10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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284 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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293 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
295 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
299 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
300 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
301 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
302 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
303 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
304 License'' in the Emacs manual.
306 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
307 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
308 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
310 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
311 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
312 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
313 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
321 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
323 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
324 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
326 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
327 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
328 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
329 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
330 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
331 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
332 License'' in the Emacs manual.
334 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
335 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
336 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
338 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
339 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
340 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
341 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
349 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
352 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
353 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
355 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
357 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
358 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
359 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
360 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
361 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
362 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
363 License'' in the Emacs manual.
365 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
366 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
367 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
369 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
370 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
371 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
372 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
381 @top The Gnus Newsreader
385 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
386 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
387 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
390 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v0.15.
401 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
402 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
404 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
405 being accused of plagiarism:
407 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
408 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
409 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
410 can even read news with it!
412 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
413 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
414 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
415 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
416 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
422 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
423 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
424 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
425 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
426 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
427 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
428 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
429 * Various:: General purpose settings.
430 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
431 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
432 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
433 * Key Index:: Key Index.
435 Other related manuals
437 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
438 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; MIME-specific parts.
439 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
440 * PGG:(pgg). PGP/MIME with Gnus.
443 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
447 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
448 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
449 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
450 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
451 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
452 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
453 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
454 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
455 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
456 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
457 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
461 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
462 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
463 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
467 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
468 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
469 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
470 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
471 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
472 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
473 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
474 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
475 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
476 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
477 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
478 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
479 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
480 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
481 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
482 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
483 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
487 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
488 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
489 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
493 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
494 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
495 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
496 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
497 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
501 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
502 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
503 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
504 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
505 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
509 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
510 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
511 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
512 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
513 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
514 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
515 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
516 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
517 * Threading:: How threads are made.
518 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
519 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
520 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
521 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
522 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
523 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
524 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
525 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
526 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
527 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
528 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
529 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
530 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
531 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
532 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
533 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
534 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
535 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
536 or reselecting the current group.
537 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
538 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
539 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
540 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
542 Summary Buffer Format
544 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
545 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
546 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
547 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
551 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
552 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
554 Reply, Followup and Post
556 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
557 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
558 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
559 * Canceling and Superseding::
563 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
564 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
565 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
567 * Generic Marking Commands::
568 * Setting Process Marks::
572 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
573 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
574 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
578 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
579 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
581 Customizing Threading
583 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
584 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
585 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
586 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
590 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
591 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
592 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
593 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
594 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
595 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
599 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
600 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
601 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
605 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
606 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
607 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
608 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
609 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
610 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
611 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
612 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
613 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
614 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
616 Alternative Approaches
618 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
619 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
621 Various Summary Stuff
623 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
624 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
625 * Summary Generation Commands::
626 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
630 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
631 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
632 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
633 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
634 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
638 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
639 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
640 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
641 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
642 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
643 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
644 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
645 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
649 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
650 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
651 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
652 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
653 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
654 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
655 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
656 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
660 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
661 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
662 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
663 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
664 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
665 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
666 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
670 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
671 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
675 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
676 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
677 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
681 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
682 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
683 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
684 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
685 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
686 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
687 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
688 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
689 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
690 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
691 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
692 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
693 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
697 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
698 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
699 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
701 Choosing a Mail Back End
703 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
704 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
705 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
706 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
707 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
708 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
709 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
714 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
715 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
716 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
717 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
718 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
719 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
723 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
724 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
725 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
726 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
727 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
731 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
732 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
733 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
734 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
735 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
739 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
743 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
744 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
745 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
749 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
750 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
754 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
755 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
756 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
757 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
758 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
759 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
760 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
761 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
762 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
763 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
764 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
765 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
769 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
770 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
771 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
775 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
776 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
777 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
781 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
782 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
783 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
784 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
785 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
786 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
787 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
788 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
789 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
790 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
791 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
792 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
793 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
794 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
795 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
796 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
797 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
801 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
802 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
803 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
804 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
808 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
809 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
810 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
814 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
815 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
816 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
817 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
818 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
819 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
820 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
821 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
822 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
823 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
824 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
825 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
826 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
827 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
828 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
829 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
830 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
831 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
832 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
836 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
837 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
838 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
839 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
840 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
841 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
842 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
843 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
847 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
848 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
849 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
850 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
854 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
855 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
856 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
857 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
858 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
859 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
863 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
864 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
865 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
866 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
867 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
868 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
869 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
870 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
871 * Frequently Asked Questions::
875 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
876 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
877 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
878 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
879 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
880 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
881 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
882 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
883 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
887 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
888 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
889 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
890 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
891 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
895 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
896 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
897 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
898 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
902 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
903 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
904 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
905 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
906 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
907 * Group Info:: The group info format.
908 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
909 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
910 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
914 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
915 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
916 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
917 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
918 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
919 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
923 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
924 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
928 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
929 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
935 @chapter Starting Gnus
940 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
941 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
944 @findex gnus-other-frame
945 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
946 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
947 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
949 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
950 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
951 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
953 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
954 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
957 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
958 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
959 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
960 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
961 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
962 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
963 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
964 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
965 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
966 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
967 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
971 @node Finding the News
972 @section Finding the News
975 @vindex gnus-select-method
977 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
978 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
979 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
980 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
983 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
984 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
987 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
990 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
993 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
996 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
997 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
998 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1000 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1002 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
1003 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1004 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1005 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1006 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1007 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1009 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1010 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1011 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1012 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1014 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1015 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1016 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1017 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1018 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1019 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1020 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1021 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1022 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1025 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1027 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1028 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1029 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1030 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1031 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1032 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1034 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1036 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1037 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1038 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1039 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1040 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1041 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1044 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1045 you would typically set this variable to
1048 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1052 @node The First Time
1053 @section The First Time
1054 @cindex first time usage
1056 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1057 be subscribed by default.
1059 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1060 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1061 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1062 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1065 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1066 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1067 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1069 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1070 help you with most common problems.
1072 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1073 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1077 @node The Server is Down
1078 @section The Server is Down
1079 @cindex server errors
1081 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1082 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1083 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1085 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1086 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1087 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1088 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1089 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1090 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1091 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1093 @findex gnus-no-server
1094 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1096 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1097 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1098 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1099 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1100 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1101 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1102 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1106 @section Slave Gnusae
1109 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1110 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1111 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1112 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1114 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1115 @file{.newsrc} file.
1117 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1118 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1119 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1120 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1121 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1122 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1123 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1126 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1127 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1128 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1129 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1130 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1131 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1132 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1133 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1135 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1136 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1138 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1139 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1140 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1141 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1142 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1144 @node Fetching a Group
1145 @section Fetching a Group
1146 @cindex fetching a group
1148 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1149 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1150 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1151 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1152 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1153 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1159 @cindex subscription
1161 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1162 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1163 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1164 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1165 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1166 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1167 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1168 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1169 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1172 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1173 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1174 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1178 @node Checking New Groups
1179 @subsection Checking New Groups
1181 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1182 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1183 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1184 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1185 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1186 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1187 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1188 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1189 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1190 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1192 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1193 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1194 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1195 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1196 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1197 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1198 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1199 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1200 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1201 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1202 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1204 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1205 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1206 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1207 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1208 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1209 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1212 @node Subscription Methods
1213 @subsection Subscription Methods
1215 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1216 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1217 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1219 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1220 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1222 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1226 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1227 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1228 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1229 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1230 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1232 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1233 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1234 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1235 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1237 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1238 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1239 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1241 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1242 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1243 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1244 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1245 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1246 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1247 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1248 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1249 up. Or something like that.
1251 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1252 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1253 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1254 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1255 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1257 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1258 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1259 Kill all new groups.
1261 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1262 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1263 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1264 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1265 topic parameter that looks like
1271 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1274 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1279 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1280 A closely related variable is
1281 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1282 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1283 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1284 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1287 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1288 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1289 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1290 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1293 @node Filtering New Groups
1294 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1296 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1297 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1298 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1301 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1304 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1305 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1306 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1307 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1308 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1309 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1310 subscribing these groups.
1311 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1312 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1314 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1315 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1316 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1317 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1318 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1319 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1320 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1321 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1323 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1324 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1325 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1326 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1327 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1328 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1329 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1330 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1331 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1332 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1335 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1336 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1339 @node Changing Servers
1340 @section Changing Servers
1341 @cindex changing servers
1343 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1344 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1345 very flaky and you want to use another.
1347 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1348 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1352 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1353 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1354 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1355 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1358 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1359 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1360 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1361 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1363 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1364 @findex gnus-change-server
1365 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1366 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1367 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1368 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1369 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1371 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1372 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1373 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1374 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1375 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1377 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1378 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1379 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1380 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1381 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1382 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1384 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1385 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1386 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1387 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1389 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1390 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1391 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1392 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1393 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1394 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1395 cache for all groups).
1399 @section Startup Files
1400 @cindex startup files
1405 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1406 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1408 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1409 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1410 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1411 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1412 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1413 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1414 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1416 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1417 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1418 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1419 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1420 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1421 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1423 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1424 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1425 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1426 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1427 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1428 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1429 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1430 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1431 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1432 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1434 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1435 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1436 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1437 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1438 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1439 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1440 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1441 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1442 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1443 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1444 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1445 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1447 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1448 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1449 @vindex version-control
1450 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1451 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1452 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1453 If you want version control for this file, set
1454 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1455 @code{version-control} variable.
1457 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1458 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1459 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1460 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1461 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1462 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1463 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1464 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1465 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1466 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1469 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1470 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1472 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1473 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1476 @vindex gnus-init-file
1477 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1478 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1479 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1480 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1481 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1482 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1483 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1484 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1485 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1486 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1492 @cindex dribble file
1495 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1496 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1497 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1498 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1499 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1502 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1503 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1506 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1507 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1508 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1510 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1511 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1512 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1513 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1514 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1515 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1517 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1518 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1519 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1522 @node The Active File
1523 @section The Active File
1525 @cindex ignored groups
1527 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1528 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1529 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1531 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1532 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1533 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1534 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1535 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1536 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1537 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1540 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1541 @c if you set it to anything else.
1543 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1545 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1546 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1547 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1549 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1550 you actually subscribe to.
1552 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1553 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1554 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1555 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1557 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1558 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1559 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1560 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1561 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1562 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1564 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1565 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1566 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1569 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1570 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1571 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1572 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1573 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1574 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1576 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1577 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1579 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1580 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1582 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1583 secondary select methods.
1586 @node Startup Variables
1587 @section Startup Variables
1591 @item gnus-load-hook
1592 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1593 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1594 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1595 times you start Gnus.
1597 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1598 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1599 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1601 @item gnus-startup-hook
1602 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1603 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1605 @item gnus-started-hook
1606 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1607 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1610 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1611 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1612 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1613 generating the group buffer.
1615 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1616 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1617 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1618 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1619 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1620 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1621 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1622 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1624 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1625 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1626 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1627 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1628 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1629 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1631 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1632 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1633 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1635 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1636 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1637 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1639 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1640 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1641 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1642 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1648 @chapter Group Buffer
1649 @cindex group buffer
1651 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1653 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1654 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1655 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1656 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1657 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1658 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1659 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1660 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1661 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1662 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1663 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1664 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1665 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1666 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1667 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1668 @c human rights at 9...
1671 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1672 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1673 long as Gnus is active.
1677 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1678 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1679 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1680 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1681 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1682 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1683 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1684 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1690 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1691 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1692 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1693 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1694 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1695 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1696 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1697 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1698 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1699 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1700 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1701 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1702 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1703 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1704 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1705 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1706 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1710 @node Group Buffer Format
1711 @section Group Buffer Format
1714 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1715 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1716 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1720 @node Group Line Specification
1721 @subsection Group Line Specification
1722 @cindex group buffer format
1724 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1725 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1727 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1730 25: news.announce.newusers
1731 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1736 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1737 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1738 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1739 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1741 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1742 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1743 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1744 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1745 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1746 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1748 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1750 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1751 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1752 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1753 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1754 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1756 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1757 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1758 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1760 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1765 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1768 Whether the group is subscribed.
1771 Level of subscribedness.
1774 Number of unread articles.
1777 Number of dormant articles.
1780 Number of ticked articles.
1783 Number of read articles.
1786 Number of unseen articles.
1789 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1790 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1792 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1793 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1794 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1795 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1796 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1797 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1798 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1799 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1802 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1805 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1814 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1815 comment element in the group parameters.
1818 Newsgroup description.
1821 @samp{m} if moderated.
1824 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1830 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1836 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1840 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1843 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1844 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1845 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1846 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1847 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1850 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1852 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1856 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1859 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1863 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1864 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1865 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1866 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1867 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1868 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1873 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1874 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1875 group, or a bogus native group.
1878 @node Group Modeline Specification
1879 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1880 @cindex group modeline
1882 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1883 The mode line can be changed by setting
1884 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1885 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1889 The native news server.
1891 The native select method.
1895 @node Group Highlighting
1896 @subsection Group Highlighting
1897 @cindex highlighting
1898 @cindex group highlighting
1900 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1901 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1902 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1903 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1904 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1906 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1910 (cond (window-system
1911 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1912 (defface my-group-face-1
1913 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1914 (defface my-group-face-2
1915 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1916 (defface my-group-face-3
1917 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1918 (defface my-group-face-4
1919 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1920 (defface my-group-face-5
1921 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1923 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1924 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1925 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1926 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1927 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1928 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1931 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1933 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1940 The number of unread articles in the group.
1944 Whether the group is a mail group.
1946 The level of the group.
1948 The score of the group.
1950 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1952 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1953 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1955 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1956 topic being inserted.
1959 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1960 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1961 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1963 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1964 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1965 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1966 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1967 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1970 @node Group Maneuvering
1971 @section Group Maneuvering
1972 @cindex group movement
1974 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1975 expected, hopefully.
