367 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
28368 this function in short order.
28370 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
28371 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
28373 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
28374 article for that group.
28376 There should be no data returned.
28379 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
28381 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
28382 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
28384 There should be no data returned.
28387 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
28389 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
28390 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
28391 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
28393 There should be no data returned.
28396 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
28398 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
28399 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
28401 There should be no data returned.
28406 @node Error Messaging
28407 @subsubsection Error Messaging
28409 @findex nnheader-report
28410 @findex nnheader-get-report
28411 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
28412 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
28413 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
28414 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
28415 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
28416 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
28419 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
28421 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
28424 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
28425 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
28426 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
28427 takes one argument---the server symbol.
28429 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
28430 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
28431 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
28434 @node Writing New Back Ends
28435 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
28437 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
28438 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
28439 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
28440 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
28441 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
28444 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
28445 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
28446 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
28448 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
28449 package called @code{nnoo}.
28451 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
28452 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
28458 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
28459 parameters. For instance:
28462 (nnoo-declare nndir
28466 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
28467 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
28470 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
28471 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
28472 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
28474 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
28475 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
28476 a function in those back ends.
28479 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
28480 "Where nndir will look for groups."
28481 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
28484 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
28485 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
28486 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
28488 @item nnoo-define-basics
28489 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
28493 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
28497 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
28498 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
28499 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
28501 @item nnoo-map-functions
28502 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
28503 functions from the parent back ends.
28506 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
28507 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
28508 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
28511 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
28512 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
28513 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
28514 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
28517 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
28518 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
28519 haven't already been defined.
28525 nnmh-request-newgroups)
28529 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
28530 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
28531 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
28536 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
28539 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
28540 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
28544 (require 'nnheader)
28548 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
28550 (nnoo-declare nndir
28553 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
28554 "Where nndir will look for groups."
28555 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
28557 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
28558 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
28561 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
28563 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
28564 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
28565 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
28567 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
28568 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
28570 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
28572 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
28574 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
28575 (setq nndir-directory
28576 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
28578 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
28579 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
28580 (push `(nndir-current-group
28581 ,(file-name-nondirectory
28582 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
28584 (push `(nndir-top-directory
28585 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
28587 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
28589 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
28590 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
28591 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
28592 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
28593 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
28597 nnmh-status-message
28599 nnmh-request-newgroups))
28605 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
28606 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
28608 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
28609 @findex gnus-declare-backend
28610 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
28611 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
28612 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
28614 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
28615 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
28620 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
28623 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
28625 The abilities can be:
28629 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
28631 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
28633 This back end supports both mail and news.
28635 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
28638 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
28639 articles and groups.
28641 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
28642 true for almost all back ends.
28643 @item prompt-address
28644 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
28645 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
28646 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
28650 @node Mail-like Back Ends
28651 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
28653 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
28654 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
28655 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
28656 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
28659 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
28660 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
28661 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
28664 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
28665 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
28668 This function takes four parameters.
28672 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
28675 @item exit-function
28676 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
28678 @item temp-directory
28679 Where the temporary files should be stored.
28682 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
28683 performed for one group only.
28686 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
28687 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
28688 find the article number assigned to this article.
28690 The function also uses the following variables:
28691 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
28692 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
28693 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
28694 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
28698 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
28699 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
28703 @node Score File Syntax
28704 @subsection Score File Syntax
28706 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
28707 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
28708 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
28710 Here's a typical score file:
28714 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
28721 BNF definition of a score file:
28724 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
28725 element = rule / atom
28726 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
28727 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
28728 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
28729 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
28731 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
28732 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
28733 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
28734 date-header = "date"
28735 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
28736 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
28737 score = "nil" / <integer>
28738 date = "nil" / <natural number>
28739 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
28740 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
28741 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
28742 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
28743 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
28744 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
28745 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
28746 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
28747 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
28748 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
28749 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
28750 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
28751 exclude-files / read-only / touched
28752 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
28753 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
28754 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
28755 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
28756 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
28757 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
28758 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
28759 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
28760 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
28761 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
28762 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
28763 eval = "eval" space <form>
28764 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
28767 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
28770 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
28771 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
28772 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
28773 one looong line, then that's ok.
28775 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
28776 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
28780 @subsection Headers
28782 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
28783 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
28784 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
28785 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
28787 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
28788 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
28789 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
28790 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
28791 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
28792 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
28793 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
28795 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
28796 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
28797 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
28798 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
28799 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
28801 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
28802 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
28808 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
28809 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
28811 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
28812 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
28813 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
28814 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
28816 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
28820 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
28823 is transformed into
28826 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
28829 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
28830 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
28833 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
28836 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
28837 is slightly tricky:
28840 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
28846 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
28849 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
28855 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
28862 and is equal to the previous range.
28864 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
28865 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
28866 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
28870 range = simple-range / normal-range
28871 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
28872 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
28873 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
28874 number *[ " " contents ]
28877 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
28878 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
28879 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
28880 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
28881 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
28886 @subsection Group Info
28888 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
28889 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
28890 describes the group.