1981 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1982 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1983 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1989 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1990 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1991 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1995 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1996 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2000 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2001 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2005 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2006 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2007 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2011 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2012 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2013 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2016 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2022 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2023 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2024 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2029 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2030 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2031 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2035 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2036 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2037 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2040 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2041 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2042 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2043 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2047 @node Selecting a Group
2048 @section Selecting a Group
2049 @cindex group selection
2054 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2055 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2056 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2057 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2058 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2059 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2060 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2061 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2062 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2063 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2065 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2066 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2067 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2069 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2070 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2075 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2076 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2077 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2078 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2079 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2083 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2084 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2085 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2086 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2087 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2088 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2089 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2090 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2091 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2092 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2095 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2096 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2097 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2098 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2099 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2102 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2103 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2104 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2105 doing any processing of its contents
2106 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2107 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2108 manner will have no permanent effects.
2112 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2113 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
2114 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2115 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2116 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2117 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2118 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2119 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2122 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2123 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2124 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2125 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2126 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2127 Which article this is is controlled by the
2128 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2134 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2137 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2140 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2142 @item unseen-or-unread
2143 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2144 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2148 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2152 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2153 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2155 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2156 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2157 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2158 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2162 @node Subscription Commands
2163 @section Subscription Commands
2164 @cindex subscription
2172 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2173 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2174 Toggle subscription to the current group
2175 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2181 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2182 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2183 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2184 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2190 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2191 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2192 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2198 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2199 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2202 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2203 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2204 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2205 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2206 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2212 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2213 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2217 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2218 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2221 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2222 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2223 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2224 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2225 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2226 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2227 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2228 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2229 @file{.newsrc} file.
2233 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2243 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2244 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2245 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2246 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2247 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2248 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2253 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2254 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2255 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2259 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2260 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2261 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2263 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2264 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2265 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2266 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2267 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2268 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2275 @section Group Levels
2279 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2280 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2281 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2282 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2283 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2285 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2291 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2292 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2293 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2294 prompted for a level.
2297 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2298 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2299 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2300 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2301 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2302 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2303 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2304 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2305 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2306 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2307 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2308 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2309 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2310 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2311 reasons of efficiency.
2313 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2314 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2316 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2317 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2318 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2319 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2320 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2321 groups are hidden, in a way.
2323 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2324 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2325 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2326 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2327 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2328 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2330 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2331 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2332 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2333 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2334 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2335 list of killed groups.)
2337 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2338 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2339 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2341 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2342 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2343 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2344 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2345 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2346 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2347 relevant valid ranges.
2349 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2350 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2351 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2352 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2353 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2354 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2357 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2358 one with the best level.
2360 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2361 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2362 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2365 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2366 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2367 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2368 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2371 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2372 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2373 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2374 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2376 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2377 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2378 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2379 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2380 to 5. The default is 6.
2384 @section Group Score
2389 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2390 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2391 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2394 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2395 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2396 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2397 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2398 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2399 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2400 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2401 least significant part.))
2403 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2404 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2405 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2406 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2407 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2408 action after each summary exit, you can add
2409 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2410 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2411 slow things down somewhat.
2414 @node Marking Groups
2415 @section Marking Groups
2416 @cindex marking groups
2418 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2419 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2420 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2421 bidding on those groups.
2423 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2424 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2425 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2433 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2434 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2440 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2441 Remove the mark from the current group
2442 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2446 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2447 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2451 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2452 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2456 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2457 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2461 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2462 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2463 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2466 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2468 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2469 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2470 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2471 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2472 the command to be executed.
2475 @node Foreign Groups
2476 @section Foreign Groups
2477 @cindex foreign groups
2479 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2480 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2481 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2482 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2489 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2490 @cindex making groups
2491 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2492 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2493 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2497 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2498 @cindex renaming groups
2499 Rename the current group to something else
2500 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2501 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2507 @findex gnus-group-customize
2508 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2512 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2513 @cindex renaming groups
2514 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2515 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2519 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2520 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2521 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2525 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2526 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2527 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2531 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2533 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2534 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2539 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2540 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2544 @cindex (ding) archive
2545 @cindex archive group
2546 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2547 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2548 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2549 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2550 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2551 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2552 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2556 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2558 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2559 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2560 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2561 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2565 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2567 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2568 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2569 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2573 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2574 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2576 Make a group based on some file or other
2577 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2578 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2579 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2580 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2581 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2582 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2583 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2584 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2585 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2589 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2590 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2591 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2592 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2596 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2600 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2601 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2602 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2603 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2604 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2605 @xref{Web Searches}.
2607 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2608 to a particular group by using a match string like
2609 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2612 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2613 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2614 This function will delete the current group
2615 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2616 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2617 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2618 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2619 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2623 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2624 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2625 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2629 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2630 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2631 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2634 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2637 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2638 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2639 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2640 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2641 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2642 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2646 @node Group Parameters
2647 @section Group Parameters
2648 @cindex group parameters
2650 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2651 Here's an example group parameter list:
2654 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2658 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2659 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2660 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2661 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2663 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2664 is an alist of regexps and values.
2666 The following group parameters can be used:
2671 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2674 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2677 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2678 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2679 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2680 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2681 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2683 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2684 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2685 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2686 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2687 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2688 list address instead.
2690 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2694 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2697 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2700 It is totally ignored
2701 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2702 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2704 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2705 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2706 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2707 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2708 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2710 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2711 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2712 sending the message.
2714 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2715 @cindex Mail List Groups
2716 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2717 entering summary buffer.
2719 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2724 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2725 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2726 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2727 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2728 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2729 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2731 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2732 directly uses this group parameter.
2736 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2737 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2738 of whether it has any unread articles.
2740 @item broken-reply-to
2741 @cindex broken-reply-to
2742 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2743 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2744 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2745 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2746 broken behavior. So there!
2750 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2751 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2755 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2756 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2757 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2762 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2763 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2764 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2765 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2766 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2767 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2768 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2769 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2770 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept articles.
2774 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2775 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2776 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2778 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2781 @cindex total-expire
2782 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2783 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2784 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2785 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2788 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2792 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2793 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2794 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2795 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2796 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2797 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2798 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2801 @cindex score file group parameter
2802 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2803 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2804 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2807 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2808 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2809 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2810 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2813 @cindex admin-address
2814 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2815 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2816 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2817 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2821 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2822 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2826 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2829 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2830 entering the group with C-u @var{integer}.
2833 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2837 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2839 Here are some examples:
2843 Display only unread articles.
2846 Display everything except expirable articles.
2848 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2849 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2853 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2854 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2855 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2856 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2857 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2861 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2862 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2863 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2867 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2868 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2869 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2873 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2874 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2875 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2877 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2879 @item ignored-charsets
2880 @cindex ignored-charset
2881 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2882 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2883 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2885 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2888 @cindex posting-style
2889 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2890 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2891 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2892 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2893 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2895 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2896 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2897 like this in the group parameters:
2902 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2903 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2908 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2909 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2913 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2914 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2915 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2916 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2917 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2921 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2922 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2923 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2924 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2926 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2927 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2928 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2929 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2932 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2933 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2937 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2940 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2941 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2942 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2943 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2944 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2945 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2946 @code{eval}ed there.
2948 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2949 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2950 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2951 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2952 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2953 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2954 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2955 parameters for the group.
2958 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2959 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2960 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2961 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2962 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2966 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2967 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2968 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2969 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2970 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2972 @vindex gnus-parameters
2973 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2974 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2978 (setq gnus-parameters
2980 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2981 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2982 (gnus-summary-line-format
2983 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2987 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2991 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2995 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2998 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2999 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3002 @node Listing Groups
3003 @section Listing Groups
3004 @cindex group listing
3006 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3014 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3015 List all groups that have unread articles
3016 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3017 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3018 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
3019 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3026 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3027 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3028 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3029 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3030 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3031 unsubscribed groups).
3035 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3036 List all unread groups on a specific level
3037 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3038 with no unread articles.
3042 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3043 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3044 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3045 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3050 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3051 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3055 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3056 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3057 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3061 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3062 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3066 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3067 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3068 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3069 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3070 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3071 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3072 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3073 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3077 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3078 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3079 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3083 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3084 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3085 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3089 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3090 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3094 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3095 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3099 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3100 List groups limited within the current selection
3101 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3105 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3106 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3110 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3111 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3115 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3116 @cindex visible group parameter
3117 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3118 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3119 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3120 get the same effect.
3122 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3123 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3124 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3125 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3126 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3129 @node Sorting Groups
3130 @section Sorting Groups
3131 @cindex sorting groups
3133 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3134 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3135 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3136 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3137 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3138 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3143 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3144 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3145 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3147 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3148 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3149 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3151 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3152 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3153 Sort by group level.
3155 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3156 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3157 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3159 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3160 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3161 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3162 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3164 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3165 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3166 Sort by number of unread articles.
3168 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3169 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3170 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3172 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3173 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3174 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3179 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3180 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3184 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3185 some sorting criteria:
3189 @kindex G S a (Group)
3190 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3191 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3192 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3195 @kindex G S u (Group)
3196 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3197 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3198 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3201 @kindex G S l (Group)
3202 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3203 Sort the group buffer by group level
3204 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3207 @kindex G S v (Group)
3208 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3209 Sort the group buffer by group score
3210 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3213 @kindex G S r (Group)
3214 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3215 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3216 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3219 @kindex G S m (Group)
3220 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3221 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3222 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3225 @kindex G S n (Group)
3226 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3227 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3228 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3232 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3233 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3235 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3236 commands will sort in reverse order.
3238 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3242 @kindex G P a (Group)
3243 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3244 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3245 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3248 @kindex G P u (Group)
3249 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3250 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3251 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3254 @kindex G P l (Group)
3255 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3256 Sort the groups by group level
3257 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3260 @kindex G P v (Group)
3261 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3262 Sort the groups by group score
3263 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3266 @kindex G P r (Group)
3267 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3268 Sort the groups by group rank
3269 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3272 @kindex G P m (Group)
3273 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3274 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3275 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3278 @kindex G P n (Group)
3279 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3280 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3281 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3284 @kindex G P s (Group)
3285 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3286 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3290 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3294 @node Group Maintenance
3295 @section Group Maintenance
3296 @cindex bogus groups
3301 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3302 Find bogus groups and delete them
3303 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3307 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3308 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3309 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3310 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3311 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3315 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3316 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3317 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3318 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3319 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3320 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3323 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3324 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3325 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3326 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3331 @node Browse Foreign Server
3332 @section Browse Foreign Server
3333 @cindex foreign servers
3334 @cindex browsing servers
3339 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3340 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3341 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3342 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3345 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3346 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3347 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3348 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3350 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3355 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3356 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3360 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3361 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3364 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3365 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3366 Enter the current group and display the first article
3367 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3370 @kindex RET (Browse)
3371 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3372 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3376 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3377 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3378 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3384 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3385 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3389 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3390 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3394 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3395 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3396 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3401 @section Exiting Gnus
3402 @cindex exiting Gnus
3404 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3409 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3410 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3411 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3412 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3416 @findex gnus-group-exit
3417 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3418 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3422 @findex gnus-group-quit
3423 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3424 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3427 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3428 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3429 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3430 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3431 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3432 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3437 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3438 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3439 trying to customize meta-variables.
3444 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3445 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3446 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3452 @section Group Topics
3455 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3456 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3457 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3458 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3459 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3460 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3464 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3465 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3476 2: alt.religion.emacs
3479 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3481 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3482 13: comp.sources.unix
3485 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3487 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3488 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3489 is a toggling command.)
3491 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3492 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3493 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3494 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3497 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3498 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3499 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3502 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3506 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3507 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3508 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3509 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3510 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3514 @node Topic Commands
3515 @subsection Topic Commands
3516 @cindex topic commands
3518 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3519 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3520 definitions slightly.
3522 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3523 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3524 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3525 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3526 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3527 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3529 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3536 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3537 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3538 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3542 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3544 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3545 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3546 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3547 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3550 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3551 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3552 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3553 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3557 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3558 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3559 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3560 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3566 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3567 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3568 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3572 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3573 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3574 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3577 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3578 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3579 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3580 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3581 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3583 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3584 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3588 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3589 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3596 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3598 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3599 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3600 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3601 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3602 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3603 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3607 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3613 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3614 Move the current group to some other topic
3615 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3616 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3620 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3621 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3625 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3626 Copy the current group to some other topic
3627 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3628 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3632 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3633 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3634 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3638 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3639 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3640 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3644 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3645 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3646 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3647 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3648 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3649 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3650 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3653 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3654 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3658 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3659 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3660 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3664 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3665 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3666 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3670 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3671 Toggle hiding empty topics
3672 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3676 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3677 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3678 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3679 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3682 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3683 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3684 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3685 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3686 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3689 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3690 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3691 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3692 expiry process (if any)
3693 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3697 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3698 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3701 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3702 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3703 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3707 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3708 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3709 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3712 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3713 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3714 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3717 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3718 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3719 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3723 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3724 @cindex group parameters
3725 @cindex topic parameters
3727 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3728 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3733 @node Topic Variables
3734 @subsection Topic Variables
3735 @cindex topic variables
3737 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3738 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3740 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3741 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3742 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3755 Number of groups in the topic.
3757 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3759 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3762 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3763 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3764 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3767 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3768 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3770 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3771 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3772 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3776 @subsection Topic Sorting
3777 @cindex topic sorting
3779 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3785 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3786 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3787 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3788 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3791 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3792 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3793 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3794 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3797 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3798 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3799 Sort the current topic by group level
3800 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3803 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3804 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3805 Sort the current topic by group score
3806 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3809 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3810 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3811 Sort the current topic by group rank
3812 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3815 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3816 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3817 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3818 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3821 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3822 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3823 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3824 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3828 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3829 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3830 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3831 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3835 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3836 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3840 @node Topic Topology
3841 @subsection Topic Topology
3842 @cindex topic topology
3845 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3851 2: alt.religion.emacs
3854 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3856 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3857 13: comp.sources.unix
3860 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3861 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3862 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3867 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3868 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3872 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3873 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3874 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3875 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3876 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3877 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3879 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3880 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3881 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3884 @node Topic Parameters
3885 @subsection Topic Parameters
3886 @cindex topic parameters
3888 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3889 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3890 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3892 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3897 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3898 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3899 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3902 @item subscribe-level
3903 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3904 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3905 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3909 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3910 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3911 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3912 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3918 2: alt.religion.emacs
3922 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3924 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3925 13: comp.sources.unix
3929 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3930 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3931 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3932 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3933 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3934 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3936 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3937 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3938 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3939 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3940 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3942 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3943 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3944 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3945 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3946 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3947 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3948 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3949 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3952 @node Misc Group Stuff
3953 @section Misc Group Stuff
3956 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3957 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3958 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3959 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3960 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3967 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3968 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3969 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3973 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3974 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3975 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3976 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3977 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3978 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3979 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3983 @findex gnus-group-mail
3984 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3985 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3986 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3987 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3991 @findex gnus-group-news
3992 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3993 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3994 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3996 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3997 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
3998 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3999 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4000 for this to work though.
4004 Variables for the group buffer:
4008 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4009 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4010 is called after the group buffer has been
4013 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4014 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4015 is called after the group buffer is
4016 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4019 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4020 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4021 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4022 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4024 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4025 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4026 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4027 whether they are empty or not.
4029 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4030 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4031 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4032 non-ASCII group names.
4036 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4037 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4040 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4041 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4042 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4043 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4044 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4045 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is
4050 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4051 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4056 @node Scanning New Messages
4057 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4058 @cindex new messages
4059 @cindex scanning new news
4065 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4066 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4067 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4068 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4069 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4070 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4075 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4076 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4077 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4078 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4079 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4080 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4081 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4083 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4084 @cindex activating groups
4086 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4087 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4092 @findex gnus-group-restart
4093 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4094 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4095 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4099 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4100 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4102 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4103 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4107 @node Group Information
4108 @subsection Group Information
4109 @cindex group information
4110 @cindex information on groups
4117 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4118 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4121 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4122 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4123 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4124 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4125 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4126 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4127 for fetching the file.
4129 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4130 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4134 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4135 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4137 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4138 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4141 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4142 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4143 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4147 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4148 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4149 @cindex control message
4150 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4151 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4152 group if given a prefix argument.
4154 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4155 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4156 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4157 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4159 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4160 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode}
4161 (@pxref{(emacs)Compressed Files}).
4165 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4167 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4168 @cindex describing groups
4169 @cindex group description
4170 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4171 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4172 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4176 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4177 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4178 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4185 @findex gnus-version
4186 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4190 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4191 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4194 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4197 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4198 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4202 @node Group Timestamp
4203 @subsection Group Timestamp
4205 @cindex group timestamps
4207 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4208 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4209 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4212 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4215 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4217 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4218 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4221 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4222 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4225 This will result in lines looking like:
4228 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4229 0: custom 19961002T012713
4232 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4233 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4237 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4238 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4241 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4242 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4246 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4247 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4248 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4249 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4251 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4257 @subsection File Commands
4258 @cindex file commands
4264 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4265 @vindex gnus-init-file
4266 @cindex reading init file
4267 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4268 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4272 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4273 @cindex saving .newsrc
4274 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4275 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4276 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4279 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4280 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4281 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4286 @node Sieve Commands
4287 @subsection Sieve Commands
4288 @cindex group sieve commands
4290 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4291 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4292 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4293 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4294 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4296 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4297 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4298 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4299 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4300 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4301 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4302 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4303 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4304 regenerate the Sieve script.
4306 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4307 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4308 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4309 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4310 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4311 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4312 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4313 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4314 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4315 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4318 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4319 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4324 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4330 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4331 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4332 @cindex generating sieve script
4333 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4334 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4338 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4339 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4340 @cindex updating sieve script
4341 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4342 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4343 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4348 @node Summary Buffer
4349 @chapter Summary Buffer
4350 @cindex summary buffer
4352 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4353 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4355 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4356 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4358 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4361 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4362 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4363 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4364 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4365 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4366 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4367 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4368 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4369 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4370 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4371 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4372 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4373 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4374 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4375 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4376 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4377 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4378 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4379 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4380 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4381 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4382 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4383 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4384 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4385 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4386 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4387 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4388 or reselecting the current group.
4389 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4390 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4391 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4392 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4396 @node Summary Buffer Format
4397 @section Summary Buffer Format
4398 @cindex summary buffer format
4402 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4403 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4404 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4410 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4411 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4412 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4413 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4416 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4417 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4418 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4419 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4420 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4421 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4422 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4423 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4424 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4425 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4426 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4429 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4430 'mail-extract-address-components)
4433 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4434 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4435 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4436 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4439 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4440 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4442 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4443 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4444 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4445 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4446 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4448 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4449 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4450 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4451 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4452 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4453 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4455 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4457 The following format specification characters and extended format
4458 specification(s) are understood:
4464 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4465 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4467 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4468 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4469 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4471 Full @code{From} header.
4473 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4475 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4478 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4479 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4480 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4481 may be more thorough.
4483 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4486 Number of lines in the article.
4488 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4489 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4491 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4492 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4494 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4496 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4497 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4510 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4511 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4512 replacing the default ASCII characters with graphic line-drawing
4515 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4516 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4517 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4518 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4520 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4521 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4522 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4523 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4525 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4526 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4527 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4529 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4530 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4531 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4533 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4534 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4535 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4537 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4538 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4539 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4544 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4545 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4547 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4548 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4550 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4551 for adopted articles.
4553 One space for each thread level.
4555 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4557 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4560 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4561 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4562 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4565 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4567 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4568 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4569 default level. If the difference between
4570 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4571 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4579 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4581 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4587 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4588 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4590 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4591 article has any children.
4597 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4598 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4600 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4601 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4602 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4603 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4604 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4605 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4608 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4609 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4610 There can only be one such area.
4612 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4613 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4614 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4615 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4616 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4617 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4619 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4620 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4622 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4625 @node To From Newsgroups
4626 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4630 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4631 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4632 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4633 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4634 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4638 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4639 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4640 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4644 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4645 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4648 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4649 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4652 @findex gnus-extra-header
4653 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4654 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4655 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4658 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4662 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4663 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4664 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4665 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4666 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4667 headers are used instead.
4671 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4672 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4673 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files.
4674 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4675 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4676 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4679 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4680 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4681 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4682 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4684 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4688 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4690 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4691 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4692 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4693 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4697 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4700 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4701 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4704 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4705 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4706 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4712 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4713 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4716 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4717 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4719 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4720 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4721 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4722 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4724 Here are the elements you can play with:
4730 Unprefixed group name.
4732 Current article number.
4734 Current article score.
4738 Number of unread articles in this group.
4740 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4743 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4744 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4745 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4746 and no unselected ones.
4748 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4749 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4751 Subject of the current article.
4753 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4755 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4757 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4759 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4761 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4763 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4767 @node Summary Highlighting
4768 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4772 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4773 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4774 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4775 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4776 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4778 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4779 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4780 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4781 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4783 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4784 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4785 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4786 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4788 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4789 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4790 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4791 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4792 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4793 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4796 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4797 ((> score default) . bold))
4799 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4800 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4804 @node Summary Maneuvering
4805 @section Summary Maneuvering
4806 @cindex summary movement
4808 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4809 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4811 None of these commands select articles.
4816 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4817 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4818 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4819 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4820 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4824 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4825 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4826 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4827 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4828 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4831 @kindex G g (Summary)
4832 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4833 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4834 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4837 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4838 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4839 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4840 to the group buffer.
4842 Variables related to summary movement:
4846 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4847 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4848 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4849 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4850 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4851 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4852 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4853 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4854 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4855 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4856 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4857 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4858 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4859 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4861 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4862 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4863 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4864 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4865 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4866 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4867 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4869 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4871 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4872 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4873 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4874 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4875 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4877 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4878 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4879 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4880 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4881 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4882 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4883 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4884 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4887 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4888 the given number of lines from the top.
4893 @node Choosing Articles
4894 @section Choosing Articles
4895 @cindex selecting articles
4898 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4899 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4903 @node Choosing Commands
4904 @subsection Choosing Commands
4906 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4907 and they all select and display an article.
4909 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4910 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4914 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4915 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4916 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4917 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4919 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
4920 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
4921 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @pxref{Paging the Article}.
4926 @kindex G n (Summary)
4927 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4928 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4929 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4934 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4935 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4936 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4941 @kindex G N (Summary)
4942 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4943 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4948 @kindex G P (Summary)
4949 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4950 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4953 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4954 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4955 Go to the next article with the same subject
4956 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4959 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4960 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4961 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4962 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4966 @kindex G f (Summary)
4968 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4969 Go to the first unread article
4970 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4974 @kindex G b (Summary)
4976 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4977 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4978 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4979 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4984 @kindex G l (Summary)
4985 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4986 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4989 @kindex G o (Summary)
4990 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4992 @cindex article history
4993 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4994 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4995 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4996 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4997 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4998 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5003 @kindex G j (Summary)
5004 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5005 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5006 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5011 @node Choosing Variables
5012 @subsection Choosing Variables
5014 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5017 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5018 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5019 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5020 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5021 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5022 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5024 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5025 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5026 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5027 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5028 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5029 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5031 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5032 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5033 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5034 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5035 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5036 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5037 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5038 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5039 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5040 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5041 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5042 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5043 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5044 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5049 @node Paging the Article
5050 @section Scrolling the Article
5051 @cindex article scrolling
5056 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5057 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5058 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5059 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5060 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5062 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5063 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5064 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5065 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5066 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5067 what is considered uninteresting with
5068 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5069 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5072 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5073 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5074 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5077 @kindex RET (Summary)
5078 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5079 Scroll the current article one line forward
5080 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5083 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5084 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5085 Scroll the current article one line backward
5086 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5090 @kindex A g (Summary)
5092 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5093 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5094 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5095 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5096 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5097 the way it came from the server.
5099 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5100 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5101 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5104 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5109 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5114 @kindex A < (Summary)
5115 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5116 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5117 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5122 @kindex A > (Summary)
5123 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5124 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5128 @kindex A s (Summary)
5130 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5131 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5132 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5136 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5137 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5142 @node Reply Followup and Post
5143 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5146 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5147 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5148 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5149 * Canceling and Superseding::
5153 @node Summary Mail Commands
5154 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5156 @cindex composing mail
5158 Commands for composing a mail message:
5164 @kindex S r (Summary)
5166 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5167 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5168 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5169 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5170 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5175 @kindex S R (Summary)
5176 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5177 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5178 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5179 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5180 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5183 @kindex S w (Summary)
5184 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5185 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5186 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5187 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5188 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5191 @kindex S W (Summary)
5192 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5193 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5194 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5195 the process/prefix convention.
5198 @kindex S v (Summary)
5199 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5200 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5201 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5202 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5203 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5204 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5207 @kindex S V (Summary)
5208 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5209 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5210 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5211 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5214 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5215 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5216 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5217 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5220 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5221 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5222 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5223 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5224 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5228 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5229 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5230 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5231 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5232 Forward the current article to some other person
5233 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5234 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5235 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5236 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5237 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5238 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5239 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5240 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5241 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime}
5247 @kindex S m (Summary)
5248 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5249 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5250 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5251 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5252 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5257 @kindex S i (Summary)
5258 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5259 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5260 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5261 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5263 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5264 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5265 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5266 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5267 for this to work though.
5270 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5271 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5272 @cindex bouncing mail
5273 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5274 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5275 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5276 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5277 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5278 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5279 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5280 very well fail, though.
5283 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5284 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5285 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5286 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5287 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5288 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5289 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5290 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5291 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5292 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5294 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5295 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5296 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5297 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5298 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5300 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5301 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5304 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5305 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5306 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5307 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5308 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5311 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5312 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5313 @cindex crossposting
5314 @cindex excessive crossposting
5315 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5316 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5318 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5319 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5320 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5321 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5322 command understands the process/prefix convention
5323 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5327 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5328 Manual}, for more information.
5331 @node Summary Post Commands
5332 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5334 @cindex composing news
5336 Commands for posting a news article:
5342 @kindex S p (Summary)
5343 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5344 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5345 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5346 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5347 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5352 @kindex S f (Summary)
5353 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5354 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5355 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5359 @kindex S F (Summary)
5361 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5362 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5363 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5364 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5365 process/prefix convention.
5368 @kindex S n (Summary)
5369 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5370 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5371 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5374 @kindex S N (Summary)
5375 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5376 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5377 message through mail and include the original message
5378 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5379 the process/prefix convention.
5382 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5383 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5384 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5385 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5386 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5387 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5388 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5389 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5390 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5391 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5392 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5393 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5394 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section.
5397 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5398 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5400 @cindex making digests
5401 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5402 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5403 process/prefix convention.
5406 @kindex S u (Summary)
5407 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5408 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5409 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5410 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5413 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5414 Manual}, for more information.
5417 @node Summary Message Commands
5418 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5422 @kindex S y (Summary)
5423 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5424 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5425 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5426 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5427 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5432 @node Canceling and Superseding
5433 @subsection Canceling Articles
5434 @cindex canceling articles
5435 @cindex superseding articles
5437 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5438 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5440 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5442 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5444 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5445 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5446 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5447 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5448 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5449 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5451 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5452 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5455 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5456 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5457 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5459 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5460 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5461 your original article.
5463 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5465 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5466 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5467 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5470 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5471 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5472 have posted almost the same article twice.
5474 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5475 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5476 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5477 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5478 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5479 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5480 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5481 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5482 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5483 canceled/superseded.
5485 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5487 @node Delayed Articles
5488 @section Delayed Articles
5489 @cindex delayed sending
5490 @cindex send delayed
5492 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5493 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5494 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5495 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5498 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5501 @findex gnus-delay-article
5502 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5503 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5504 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5505 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5509 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5510 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5511 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5512 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5515 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5516 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5517 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5520 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5521 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5522 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5523 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5524 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5525 that means a time tomorrow.