28892 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
28893 second is a more complex one:
28896 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
28898 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
28899 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
28901 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
28904 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
28905 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
28906 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
28907 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
28908 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
28909 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
28910 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
28911 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
28912 this section is about.
28914 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
28915 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
28916 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
28918 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
28921 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
28922 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
28923 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
28924 group = quote <string> quote
28925 ralevel = rank / level
28926 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
28927 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
28928 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
28930 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
28931 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
28932 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
28933 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
28936 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
28937 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
28940 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
28941 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
28944 @item gnus-info-group
28945 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
28946 @findex gnus-info-group
28947 @findex gnus-info-set-group
28948 Get/set the group name.
28950 @item gnus-info-rank
28951 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
28952 @findex gnus-info-rank
28953 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
28954 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
28956 @item gnus-info-level
28957 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
28958 @findex gnus-info-level
28959 @findex gnus-info-set-level
28960 Get/set the group level.
28962 @item gnus-info-score
28963 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
28964 @findex gnus-info-score
28965 @findex gnus-info-set-score
28966 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
28968 @item gnus-info-read
28969 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
28970 @findex gnus-info-read
28971 @findex gnus-info-set-read
28972 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
28974 @item gnus-info-marks
28975 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
28976 @findex gnus-info-marks
28977 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
28978 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
28980 @item gnus-info-method
28981 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
28982 @findex gnus-info-method
28983 @findex gnus-info-set-method
28984 Get/set the group select method.
28986 @item gnus-info-params
28987 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
28988 @findex gnus-info-params
28989 @findex gnus-info-set-params
28990 Get/set the group parameters.
28993 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
28994 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
28996 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
28997 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
28998 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
28999 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
29002 @node Extended Interactive
29003 @subsection Extended Interactive
29004 @cindex interactive
29005 @findex gnus-interactive
29007 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
29008 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
29009 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
29012 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
29013 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
29018 The best thing to do would have been to implement
29019 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
29020 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
29021 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
29022 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
29023 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
29024 @code{interactive}.
29026 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
29031 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
29032 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
29036 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
29037 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
29038 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
29041 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
29045 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
29049 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
29055 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
29056 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
29060 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
29061 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
29062 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
29064 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
29065 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
29066 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
29067 Gnus, that's very useful.
29069 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
29070 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
29071 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
29072 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
29073 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
29074 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
29075 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
29076 following function:
29079 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
29083 (,function ,@@args))
29087 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
29088 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
29089 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
29092 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
29093 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
29094 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
29096 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
29097 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
29098 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
29101 @node Various File Formats
29102 @subsection Various File Formats
29105 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
29106 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
29110 @node Active File Format
29111 @subsubsection Active File Format
29113 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
29114 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
29117 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
29120 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
29121 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
29122 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
29123 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
29124 no.general 1000 900 y
29127 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
29130 active = *group-line
29131 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
29132 group = <non-white-space string>
29134 high-number = <non-negative integer>
29135 low-number = <positive integer>
29136 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
29139 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
29140 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
29143 @node Newsgroups File Format
29144 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
29146 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
29147 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
29148 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
29151 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
29152 Here's the definition:
29156 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
29157 group = <non-white-space string>
29159 description = <string>
29164 @node Emacs for Heathens
29165 @section Emacs for Heathens
29167 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
29168 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
29169 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
29170 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
29171 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
29172 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
29173 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
29177 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
29178 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
29183 @subsection Keystrokes
29187 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
29190 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
29193 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
29194 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
29195 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
29196 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
29197 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
29198 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
29200 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
29201 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
29202 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
29203 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
29204 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
29205 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
29206 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
29208 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
29209 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
29210 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
29211 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
29212 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
29213 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
29214 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
29216 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
29217 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
29218 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
29219 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
29220 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
29226 @subsection Emacs Lisp
29228 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
29229 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
29230 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
29231 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
29233 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
29234 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
29235 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
29236 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
29237 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
29238 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
29239 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{~/.gnus.el}
29240 file to customize Gnus. (You can also use the @file{~/.emacs} file, but
29241 in order to set things of Gnus up, it is much better to use the
29242 @file{~/.gnus.el} file, @xref{Startup Files}.)
29244 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
29245 write the following:
29248 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
29251 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
29252 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
29253 you can go and fill your @file{~/.gnus.el} file with lots of these to
29254 change how Gnus works.
29256 If you have put that thing in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, it will be
29257 read and @code{eval}ed (which is Lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
29258 start Gnus. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
29259 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
29260 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
29262 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
29263 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
29264 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
29268 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
29272 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
29275 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
29276 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
29279 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
29282 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
29283 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
29286 @include gnus-faq.texi
29306 @c Local Variables:
29308 @c coding: iso-8859-1
29312 arch-tag: c9fa47e7-78ca-4681-bda9-9fef45d1c819