5528 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5529 couple of variables:
5532 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5533 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5534 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5535 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5537 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5538 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5539 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5540 formats described above.
5542 @item gnus-delay-group
5543 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5544 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5545 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5546 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5548 @item gnus-delay-header
5549 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5550 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5551 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5552 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5555 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5556 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5557 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5558 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5559 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5561 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5562 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5563 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5564 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5565 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5566 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5567 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5570 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5571 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5572 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5573 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5574 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5575 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5576 argument is ignored.
5578 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5579 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5580 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5584 @node Marking Articles
5585 @section Marking Articles
5586 @cindex article marking
5587 @cindex article ticking
5590 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5592 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5593 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5594 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5596 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5599 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5600 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5601 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5605 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5609 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5610 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5611 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5615 @node Unread Articles
5616 @subsection Unread Articles
5618 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5623 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5624 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5626 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5627 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5628 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5629 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5630 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5631 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5632 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5635 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5636 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5638 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5639 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5640 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5641 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5645 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5646 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5648 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5653 @subsection Read Articles
5654 @cindex expirable mark
5656 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5661 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5662 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5663 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5666 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5667 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5670 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5671 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5672 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5675 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5676 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5679 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5680 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5683 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5684 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5687 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5688 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5691 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5692 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5695 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5696 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5699 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5700 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5704 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5705 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5706 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5710 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5711 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5713 One more special mark, though:
5717 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5718 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5720 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5721 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5722 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5723 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5729 @subsection Other Marks
5730 @cindex process mark
5733 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5739 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5740 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5741 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5742 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5743 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5746 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5747 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5748 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5749 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5752 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5753 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5754 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5757 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5758 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5759 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5762 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5763 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5764 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5765 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5768 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5769 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5770 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5771 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5772 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5773 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5776 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5777 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5778 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5779 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5782 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5783 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, articles may be
5784 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5785 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5786 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5790 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5791 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might
5792 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5793 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5794 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5795 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5798 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5799 The Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics} downloads some articles
5800 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5801 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5802 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5803 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5807 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5808 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5809 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5810 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5811 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5814 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5815 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5816 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5817 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5818 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5819 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5823 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5824 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5825 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5827 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5828 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5829 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5833 @subsection Setting Marks
5834 @cindex setting marks
5836 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5841 @kindex M c (Summary)
5842 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5843 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5844 @cindex mark as unread
5845 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5846 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5852 @kindex M t (Summary)
5853 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5854 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5855 @xref{Article Caching}.
5860 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5861 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5862 Mark the current article as dormant
5863 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5867 @kindex M d (Summary)
5869 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5870 Mark the current article as read
5871 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5875 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5876 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5877 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5882 @kindex M k (Summary)
5883 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5884 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5885 and then select the next unread article
5886 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5890 @kindex M K (Summary)
5891 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5892 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5893 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5894 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5897 @kindex M C (Summary)
5898 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5899 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5900 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5903 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5904 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5905 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5906 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5909 @kindex M H (Summary)
5910 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5911 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5912 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5915 @kindex M h (Summary)
5916 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5917 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5918 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5921 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5922 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5923 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5924 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5927 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5928 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5929 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5930 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5934 @kindex M e (Summary)
5936 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5937 Mark the current article as expirable
5938 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5941 @kindex M b (Summary)
5942 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5943 Set a bookmark in the current article
5944 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5947 @kindex M B (Summary)
5948 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5949 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5950 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5953 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5954 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5955 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5956 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5959 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5960 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5961 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5962 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5965 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5966 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5967 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5968 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5969 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5972 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5973 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5974 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5975 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5976 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5977 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5978 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5979 The default is @code{t}.
5982 @node Generic Marking Commands
5983 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5985 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5986 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5987 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5988 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5989 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5992 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5993 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5996 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5997 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5998 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5999 to list in this manual.
6001 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6002 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6003 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6004 article, you could say something like:
6007 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6008 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6009 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6015 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6016 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6020 @node Setting Process Marks
6021 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6022 @cindex setting process marks
6024 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6025 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6026 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6027 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6028 commands into the cache. For more information,
6029 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6036 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6037 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6038 Mark the current article with the process mark
6039 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6040 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6044 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6045 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6046 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6047 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6050 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6051 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6052 Remove the process mark from all articles
6053 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6056 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6057 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6058 Invert the list of process marked articles
6059 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6062 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6063 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6064 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6065 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6068 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6069 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6070 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6071 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6074 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6075 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6076 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6080 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6081 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6084 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6085 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6086 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6087 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6090 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6091 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6092 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6093 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6096 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6097 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6098 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6099 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6102 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6103 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6104 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6107 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6108 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6109 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6110 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6113 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6114 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6115 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6118 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6119 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6120 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6121 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6124 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6125 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6126 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6127 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6130 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6131 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6132 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6133 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6136 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6137 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6138 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6139 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6143 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
6144 set process marks based on article body contents.
6151 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6152 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6153 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6156 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6157 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6158 additional articles.
6164 @kindex / / (Summary)
6165 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6166 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6167 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6171 @kindex / a (Summary)
6172 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6173 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6174 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6178 @kindex / x (Summary)
6179 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6180 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6181 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6182 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6187 @kindex / u (Summary)
6189 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6190 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6191 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6192 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6193 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6196 @kindex / m (Summary)
6197 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6198 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6199 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6202 @kindex / t (Summary)
6203 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6204 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6205 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6206 articles younger than that number of days.
6209 @kindex / n (Summary)
6210 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6211 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6212 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6213 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6216 @kindex / w (Summary)
6217 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6218 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6219 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6223 @kindex / . (Summary)
6224 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6225 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6226 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6229 @kindex / v (Summary)
6230 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6231 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6232 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6235 @kindex / p (Summary)
6236 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6237 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6238 group parameter predicate
6239 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6240 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6244 @kindex M S (Summary)
6245 @kindex / E (Summary)
6246 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6247 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6248 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6251 @kindex / D (Summary)
6252 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6253 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6254 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6257 @kindex / * (Summary)
6258 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6259 Include all cached articles in the limit
6260 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6263 @kindex / d (Summary)
6264 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6265 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6266 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6269 @kindex / M (Summary)
6270 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6271 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6274 @kindex / T (Summary)
6275 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6276 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6279 @kindex / c (Summary)
6280 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6281 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6282 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6285 @kindex / C (Summary)
6286 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6287 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6288 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6289 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6292 @kindex / N (Summary)
6293 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6294 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6295 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6298 @kindex / o (Summary)
6299 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6300 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6301 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6309 @cindex article threading
6311 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6312 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6313 hierarchical fashion.
6315 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6316 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6317 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6318 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6319 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6320 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6321 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6323 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6327 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6330 A tree-like article structure.
6333 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6336 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6337 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6338 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6339 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6340 called loose threads.
6342 @item thread gathering
6343 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6345 @item sparse threads
6346 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6347 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6353 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6354 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6358 @node Customizing Threading
6359 @subsection Customizing Threading
6360 @cindex customizing threading
6363 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6364 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6365 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6366 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6371 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6374 @cindex loose threads
6377 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6378 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6379 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6380 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6381 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6382 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6384 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6385 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6386 There are four possible values:
6390 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6391 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6392 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6393 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6394 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6399 @cindex adopting articles
6404 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6405 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6406 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6407 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6410 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6411 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6412 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6413 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6414 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6415 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6416 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6417 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6418 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6419 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6422 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6423 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6424 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6428 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6429 display them after one another.
6432 Don't gather loose threads.
6435 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6436 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6437 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6438 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6439 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6440 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6441 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6442 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6443 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6444 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6445 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6447 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6448 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6449 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6452 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6453 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6454 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6455 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6456 simplification is used.
6458 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6459 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6460 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6461 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6463 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6465 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6471 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6472 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6473 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6474 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6479 (mapconcat 'identity
6480 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6482 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6485 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6488 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6489 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6490 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6491 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6492 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6493 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6495 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6498 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6499 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6500 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6502 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6503 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6506 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6507 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6508 Remove excessive whitespace.
6510 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6511 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6512 Remove all whitespace.
6515 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6518 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6519 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6520 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6521 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6522 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6523 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6524 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6525 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6527 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6528 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6529 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6530 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6531 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6532 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6533 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6534 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6535 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6539 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6540 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6541 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6542 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6544 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6545 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6546 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6549 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6553 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6554 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6560 @node Filling In Threads
6561 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6564 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6565 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6566 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6567 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6568 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6569 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6570 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6571 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6572 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6573 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6574 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6575 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6578 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6579 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6580 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6582 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6583 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6584 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6585 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6586 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6587 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6588 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6589 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6590 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6591 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6592 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6593 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6594 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6595 @code{nil} by default.
6597 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6598 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6599 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6600 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6601 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6602 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6603 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6605 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6606 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6607 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6612 @node More Threading
6613 @subsubsection More Threading
6616 @item gnus-show-threads
6617 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6618 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6619 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6620 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6621 slower and more awkward.
6623 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6624 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6625 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6628 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6629 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6630 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6635 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6636 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6637 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6640 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6641 unread, but you get my drift.)
6644 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6645 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6646 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6647 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6648 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6649 threads are expunged.
6651 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6652 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6653 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6656 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6657 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6658 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6659 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6660 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6661 result in a new thread.
6663 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6664 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6665 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6668 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6669 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6670 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6671 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6672 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6673 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6674 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6675 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6676 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6677 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6678 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6683 @node Low-Level Threading
6684 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6688 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6689 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6690 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6692 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6693 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6694 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6695 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6696 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6697 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6698 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6699 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6700 meaningful. Here's one example:
6703 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6705 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6706 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6708 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6710 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6717 @node Thread Commands
6718 @subsection Thread Commands
6719 @cindex thread commands
6725 @kindex T k (Summary)
6726 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6727 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6728 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6729 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6730 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6735 @kindex T l (Summary)
6736 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6737 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6738 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6739 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6742 @kindex T i (Summary)
6743 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6744 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6745 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6748 @kindex T # (Summary)
6749 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6750 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6751 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6754 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6755 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6756 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6757 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6760 @kindex T T (Summary)
6761 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6762 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6765 @kindex T s (Summary)
6766 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6767 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6768 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6771 @kindex T h (Summary)
6772 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6773 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6776 @kindex T S (Summary)
6777 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6778 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6781 @kindex T H (Summary)
6782 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6783 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6786 @kindex T t (Summary)
6787 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6788 Re-thread the current article's thread
6789 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6790 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6793 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6794 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6795 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6796 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6800 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6801 understand the numeric prefix.
6806 @kindex T n (Summary)
6808 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6810 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6811 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6812 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6815 @kindex T p (Summary)
6817 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6819 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6820 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6821 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6824 @kindex T d (Summary)
6825 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6826 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6829 @kindex T u (Summary)
6830 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6831 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6834 @kindex T o (Summary)
6835 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6836 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6839 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6840 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6841 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6842 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6843 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6844 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6845 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6846 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6847 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6848 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6849 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6850 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6854 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6855 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6857 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6858 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6859 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6860 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6861 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6862 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6863 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6864 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6865 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6866 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6867 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6868 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6869 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6871 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6872 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6873 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6874 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6875 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6876 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6877 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6878 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6880 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6881 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6882 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6884 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6885 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6886 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6887 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6888 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6889 ascending article order.
6891 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6892 by number, you could do something like:
6895 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6896 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6897 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6898 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6901 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6902 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6903 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6904 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6905 which the articles arrived.
6907 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6911 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6913 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6914 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6917 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6918 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6919 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6920 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6923 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6924 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6925 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6926 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6927 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6928 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6929 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6930 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6931 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6932 variable. It is very similar to the
6933 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6934 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6935 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6936 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6937 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6938 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6939 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6941 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6945 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6946 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6947 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6952 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6953 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6954 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6955 @cindex article pre-fetch
6958 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6959 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6960 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6961 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6962 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6964 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6965 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6967 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6968 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6969 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6970 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6971 connection is blocked.
6973 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6974 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6975 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6976 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6978 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6979 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6980 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6981 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6984 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
6987 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6988 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6989 happen automatically.
6991 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6992 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6993 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6994 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6995 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6996 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6997 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6999 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7000 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7001 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7002 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7003 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7004 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7005 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7006 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7007 article data structure as the only parameter.
7009 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7010 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7013 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7014 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7015 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7016 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7019 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7022 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7023 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7024 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7026 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7027 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7028 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7029 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7033 Remove articles when they are read.
7036 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7039 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7041 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7042 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7043 @c from the next group.
7046 @node Article Caching
7047 @section Article Caching
7048 @cindex article caching
7051 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
7052 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7053 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7054 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7055 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7057 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7059 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7060 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7061 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7062 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7063 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7064 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7065 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7066 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7068 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7069 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7070 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7071 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7072 as dormant, and don't worry.
7074 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7076 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7077 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7078 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7079 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7080 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7081 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7082 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7083 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7084 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7085 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7087 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7088 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7089 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7090 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7091 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7092 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
7093 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7094 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7095 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7096 not then be downloaded by this command.
7098 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7099 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7100 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7101 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7102 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7103 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7105 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7106 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7107 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7108 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7109 variables, the group is not cached.
7111 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7112 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7113 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7114 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7115 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7116 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7117 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7118 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
7119 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7122 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7123 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7124 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7125 where, isn't that cool?
7127 @node Persistent Articles
7128 @section Persistent Articles
7129 @cindex persistent articles
7131 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7132 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7133 useful in my opinion.
7135 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7136 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7137 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7138 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7139 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7140 the expiry going on at the news server.
7142 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7143 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7144 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7150 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7151 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7154 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7155 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7156 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7157 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7161 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7163 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7164 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7165 interested in persistent articles:
7168 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7172 @node Article Backlog
7173 @section Article Backlog
7175 @cindex article backlog
7177 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7178 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7179 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7180 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7181 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7182 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7183 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7184 increase memory usage some.
7186 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7187 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7188 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7189 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7190 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7191 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7192 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7194 The default value is 20.
7197 @node Saving Articles
7198 @section Saving Articles
7199 @cindex saving articles
7201 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7202 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7203 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7204 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7205 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7207 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7208 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7209 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7211 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7212 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7213 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7215 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7216 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7217 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7218 deleted before saving.
7224 @kindex O o (Summary)
7226 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7227 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7228 Save the current article using the default article saver
7229 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7232 @kindex O m (Summary)
7233 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7234 Save the current article in mail format
7235 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7238 @kindex O r (Summary)
7239 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7240 Save the current article in rmail format
7241 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7244 @kindex O f (Summary)
7245 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7246 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7247 Save the current article in plain file format
7248 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7251 @kindex O F (Summary)
7252 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7253 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7254 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7257 @kindex O b (Summary)
7258 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7259 Save the current article body in plain file format
7260 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7263 @kindex O h (Summary)
7264 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7265 Save the current article in mh folder format
7266 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7269 @kindex O v (Summary)
7270 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7271 Save the current article in a VM folder
7272 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7276 @kindex O p (Summary)
7278 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7279 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7280 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7281 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7282 complete headers in the piped output.
7285 @kindex O P (Summary)
7286 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7287 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7288 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7289 external program Muttprint (see
7290 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7291 options to use is controlled by the variable
7292 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7296 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7297 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7298 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7299 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7300 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7301 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7302 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7303 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7304 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7305 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7306 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7307 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7311 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7312 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7313 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7314 functions below, or you can create your own.
7318 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7319 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7320 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7321 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7322 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7323 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7324 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7326 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7327 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7328 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7329 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7330 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7331 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7333 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7334 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7335 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7336 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7337 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7338 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7339 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7341 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7342 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7343 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7344 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7345 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7346 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7348 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7349 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7350 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7351 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7352 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7354 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7355 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7356 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7357 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7358 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7361 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7362 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7363 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7364 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7365 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7367 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7368 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7369 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7370 reader to use this setting.
7373 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7374 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7375 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7376 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7379 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7380 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7381 available functions that generate names:
7385 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7386 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7387 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7389 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7390 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7391 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7393 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7394 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7395 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7397 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7398 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7399 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7401 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7402 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7403 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7406 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7407 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7408 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7409 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7410 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7414 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7415 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7416 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7417 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7420 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7421 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7422 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7423 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7424 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7425 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7426 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7427 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7428 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7430 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7431 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7432 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7433 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7435 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7436 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7437 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7440 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7441 lots of mail groups called things like
7442 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7443 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7444 following will do just that:
7447 (defun my-save-name (group)
7448 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7449 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7451 (setq gnus-split-methods
7452 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7457 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7458 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7459 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7460 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7461 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7462 all the files in the top level directory
7463 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7464 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7465 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7466 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7468 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7469 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7470 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7471 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7472 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7475 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7479 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7480 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7481 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7484 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7485 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7486 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7487 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7490 @node Decoding Articles
7491 @section Decoding Articles
7492 @cindex decoding articles
7494 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7495 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7498 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7499 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7500 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7501 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7502 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7503 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7507 @cindex article series
7508 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7509 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7510 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7511 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7512 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7514 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7515 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7516 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7518 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7519 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7520 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7522 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7523 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7524 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7527 @node Uuencoded Articles
7528 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7530 @cindex uuencoded articles
7535 @kindex X u (Summary)
7536 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7537 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7538 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7541 @kindex X U (Summary)
7542 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7543 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7544 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7547 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7548 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7549 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7552 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7553 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7554 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7555 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7559 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7560 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7561 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7562 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7563 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7565 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7566 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7567 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7568 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7571 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7572 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7573 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7574 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7575 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7576 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7580 @node Shell Archives
7581 @subsection Shell Archives
7583 @cindex shell archives
7584 @cindex shared articles
7586 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7587 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7588 some commands to deal with these:
7593 @kindex X s (Summary)
7594 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7595 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7598 @kindex X S (Summary)
7599 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7600 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7603 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7604 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7605 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7608 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7609 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7610 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7611 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7615 @node PostScript Files
7616 @subsection PostScript Files
7622 @kindex X p (Summary)
7623 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7624 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7627 @kindex X P (Summary)
7628 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7629 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7630 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7633 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7634 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7635 View the current PostScript series
7636 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7639 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7640 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7641 View and save the current PostScript series
7642 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7647 @subsection Other Files
7651 @kindex X o (Summary)
7652 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7653 Save the current series
7654 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7657 @kindex X b (Summary)
7658 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7659 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7660 doesn't really work yet.
7664 @node Decoding Variables
7665 @subsection Decoding Variables
7667 Adjective, not verb.
7670 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7671 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7672 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7676 @node Rule Variables
7677 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7678 @cindex rule variables
7680 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7681 variables are of the form
7684 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7691 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7692 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7694 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7695 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7698 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7699 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7702 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7703 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7704 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7705 user and default view rules.
7707 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7708 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7709 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7714 @node Other Decode Variables
7715 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7718 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7720 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7721 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7722 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7723 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7724 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7728 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7729 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7732 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7733 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7734 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7737 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7738 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7739 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7740 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7741 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7744 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7745 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7746 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7748 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7749 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7750 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7751 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7752 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7755 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7756 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7757 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7759 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7760 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7761 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7762 looking for files to display.
7764 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7765 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7766 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7769 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7770 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7771 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7774 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7775 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7776 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7779 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7780 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7781 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7784 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7785 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7786 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7787 decoded articles as unread.
7789 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7790 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7791 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7792 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7794 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7795 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7796 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7798 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7799 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7801 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7802 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7803 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7804 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7806 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7807 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7808 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7809 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7810 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7811 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7812 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7813 simply dropped them.
7818 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7819 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7823 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7824 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7825 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7826 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7827 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7828 for you when you post the article.
7830 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7831 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7832 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7833 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7835 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7836 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7837 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7838 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7839 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7840 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7841 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7843 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7844 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7845 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7846 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7847 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7848 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7849 Default is @code{t}.
7855 @subsection Viewing Files
7856 @cindex viewing files
7857 @cindex pseudo-articles
7859 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7860 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7861 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7862 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7863 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7864 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7865 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7867 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7868 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7869 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7870 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7872 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7873 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7874 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7876 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7877 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7878 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7879 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7880 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7882 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7883 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7884 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7885 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7886 a list of parameters to that command.
7888 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7889 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7890 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7892 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7893 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7894 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7897 @node Article Treatment
7898 @section Article Treatment
7900 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7901 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7902 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7903 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7904 these articles easier.
7907 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7908 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7909 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7910 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7911 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7912 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7913 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7914 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7915 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7916 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7920 @node Article Highlighting
7921 @subsection Article Highlighting
7922 @cindex highlighting
7924 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7925 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7930 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7931 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7932 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7933 Do much highlighting of the current article
7934 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7935 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7938 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7939 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7940 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7941 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7942 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7943 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7944 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7945 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7946 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7947 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7948 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7949 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7952 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7953 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7954 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7956 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7959 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7961 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7962 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7963 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7965 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7966 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7967 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7969 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7970 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7971 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7972 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7973 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7974 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7976 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7977 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7978 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7980 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7981 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7982 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7984 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7985 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7986 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7987 that it's a citation.
7989 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7990 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7991 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7993 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7994 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7995 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7997 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7998 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7999 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8000 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8006 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8007 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8008 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8009 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8010 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8011 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8012 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8013 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8018 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8021 @node Article Fontisizing
8022 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8024 @cindex article emphasis
8026 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8027 @kindex W e (Summary)
8028 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8029 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8030 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8031 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8033 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8034 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8035 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8036 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8037 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8038 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8039 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8040 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8044 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8045 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8046 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8055 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8056 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8057 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8058 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8059 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8060 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8061 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8062 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8063 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8064 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8065 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8066 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8067 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8069 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8070 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8071 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8075 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8078 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8080 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8081 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8082 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8083 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8085 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8088 @node Article Hiding
8089 @subsection Article Hiding
8090 @cindex article hiding
8092 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8093 too much cruft in most articles.
8098 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8099 @findex gnus-article-hide
8100 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8101 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8102 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
8105 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8106 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8107 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8111 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8112 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8113 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8114 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8117 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8118 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8119 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8123 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8124 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8125 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8126 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8127 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8128 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8129 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8130 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8134 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8135 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8136 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8137 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8142 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8143 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8144 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8145 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8148 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8149 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8150 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8151 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8154 @cindex stripping advertisements
8155 @cindex advertisements
8156 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8157 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8158 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8159 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8160 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8161 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8162 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8163 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8164 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8165 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8168 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8169 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8170 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8174 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8175 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8176 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8177 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8178 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8179 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8180 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8181 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8182 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8183 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8184 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8187 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" . "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8193 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8194 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8195 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8196 customizing the hiding:
8200 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8201 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8202 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8203 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8204 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8205 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8206 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8211 Starting point of the hidden text.
8213 Ending point of the hidden text.
8215 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8217 Number of lines of hidden text.
8220 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8221 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8222 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8223 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8224 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8229 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8230 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8232 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8233 following two variables:
8236 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8237 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8238 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8239 50), hide the cited text.
8241 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8242 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8243 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8248 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8249 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8250 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8251 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8252 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8253 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8257 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8258 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8259 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8261 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8262 citation customization.
8264 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8268 @node Article Washing
8269 @subsection Article Washing
8271 @cindex article washing
8273 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8274 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8276 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8277 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8280 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8281 articles by default.
8286 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8287 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8291 Force redisplaying of the current article
8292 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8293 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8294 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8295 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8298 @kindex W l (Summary)
8299 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8300 Remove page breaks from the current article
8301 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8305 @kindex W r (Summary)
8306 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8307 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8308 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8309 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8310 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8311 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8313 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8314 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8315 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8316 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8319 @kindex W m (Summary)
8320 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8321 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8325 @kindex W t (Summary)
8327 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8328 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8329 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8332 @kindex W v (Summary)
8333 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8334 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8335 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8338 @kindex W o (Summary)
8339 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8340 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8343 @kindex W d (Summary)
8344 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8345 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8347 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8349 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8350 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8351 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8352 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8355 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8356 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8357 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8358 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8361 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8362 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8363 @cindex Outlook Express
8364 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8365 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8366 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8369 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8370 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8371 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8372 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8373 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8374 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8375 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8376 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the miminum and
8377 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8378 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8381 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8382 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8383 Repair a broken attribution line.
8384 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8387 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8388 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8389 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8390 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8393 @kindex W w (Summary)
8394 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8395 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8397 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8401 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8402 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8403 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8406 @kindex W C (Summary)
8407 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8408 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8409 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8412 @kindex W c (Summary)
8413 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8414 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8415 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8416 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8417 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8420 @kindex W q (Summary)
8421 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8422 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8423 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
8424 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
8425 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
8426 readable to me. Note that this is usually done automatically by
8427 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
8428 header that says that this encoding has been done.
8429 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8432 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8433 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8434 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8435 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8436 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8437 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8438 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8440 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8443 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8444 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8445 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8446 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8447 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8450 @kindex W u (Summary)
8451 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8452 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8453 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8454 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8455 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8458 @kindex W h (Summary)
8459 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8460 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8461 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8462 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8464 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8466 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8467 The default is to use the function specified by
8468 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{(emacs-mime)Display
8469 Customization}) to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by
8470 the @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions
8471 you can use include:
8478 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8482 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8485 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8488 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8493 @kindex W b (Summary)
8494 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8495 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8496 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8499 @kindex W B (Summary)
8500 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8501 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8502 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8505 @kindex W p (Summary)
8506 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8507 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8508 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8509 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8510 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8511 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8512 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8515 @kindex W s (Summary)
8516 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8517 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8518 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8521 @kindex W a (Summary)
8522 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8523 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8524 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8527 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8528 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8529 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8530 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8533 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8534 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8535 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8536 lines with a single empty line.
8537 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8540 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8541 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8542 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8543 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8546 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8547 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8548 Do all the three commands above
8549 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8552 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8553 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8554 Remove all blank lines
8555 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8558 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8559 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8560 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8561 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8564 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8565 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8566 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8567 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8571 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8574 @node Article Header
8575 @subsection Article Header
8577 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8582 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8583 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8584 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8587 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8588 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8589 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8590 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8593 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8594 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8595 Fold all the message headers
8596 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8600 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8601 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8602 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8607 @node Article Buttons
8608 @subsection Article Buttons
8611 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8612 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8613 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8614 button on these references.
8616 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8617 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8618 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links and man pages.
8619 This is controlled by two variables, one that handles article bodies and
8620 one that handles article heads:
8624 @item gnus-button-alist
8625 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8626 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8629 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8635 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8636 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8637 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8638 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8639 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8642 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8643 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8644 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8647 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8648 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8649 avoid false matches.
8652 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8655 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8656 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8660 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8663 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8666 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8667 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8668 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8669 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8670 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8673 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8676 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8678 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8679 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8680 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8681 default values of the variables above.
8683 @item gnus-article-button-face
8684 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8685 Face used on buttons.
8687 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8688 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8689 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8693 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8697 @subsection Article Date
8699 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8700 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8701 when the article was sent.
8706 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8707 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8708 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8709 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8712 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8713 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8715 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8716 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8719 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8720 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8721 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8724 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8725 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8726 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8727 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8730 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8731 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8732 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8733 @findex format-time-string
8734 Display the date using a user-defined format
8735 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8736 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8737 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8738 for a list of possible format specs.
8741 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8742 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8743 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8744 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8745 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8746 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8749 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8752 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
8753 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8754 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8757 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8758 into wonderful absurdities.
8760 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8763 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8766 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8767 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8771 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8772 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8773 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8774 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8775 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8776 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8777 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8781 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8782 preferred format automatically.
8785 @node Article Display
8786 @subsection Article Display
8791 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
8792 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8794 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8795 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8797 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8798 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8800 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8801 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8803 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8808 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8809 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8810 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8811 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8814 @kindex W D d (Summary)
8815 @findex gnus-article-display-face
8816 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
8817 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
8820 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8821 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8822 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8825 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8826 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8827 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8830 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8831 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8832 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8833 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8836 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8837 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8838 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8839 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8842 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8843 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8844 Remove all images from the article buffer
8845 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8851 @node Article Signature
8852 @subsection Article Signature
8854 @cindex article signature
8856 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8857 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8858 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8859 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8860 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8861 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8862 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8863 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8864 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8867 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8868 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8869 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8870 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8871 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8872 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8873 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8874 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8877 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8880 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8881 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8882 signature when displaying articles.
8886 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8889 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8892 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8893 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8895 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8896 in question is not a signature.
8899 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8900 listed above. Here's an example:
8903 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8904 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8907 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8908 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8909 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8910 signature after all.
8913 @node Article Miscellania
8914 @subsection Article Miscellania
8918 @kindex A t (Summary)
8919 @findex gnus-article-babel
8920 Translate the article from one language to another
8921 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8927 @section MIME Commands
8928 @cindex MIME decoding
8930 @cindex viewing attachments
8932 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8933 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8939 @kindex K v (Summary)
8940 View the @sc{mime} part.
8943 @kindex K o (Summary)
8944 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8947 @kindex K c (Summary)
8948 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8951 @kindex K e (Summary)
8952 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8955 @kindex K i (Summary)
8956 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8959 @kindex K | (Summary)
8960 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8963 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8968 @kindex K b (Summary)
8969 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8970 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8974 @kindex K m (Summary)
8975 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8976 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8977 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8978 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8979 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8982 @kindex X m (Summary)
8983 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8984 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8985 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8986 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8989 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8990 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8991 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8992 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8995 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8996 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8997 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8998 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9001 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9002 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9003 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9004 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9006 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9007 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9008 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9009 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9010 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9011 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9014 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9015 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9016 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
9017 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9024 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9025 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9026 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9027 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9030 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9033 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9037 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9038 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9039 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't required the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9040 before interpreting the message as a @sc{mime} message. This helps
9041 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9042 default is @code{nil}.
9044 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9045 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9046 There are other, non-@sc{mime} encoding methods used. The most common
9047 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9048 This variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9049 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9050 Gnus @sc{mime} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9052 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9053 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9054 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9055 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9056 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9057 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9058 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9059 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is nil.
9061 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9062 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9063 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9064 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9065 displayed. This variable overrides
9066 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9067 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9070 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9071 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9072 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9074 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9075 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9076 If this is non-nil, then all @sc{mime} parts get buttons. The default
9077 value is @code{nil}.
9079 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9080 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9081 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
9082 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9083 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9084 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9085 save all jpegs into some directory).
9087 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9090 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9091 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9093 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9094 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9095 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9096 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9097 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9100 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9101 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9102 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9104 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9105 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9106 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
9107 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9109 Ready-made functions include@*
9110 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9111 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9112 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9113 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9114 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9115 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9116 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9117 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9118 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9119 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9120 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9121 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9123 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9124 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9126 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9127 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9128 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9131 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9132 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9133 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9134 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9138 to your @file{.gnus.el} file.
9147 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
9148 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9149 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
9150 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9151 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9152 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9153 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9155 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9156 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9157 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9158 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9160 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9161 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
9162 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9163 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9164 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9165 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9166 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9167 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9168 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9170 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9171 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9172 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
9173 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9174 quoted-printable header encoding.
9176 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9177 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9178 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9182 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9185 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9186 means encode all charsets),
9188 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9189 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9190 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9197 @cindex coding system aliases
9198 @cindex preferred charset
9200 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9202 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9203 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9206 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9207 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9210 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9211 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
9213 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9216 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9219 This will almost do the right thing.
9221 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9225 (codepage-setup 1251)
9226 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9230 @node Article Commands
9231 @section Article Commands
9238 @kindex A P (Summary)
9239 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9240 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9241 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9242 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9243 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9244 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9249 @node Summary Sorting
9250 @section Summary Sorting
9251 @cindex summary sorting
9253 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9254 can't really see why you'd want that.
9259 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9260 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9261 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9264 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9265 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9266 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9269 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9270 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9271 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9274 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9275 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9276 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9279 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9280 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9281 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9284 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9285 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9286 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9289 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9290 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9291 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9294 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9295 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9296 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9299 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9300 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9301 Sort using the default sorting method
9302 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9305 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9306 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9307 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9308 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9309 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9313 @node Finding the Parent
9314 @section Finding the Parent
9315 @cindex parent articles
9316 @cindex referring articles
9321 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9322 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9323 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9324 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9325 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9326 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9327 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9328 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9329 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9331 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9332 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9333 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9334 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9335 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9339 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9340 @kindex A R (Summary)
9341 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9342 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9345 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9346 @kindex A T (Summary)
9347 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9348 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9349 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9350 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9351 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9352 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9353 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9355 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9356 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9357 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9358 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9359 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9360 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9363 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9364 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9366 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9367 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9368 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9369 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9370 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9371 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9372 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9375 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9376 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9377 by giving this command a prefix.
9379 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9380 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9381 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9382 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9383 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9384 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9387 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9388 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9389 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9392 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9393 then ask Google if that fails:
9396 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9398 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9401 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9402 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9403 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9404 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9405 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9406 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9407 support this at all.
9410 @node Alternative Approaches
9411 @section Alternative Approaches
9413 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9414 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9417 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9418 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9423 @subsection Pick and Read
9424 @cindex pick and read
9426 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9427 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9428 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9429 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9431 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9432 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9433 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9434 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9435 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9436 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9438 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9443 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9444 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9445 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9446 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9447 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9448 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9449 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9450 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9453 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9454 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9455 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9456 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9460 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9461 Unpick the thread or article
9462 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9463 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9464 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9465 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9466 the thread or article at that line.
9470 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9471 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9472 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9473 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9474 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9475 will still be visible when you are reading.
9479 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9480 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9481 which is mapped to the same function
9482 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9484 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9487 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9490 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9491 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9493 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9494 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9495 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9497 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9498 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9499 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9500 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9501 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9502 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9503 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9507 @subsection Binary Groups
9508 @cindex binary groups
9510 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9511 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9512 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9513 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9514 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9515 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9516 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9519 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9520 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9521 command, when you have turned on this mode
9522 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9524 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9525 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9529 @section Tree Display
9532 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9533 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9534 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9535 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9538 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9541 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9542 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9543 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9545 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9546 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9547 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9548 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9549 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9551 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9552 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9553 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9554 default is @code{modeline}.
9556 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9557 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9558 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9559 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9560 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9561 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9562 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9568 The name of the poster.
9570 The @code{From} header.
9572 The number of the article.
9574 The opening bracket.
9576 The closing bracket.
9581 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9583 Variables related to the display are:
9586 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9587 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9588 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9589 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9590 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9591 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9593 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9594 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9595 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9596 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9600 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9601 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9602 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9603 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9604 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9605 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9606 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9607 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9608 other windows displayed next to it.
9610 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9614 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9615 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9618 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9619 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9620 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9621 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9622 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9623 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9624 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9628 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9631 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9641 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9645 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9646 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9648 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9650 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9655 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9656 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9657 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9660 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9661 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9662 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9663 (gnus-add-configuration
9667 (summary 0.75 point)
9672 @xref{Window Layout}.
9675 @node Mail Group Commands
9676 @section Mail Group Commands
9677 @cindex mail group commands
9679 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9680 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9682 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9683 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9688 @kindex B e (Summary)
9689 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9690 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9691 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9692 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9693 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9696 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9697 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9698 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9699 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9700 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9701 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9704 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9705 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9706 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9707 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9708 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9709 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9712 @kindex B m (Summary)
9714 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9715 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9716 Move the article from one mail group to another
9717 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9718 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9721 @kindex B c (Summary)
9723 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9724 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9725 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9726 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9727 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9730 @kindex B B (Summary)
9731 @cindex crosspost mail
9732 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9733 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9734 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9735 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9736 be properly updated.
9739 @kindex B i (Summary)
9740 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9741 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9742 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9743 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9746 @kindex B I (Summary)
9747 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9748 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9749 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9750 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9753 @kindex B r (Summary)
9754 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9755 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
9756 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9757 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9758 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9759 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9760 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9761 (which is the default).
9765 @kindex B w (Summary)
9767 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9768 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9769 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9770 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9771 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9772 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9773 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9776 @kindex B q (Summary)
9777 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9778 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9779 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9780 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9783 @kindex B t (Summary)
9784 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9785 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9786 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9789 @kindex B p (Summary)
9790 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9791 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
9792 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9793 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9794 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9795 article from your news server (or rather, from
9796 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9797 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9798 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9799 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9800 just not have arrived yet.
9803 @kindex K E (Summary)
9804 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9805 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9806 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9807 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9808 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9812 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9813 @cindex moving articles
9814 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
9815 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9816 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9817 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9818 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9819 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9820 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9823 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9824 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9825 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9826 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9830 @node Various Summary Stuff
9831 @section Various Summary Stuff
9834 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9835 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9836 * Summary Generation Commands::
9837 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9841 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
9842 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
9843 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
9844 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
9845 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
9846 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
9848 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9849 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9850 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9852 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9853 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9854 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9855 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9856 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9857 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9860 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9861 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9862 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9863 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9864 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9866 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9867 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9868 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9871 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9872 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9873 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9874 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9875 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9876 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9877 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
9878 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9879 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9880 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9882 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9883 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9884 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9885 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9886 list of articles to be selected.
9888 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9889 the list in one particular group:
9892 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9893 (if (string= group "some.group")
9894 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9898 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9899 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9900 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9901 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9902 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9903 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9904 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9905 buffers. For example:
9908 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9909 '(message-use-followup-to
9910 (gnus-visible-headers .
9911 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9917 @node Summary Group Information
9918 @subsection Summary Group Information
9923 @kindex H f (Summary)
9924 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9925 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9926 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9927 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9928 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9929 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9930 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9931 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9932 be used for fetching the file.
9935 @kindex H d (Summary)
9936 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9937 Give a brief description of the current group
9938 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9939 rereading the description from the server.
9942 @kindex H h (Summary)
9943 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9944 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9945 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9948 @kindex H i (Summary)
9949 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9950 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9954 @node Searching for Articles
9955 @subsection Searching for Articles
9960 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9961 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9962 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9963 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9966 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9967 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9968 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9969 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9973 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9974 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9975 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9976 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9977 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9978 search backward instead.
9980 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9981 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9984 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9985 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9986 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9987 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9990 @node Summary Generation Commands
9991 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9996 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9997 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9998 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10001 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10002 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10003 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10004 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10007 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10008 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10009 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10010 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10015 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10016 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10022 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10023 @kindex A D (Summary)
10024 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10025 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10026 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10027 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10028 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10029 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10030 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10031 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10035 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10036 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10037 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10038 several documents into one biiig group
10039 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10040 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10041 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10042 command understands the process/prefix convention
10043 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10046 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10047 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10048 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10049 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10050 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10051 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10054 @kindex = (Summary)
10055 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10056 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10057 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10060 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10061 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10062 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10063 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10066 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10067 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10068 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10069 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10074 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10075 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10076 @cindex summary exit
10077 @cindex exiting groups
10079 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10080 group and return you to the group buffer.
10086 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10087 @kindex q (Summary)
10088 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10089 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10090 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10091 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10092 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10093 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10094 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10095 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10096 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10097 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10098 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10099 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10103 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10104 @kindex Q (Summary)
10105 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10106 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10107 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10111 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10112 @kindex c (Summary)
10113 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10114 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10115 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10116 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10119 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10120 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10121 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10122 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10125 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10126 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10127 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10128 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10131 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10132 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10133 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10134 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10135 all articles, both read and unread.
10139 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10140 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10141 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10142 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10143 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10144 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10145 articles, both read and unread.
10148 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10149 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10150 Exit the group and go to the next group
10151 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10154 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10155 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10156 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10157 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10160 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10161 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10162 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10163 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10164 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10165 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10168 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10169 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10170 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10171 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10173 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10174 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10175 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10176 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10177 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10178 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10179 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10180 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10181 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10182 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10183 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10184 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10186 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10188 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10189 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10190 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10191 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10192 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10193 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10194 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10195 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10196 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10199 @node Crosspost Handling
10200 @section Crosspost Handling
10204 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10205 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10206 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10207 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10208 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10209 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10212 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10213 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10214 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10215 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10216 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10218 @cindex cross-posting
10221 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10222 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
10223 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10224 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
10225 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10226 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10227 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10228 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10229 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10230 the cross reference mechanism.
10232 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10233 @cindex overview.fmt
10234 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10235 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10236 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10237 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10238 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10239 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10242 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10243 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10244 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10249 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10252 @node Duplicate Suppression
10253 @section Duplicate Suppression
10255 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10256 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10257 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10258 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10263 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10264 is evil and not very common.
10267 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10268 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10271 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10272 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10275 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10278 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10279 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10281 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10282 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10283 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10284 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10285 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10286 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10287 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10290 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10291 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10292 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10293 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10294 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10295 saw the article in.
10298 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10299 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10300 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10302 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10303 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10304 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10305 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10306 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10307 session are suppressed.
10309 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10310 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10311 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10312 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10314 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10315 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10316 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10317 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10320 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10321 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10322 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10323 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10324 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10325 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10326 to you to figure out, I think.
10331 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10332 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10333 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10337 To handle PGP and PGP/MIME messages, you have to install an OpenPGP
10338 implementation such as GnuPG. The lisp interface to GnuPG included
10339 with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG Manual}), but
10340 Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10343 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10344 or newer is recommended.
10348 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10349 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10352 @item mm-verify-option
10353 @vindex mm-verify-option
10354 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10355 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10356 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10358 @item mm-decrypt-option
10359 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10360 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10361 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10362 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10365 @vindex mml1991-use
10366 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for PGP
10367 messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt} and
10368 @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10371 @vindex mml2015-use
10372 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10373 PGP/MIME messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt}
10374 and @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10379 @section Mailing List
10381 @kindex A M (summary)
10382 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10383 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10384 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10385 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10388 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10393 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10394 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10395 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10398 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10399 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10400 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10403 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10404 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10405 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10409 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10410 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10411 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10414 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10415 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10416 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10419 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10420 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10421 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10425 @node Article Buffer
10426 @chapter Article Buffer
10427 @cindex article buffer
10429 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10430 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10431 tell Gnus otherwise.
10434 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10435 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10436 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10437 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10438 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10442 @node Hiding Headers
10443 @section Hiding Headers
10444 @cindex hiding headers
10445 @cindex deleting headers
10447 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10448 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10450 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10451 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10452 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10453 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10454 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10455 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10456 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10457 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10458 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10460 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10464 @item gnus-visible-headers
10465 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10466 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10467 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10468 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10470 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10471 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10474 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10477 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10480 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10481 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10482 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10483 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10484 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10485 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10487 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10488 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10491 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10494 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10497 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10498 variable will have no effect.
10502 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10503 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10504 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10505 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10506 the headers are to be displayed.
10508 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10509 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10512 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10515 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10516 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10518 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10519 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10520 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10521 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10522 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10523 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10524 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10527 These conditions are:
10530 Remove all empty headers.
10532 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10533 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10535 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10536 @code{From} header.
10538 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10541 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10542 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10544 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10545 the current groups's @code{to-list} parameter.
10547 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10548 the current groups's @code{to-list} parameter.
10550 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10553 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10555 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10558 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10561 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10562 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10565 This is also the default value for this variable.
10569 @section Using MIME
10572 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10573 while people stand around yawning.
10575 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10576 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10578 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10579 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10580 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10582 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10583 @findex gnus-display-mime
10584 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10585 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10586 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10587 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
10589 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10593 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10594 @item RET (Article)
10595 @kindex RET (Article)
10596 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10597 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
10598 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If builtin viewers can not display
10599 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
10600 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
10601 object is displayed inline.
10603 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10604 @item M-RET (Article)
10605 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10607 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10608 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10610 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10612 @kindex t (Article)
10613 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
10614 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10616 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10618 @kindex C (Article)
10619 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10620 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10622 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10624 @kindex o (Article)
10625 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
10626 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10628 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10629 @item C-o (Article)
10630 @kindex C-o (Article)
10631 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
10632 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10633 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10634 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
10635 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
10636 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10638 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10640 @kindex c (Article)
10641 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10642 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
10643 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
10644 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
10645 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
10647 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10649 @kindex p (Article)
10650 Print the @sc{mime} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10651 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10652 @file{.mailcap} file.
10654 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10656 @kindex i (Article)
10657 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
10658 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10659 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10660 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10661 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
10664 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
10666 @kindex E (Article)
10667 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10668 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10669 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
10671 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
10673 @kindex e (Article)
10674 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
10675 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
10677 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
10679 @kindex | (Article)
10680 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
10682 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
10684 @kindex . (Article)
10685 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
10686 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
10690 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
10691 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
10694 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
10695 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
10696 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
10697 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
10698 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
10699 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
10700 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
10701 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
10702 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
10704 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10706 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10709 @node Customizing Articles
10710 @section Customizing Articles
10711 @cindex article customization
10713 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10714 exist. You can call these functions interactively
10715 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
10716 called automatically when you select the articles.
10718 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10719 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10720 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10721 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10723 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10724 for sensible values.
10728 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10731 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10734 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10737 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10740 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10744 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10745 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10746 regexps in the list.
10749 A list where the first element is not a string:
10751 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10752 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10753 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10757 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10762 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10763 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10764 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10765 considered to contain just a single part.
10767 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10768 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10769 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10770 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10771 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10772 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10773 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10775 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10776 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10777 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10778 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10781 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10782 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10784 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10786 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10787 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10788 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10789 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10790 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10791 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10792 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10793 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10794 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10795 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
10797 @xref{Article Washing}.
10799 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10800 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10801 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10802 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10803 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10804 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10805 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10807 @xref{Article Date}.
10809 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10810 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10811 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10815 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10817 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10819 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10820 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10821 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10825 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10829 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10830 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10831 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10832 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10833 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10834 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10835 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10836 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10837 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
10838 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
10840 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10842 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10843 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10844 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10846 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10848 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10849 @item gnus-treat-translate
10850 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10852 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10853 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10854 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10855 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10857 @xref{Article Header}.
10862 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10863 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10864 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10865 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10866 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10870 @node Article Keymap
10871 @section Article Keymap
10873 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10874 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10875 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10876 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10879 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10884 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10885 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10886 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10887 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
10890 @kindex DEL (Article)
10891 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10892 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10893 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
10896 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10897 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10898 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10899 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10900 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10903 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10904 @findex gnus-article-mail
10905 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10906 given a prefix, include the mail.
10909 @kindex s (Article)
10910 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10911 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10912 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10915 @kindex ? (Article)
10916 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10917 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10918 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10921 @kindex TAB (Article)
10922 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10923 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10924 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10927 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10928 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10929 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10932 @kindex R (Article)
10933 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10934 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10935 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10936 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10940 @kindex F (Article)
10941 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10942 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10943 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10944 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10952 @section Misc Article
10956 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10957 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10958 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10959 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10962 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10963 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10965 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10966 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10968 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10969 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10970 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10971 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10972 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10973 the contents of the article buffer.
10975 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10976 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10977 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10979 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10980 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10981 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10982 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10984 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10985 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10986 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10987 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10988 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10994 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10995 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10996 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11001 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11004 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11007 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11008 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11009 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11012 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11015 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11018 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11023 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
11027 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11029 @item gnus-break-pages
11030 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11031 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11032 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11033 paging will not be done.
11035 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11036 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11037 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11042 @node Composing Messages
11043 @chapter Composing Messages
11044 @cindex composing messages
11047 @cindex sending mail
11052 @cindex using s/mime
11053 @cindex using smime
11055 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11056 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11057 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11058 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11059 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11060 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11063 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11064 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11065 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11066 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11067 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11068 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11069 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11070 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11073 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11074 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11080 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11083 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11084 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11085 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11086 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11087 @code{nil} include all headers.
11089 @item gnus-add-to-list
11090 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11091 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11092 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11094 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11095 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11096 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11097 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11098 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11099 confirmation is should be asked for.
11101 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11102 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11104 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11105 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11106 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11107 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11108 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11113 @node Posting Server
11114 @section Posting Server
11116 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11117 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11119 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11121 It can be quite complicated.
11123 @vindex gnus-post-method
11124 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11125 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11126 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11127 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11128 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11129 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11130 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11131 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11132 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11135 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11138 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11139 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11140 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11141 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11143 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11144 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11146 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11147 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11150 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11151 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11153 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11154 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11155 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11156 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11157 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
11158 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11159 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11160 package correctly. An example:
11163 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11164 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11167 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
11168 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
11169 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11171 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11172 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11173 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11175 @node Mail and Post
11176 @section Mail and Post
11178 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11182 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11183 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11184 @cindex mailing lists
11186 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11187 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
11188 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11189 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11190 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11191 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11192 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11193 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11194 still a pain, though.
11196 @item gnus-user-agent
11197 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11200 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11201 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11202 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11203 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11204 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11205 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11206 use a valid format, see RFC 2616."
11210 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11211 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11212 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11215 @findex ispell-message
11217 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11220 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11221 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11224 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11228 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11229 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11231 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11234 Modify to suit your needs.
11237 @node Archived Messages
11238 @section Archived Messages
11239 @cindex archived messages
11240 @cindex sent messages
11242 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11243 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11244 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11245 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11248 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11249 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11252 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11253 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11254 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11257 (nnfolder "archive"
11258 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11259 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11260 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11261 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11264 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11265 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11266 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11267 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11270 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11271 '(nnfolder "archive"
11272 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11273 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11274 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11277 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11279 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11280 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11281 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11283 This variable can be used to do the following:
11288 Messages will be saved in that group.
11290 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11291 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11292 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11293 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11294 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11295 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11296 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11297 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11301 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11303 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11304 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11307 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11312 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11314 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11317 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11319 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11322 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11324 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11325 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11326 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11327 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11330 More complex stuff:
11332 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11333 '((if (message-news-p)
11338 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11339 messages in one file per month:
11342 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11343 '((if (message-news-p)
11345 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11348 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11349 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11351 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11352 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11353 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11354 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11355 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11356 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11357 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11358 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11359 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11360 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11362 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11363 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11364 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11365 this will disable archiving.
11368 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11369 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11370 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11371 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11372 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11375 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11376 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11377 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11380 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11381 but the latter is the preferred method.
11383 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11384 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11385 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11387 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11388 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11389 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11390 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11391 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11392 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11393 changed in the future.
11398 @node Posting Styles
11399 @section Posting Styles
11400 @cindex posting styles
11403 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11405 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11406 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11407 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11410 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11411 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11412 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11413 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11414 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11419 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11420 (organization "What me?"))
11422 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11423 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11424 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11427 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11428 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11429 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11430 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11431 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11432 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11433 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11434 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11436 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11437 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11438 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11439 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11440 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11441 @var{regexp} are strings. (There original article is the one you are
11442 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11443 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11444 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11445 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11446 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11447 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11448 said to @dfn{match}.
11450 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11451 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11452 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11453 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11454 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11455 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11456 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11457 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11458 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11459 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11462 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11463 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11464 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11465 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11466 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11467 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11468 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11469 references chars lines xref extra.
11471 @vindex message-reply-headers
11473 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11474 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11475 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11477 @findex message-mail-p
11478 @findex message-news-p
11480 So here's a new example:
11483 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11485 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11487 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11488 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11490 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11491 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11492 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11493 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11494 (signature my-news-signature))
11495 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11496 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11497 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11498 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11499 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11500 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11501 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11502 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11503 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11504 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11506 (From (save-excursion
11507 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11508 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11510 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11513 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11514 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11515 if you fill many roles.
11522 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11523 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11524 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11525 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11526 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11528 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11529 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11530 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11531 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11532 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11536 @vindex nndraft-directory
11537 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11538 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11539 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11540 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11541 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11542 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11544 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11545 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11548 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11549 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11550 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11551 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11552 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11553 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11554 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11555 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11556 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11557 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11558 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11559 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11560 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11561 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11563 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11564 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11565 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11567 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11568 @kindex D e (Draft)
11569 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11570 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11571 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11573 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11576 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11577 @kindex D s (Draft)
11578 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11579 @kindex D S (Draft)
11580 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11581 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11582 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11583 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11584 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11587 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11588 @kindex D t (Draft)
11589 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11590 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11591 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11594 @node Rejected Articles
11595 @section Rejected Articles
11596 @cindex rejected articles
11598 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11599 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11600 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11601 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11603 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11604 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11605 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11606 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11607 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11609 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11610 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11611 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11613 @node Signing and encrypting
11614 @section Signing and encrypting
11616 @cindex using s/mime
11617 @cindex using smime
11619 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11620 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11621 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11622 (@pxref{Security}).
11624 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11625 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11626 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11627 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11628 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11629 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11630 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11631 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11632 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11633 automatically encrypted messages.
11635 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11636 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11637 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11642 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11643 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11645 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11648 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11649 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11651 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11654 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11655 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11657 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11660 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11661 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11663 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11666 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11667 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11669 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11672 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11673 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11675 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11678 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11679 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11680 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11684 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11686 @node Select Methods
11687 @chapter Select Methods
11688 @cindex foreign groups
11689 @cindex select methods
11691 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11692 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11693 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11694 personal mail group.
11696 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11697 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11698 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11699 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11700 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11701 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11703 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11704 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11706 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11709 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11710 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11711 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11712 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11713 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11715 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11718 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11719 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11720 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11721 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11722 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11723 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11724 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11725 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11729 @node Server Buffer
11730 @section Server Buffer
11732 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11733 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11734 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11735 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11736 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11737 back end represents a virtual server.
11739 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11740 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11741 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11742 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11744 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11745 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11746 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11747 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11748 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11749 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11750 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11752 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11753 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11756 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11757 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11758 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11759 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11760 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11761 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11762 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11765 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11766 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11769 @node Server Buffer Format
11770 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11771 @cindex server buffer format
11773 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11774 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11775 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11776 variable, with some simple extensions:
11781 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11784 The name of this server.
11787 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11790 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11793 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11794 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11795 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11796 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11806 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11809 @node Server Commands
11810 @subsection Server Commands
11811 @cindex server commands
11817 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11818 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11822 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11823 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11826 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11827 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11828 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11832 @findex gnus-server-exit
11833 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11837 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11838 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11842 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11843 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11847 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11848 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11852 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11853 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11857 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11858 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11859 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11864 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11865 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11866 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11867 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11872 @node Example Methods
11873 @subsection Example Methods
11875 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11878 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11881 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11887 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11888 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11891 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11892 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11894 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11895 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11899 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11902 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11903 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11905 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11906 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11907 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11911 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11914 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11917 Here's the method for a public spool:
11921 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11922 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11928 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11929 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11930 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11931 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11932 should probably look something like this:
11936 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11937 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11938 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11939 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11942 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11943 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11944 configuration to the example above:
11947 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11950 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11952 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11953 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11954 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11958 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11959 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11960 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11961 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11964 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11965 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11966 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11967 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11970 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11971 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11973 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11974 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11976 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11977 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11978 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11980 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11982 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11983 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11984 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11985 will contain the following:
11995 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11996 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11997 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12000 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12001 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12002 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12005 @node Server Variables
12006 @subsection Server Variables
12008 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12009 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12010 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12011 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12012 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12014 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12015 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12016 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12017 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12018 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12019 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12020 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12021 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12022 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12026 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12027 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12028 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12032 @node Servers and Methods
12033 @subsection Servers and Methods
12035 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12036 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12037 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12038 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12042 @node Unavailable Servers
12043 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12045 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12046 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12047 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12048 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12049 actually the case or not.
12051 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12052 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12053 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12054 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12055 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12056 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12057 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12058 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12060 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12061 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12063 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12064 with the following commands:
12070 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12071 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12072 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12076 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12077 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12078 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12082 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12083 Mark the current server as unreachable
12084 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12087 @kindex M-o (Server)
12088 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12089 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12090 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12093 @kindex M-c (Server)
12094 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12095 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12096 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12100 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12101 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12102 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12106 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12107 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12113 @section Getting News
12114 @cindex reading news
12115 @cindex news back ends
12117 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12118 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
12119 or it can read from a local spool.
12122 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
12123 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12131 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
12132 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
12133 server as the, uhm, address.
12135 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12136 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12137 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12138 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12140 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12141 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12142 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12144 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12149 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12150 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12151 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12153 @cindex authentification
12154 @cindex nntp authentification
12155 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12156 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12157 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12158 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
12159 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12160 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12161 present in this hook.
12163 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12164 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12165 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12166 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12167 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
12168 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12169 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12170 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12171 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12172 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12173 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12174 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12178 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12181 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12183 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12184 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12185 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12186 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12187 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12188 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12189 @samp{force} is explained below.
12193 Here's an example file:
12196 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12197 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12200 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12201 have to be first, for instance.
12203 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12204 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12205 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12206 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12207 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12208 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12209 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12211 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12212 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12218 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12219 previously mentioned.
12221 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12223 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12224 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12225 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12226 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12227 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12230 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12231 '(("innd" (ding))))
12234 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12236 The default value is
12239 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12240 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12241 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12244 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12245 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12247 @item nntp-maximum-request
12248 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12249 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
12250 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12251 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12252 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12253 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12254 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12256 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12257 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12258 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12259 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
12260 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12261 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12262 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12263 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12264 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12265 no timeouts are done.
12267 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12268 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12269 @c @cindex PPP connections
12270 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12271 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12272 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12273 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
12274 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12275 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12276 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12277 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12278 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12279 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12281 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12282 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12283 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12284 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12285 @c described above.
12287 @item nntp-server-hook
12288 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12289 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
12292 @item nntp-buggy-select
12293 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12294 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12296 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12297 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12298 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
12299 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12302 @item nntp-xover-commands
12303 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12306 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12307 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12311 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12312 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12313 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12314 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12315 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12316 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12317 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12318 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12319 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12320 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12321 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12323 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12324 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12325 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12327 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12328 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12329 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12330 server closes connection.
12332 @item nntp-record-commands
12333 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12334 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12335 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12336 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12337 that doesn't seem to work.
12339 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12340 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12341 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12342 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12343 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12344 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12345 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12346 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12348 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12349 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12350 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12351 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12352 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12353 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12354 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12357 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12360 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12361 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12363 @item nntp-read-timeout
12364 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12365 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12366 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12367 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12368 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12374 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12375 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12376 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12380 @node Direct Functions
12381 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12382 @cindex direct connection functions
12384 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12385 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12386 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12387 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12390 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12391 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12392 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12395 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12396 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12397 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
12398 you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12399 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}. You then
12400 define a server as follows:
12403 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12405 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12406 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports
12408 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12409 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12410 (nntp-port-number 563)
12411 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12414 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12415 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12416 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12417 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12418 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12419 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12420 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12421 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12425 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12426 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12427 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12430 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12431 session, which is not a good idea.
12435 @node Indirect Functions
12436 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12437 @cindex indirect connection functions
12439 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12440 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12441 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12442 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12443 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12444 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12447 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12448 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12449 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12450 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12451 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12453 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12456 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12457 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12458 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12459 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12461 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12462 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12463 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12464 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12465 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12466 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12467 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12468 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12471 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12472 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12473 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12474 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12476 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12479 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12480 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12481 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12484 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12485 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12486 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12487 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12489 @item nntp-via-user-password
12490 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12491 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12493 @item nntp-via-envuser
12494 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12495 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12496 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12497 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12499 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12500 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12501 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12502 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12509 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12514 @item nntp-via-user-name
12515 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12516 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12518 @item nntp-via-address
12519 @vindex nntp-via-address
12520 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12525 @node Common Variables
12526 @subsubsection Common Variables
12528 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12529 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12534 @item nntp-pre-command
12535 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12536 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12537 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12538 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12539 wrapper for instance.
12542 @vindex nntp-address
12543 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12545 @item nntp-port-number
12546 @vindex nntp-port-number
12547 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12548 If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12549 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews}), because
12550 external SSL tools may not work with named ports.
12552 @item nntp-end-of-line
12553 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12554 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12555 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12556 using a non native connection function.
12558 @item nntp-telnet-command
12559 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12560 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12561 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12562 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12564 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12565 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12566 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12573 @subsection News Spool
12577 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12578 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12579 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12582 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12583 anything else) as the address.
12585 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12586 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12587 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12588 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12592 @item nnspool-inews-program
12593 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12594 Program used to post an article.
12596 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12597 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12598 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12600 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12601 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12602 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12603 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12605 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12606 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12607 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12608 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12610 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12611 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12612 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12614 @item nnspool-active-file
12615 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12616 The name of the active file.
12618 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12619 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12620 The name of the group descriptions file.
12622 @item nnspool-history-file
12623 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12624 The name of the news history file.
12626 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12627 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12628 The name of the active date file.
12630 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12631 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12632 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12635 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12636 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12638 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12639 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12640 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12646 @section Getting Mail
12647 @cindex reading mail
12650 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12654 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12655 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12656 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12657 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12658 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12659 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12660 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12661 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12662 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12663 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12664 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12665 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12666 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12670 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12671 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12673 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12674 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12675 of a culture shock.
12677 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12678 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12680 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12681 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12682 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12683 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12685 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12687 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12688 deleted? How awful!
12690 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12691 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12692 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12693 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12696 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12697 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12698 they want to treat a message.
12700 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12701 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12702 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12703 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12704 archived somewhere else.
12706 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12707 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12708 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12709 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12710 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12712 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12713 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12714 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12716 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12717 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12720 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12721 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12722 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12723 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12724 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12726 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12727 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12728 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12729 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12730 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12731 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12735 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12736 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12738 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12739 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12740 and things will happen automatically.
12742 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
12743 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12746 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12749 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12750 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12751 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12752 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12753 like any other group.
12755 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12758 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12759 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12760 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12764 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12765 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12766 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12769 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12770 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12771 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12774 @node Splitting Mail
12775 @subsection Splitting Mail
12776 @cindex splitting mail
12777 @cindex mail splitting
12779 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12780 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12781 to be split into groups.
12784 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12785 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12786 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12787 ("mail.other" "")))
12790 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12791 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12792 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12793 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12794 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12795 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12796 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12799 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12802 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12803 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12804 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12805 mail belongs in that group.
12807 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12808 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
12809 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12810 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12811 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
12812 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
12814 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12815 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12816 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12817 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12818 thinks should carry this mail message.
12820 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12821 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12822 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12823 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12825 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12826 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12827 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12828 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12829 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
12831 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12834 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12835 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12836 links. If that's the case for you, set
12837 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12838 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12840 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12841 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12842 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12843 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12844 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12845 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12848 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12849 Header lines longer than the value of
12850 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12853 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12854 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12855 By default the splitting codes @sc{mime} decodes headers so you can match
12856 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12857 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12858 can be turned off completely by binding
12859 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12860 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12862 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12863 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
12864 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
12865 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
12866 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
12867 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
12868 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
12871 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12872 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12873 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12874 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12875 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12876 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12877 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12878 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12879 month's rent money.
12883 @subsection Mail Sources
12885 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12886 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12890 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12891 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12892 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12896 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12897 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12899 @cindex mail server
12902 @cindex mail source
12904 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12905 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12910 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12913 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12914 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12915 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12918 The following mail source types are available:
12922 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12928 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12929 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12930 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12934 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12937 An example file mail source:
12940 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12943 Or using the default file name:
12949 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12950 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12951 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12954 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12958 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12961 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12965 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12968 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12970 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12973 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12977 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
12978 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
12979 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
12980 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
12981 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
12982 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12983 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12984 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
12985 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
12986 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12988 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12989 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12990 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12991 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
12997 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13001 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13005 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13006 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13007 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13008 predicate are considered.
13012 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13016 An example directory mail source:
13019 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13024 Get mail from a POP server.
13030 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
13031 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13034 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
13035 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13036 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13037 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13038 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13041 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
13045 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
13049 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
13050 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13053 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13056 The valid format specifier characters are:
13060 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13061 included in this string.
13064 The name of the server.
13067 The port number of the server.
13070 The user name to use.
13073 The password to use.
13076 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13077 corresponding keywords.
13080 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13081 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13084 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13085 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13088 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
13089 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
13092 @item :authentication
13093 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13094 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13099 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13100 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13102 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
13103 default user name, and default fetcher:
13109 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13112 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13113 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13116 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13119 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13123 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13124 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13125 contains exactly one mail.
13131 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13132 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13135 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13136 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13138 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13139 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13140 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13143 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13144 from locking problems).
13148 Two example maildir mail sources:
13151 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13152 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13156 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13161 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
13162 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
13163 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
13164 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
13167 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
13168 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13174 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
13175 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13178 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13179 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
13182 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
13186 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
13190 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13191 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13192 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
13193 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13195 @item :authentication
13196 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13197 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13198 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13199 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13202 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13203 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13204 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13210 The valid format specifier characters are:
13214 The name of the server.
13217 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13220 The port number of the server.
13223 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13224 corresponding keywords.
13227 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13228 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13231 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13232 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13233 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13234 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13235 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13236 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13239 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13240 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13241 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13242 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13245 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13246 after finishing the fetch.
13250 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13253 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13255 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13259 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13260 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13261 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13263 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13264 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13266 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13272 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13273 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13276 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13280 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13284 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13285 folder after finishing the fetch.
13289 An example webmail source:
13292 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13294 :password "secret")
13299 @item Common Keywords
13300 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13306 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13307 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13311 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13316 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13317 useful when you use local mail and news.
13322 @subsubsection Function Interface
13324 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13325 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13326 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13327 consider the following mail-source setting:
13330 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13331 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13334 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13335 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13336 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13337 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13338 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13340 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13343 @node Mail Source Customization
13344 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13346 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13347 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13351 @item mail-source-crash-box
13352 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13353 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13354 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13356 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13357 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13358 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13359 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13360 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13361 (This will only happen, when reveiving new mail). You may also set
13362 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13363 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13365 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13366 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13367 If @code{non-nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13368 files. This variable only applies when
13369 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13371 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13372 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13373 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13375 @item mail-source-directory
13376 @vindex mail-source-directory
13377 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13378 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13379 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13382 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13383 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13384 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13385 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13386 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13387 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13389 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13390 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13391 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13393 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13394 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13395 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13396 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13401 @node Fetching Mail
13402 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13404 @vindex mail-sources
13405 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13406 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13407 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13408 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13410 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13411 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13414 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13415 mail server, you'd say something like:
13420 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13421 :password "secret")))
13424 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13428 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13429 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13432 :password "secret")))
13436 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13437 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13438 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13439 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13440 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13441 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13445 @node Mail Back End Variables
13446 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13448 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13452 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13453 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13454 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13455 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13457 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13458 @item nnmail-split-hook
13459 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13460 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13461 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13462 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13463 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13464 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13465 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13466 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13467 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13470 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13471 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13472 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13473 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13474 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13475 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13476 starting to handle the new mail) and
13477 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13478 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13479 default file modes the new mail files get:
13482 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13483 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13485 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13486 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13489 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13490 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13491 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13492 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13493 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13494 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13495 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13497 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13498 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13499 @findex delete-file
13500 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13502 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13503 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13504 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13505 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13506 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13508 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13509 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13510 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13511 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13512 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13514 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13515 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13516 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13521 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13522 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13523 @cindex mail splitting
13524 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13526 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13527 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13528 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13529 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13530 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13531 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13533 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13536 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13537 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13538 ;; from real errors.
13539 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13541 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13542 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13543 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13544 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13545 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13546 ;; Other mailing lists...
13547 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13548 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13549 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13550 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13551 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13552 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13553 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13554 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13556 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13557 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13561 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13562 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13563 the five possible split syntaxes:
13568 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13569 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13573 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13574 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13575 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13576 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13577 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13578 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13579 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13580 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13583 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13584 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13585 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13586 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13589 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13590 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13593 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13594 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13597 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13598 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13599 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13600 function should return a @var{split}.
13603 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13604 body of the messages:
13607 (defun split-on-body ()
13609 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13610 (goto-char (point-min))
13611 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13615 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13616 when the @code{:} function is run.
13619 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the
13620 first element is @code{!}, then @var{split} will be processed, and
13621 @var{func} will be called as a function with the result of @var{split}
13622 as argument. @var{func} should return a split.
13625 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13629 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13630 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13631 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13632 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13633 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13635 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13636 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13637 are expanded as specified by the variable
13638 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13639 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13642 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13643 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13644 when all this splitting is performed.
13646 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13647 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13648 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13651 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13654 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13655 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13657 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13658 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13659 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13660 groupings 1 through 9.
13662 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13663 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13664 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13665 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13666 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13667 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13668 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13669 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13670 it once per thread.
13672 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13673 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13674 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13677 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13678 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13680 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13681 ;; other splits go here
13685 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13686 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13687 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13688 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13689 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13690 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13691 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13692 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13693 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13694 unless the group name matches the regexp
13695 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13696 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13697 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13698 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13699 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13700 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13701 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13702 messages goes into the new group.
13704 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13705 want certain groups to be recorded in the