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4 @settitle Pterodactyl Gnus Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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265 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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274 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
276 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
277 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
278 are preserved on all copies.
280 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
281 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
282 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
283 permission notice identical to this one.
285 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
286 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
295 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
297 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
299 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
300 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
301 are preserved on all copies.
304 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
305 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
306 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
307 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
310 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
311 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
312 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
313 permission notice identical to this one.
315 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
316 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
322 @title Pterodactyl Gnus Manual
324 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
327 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
328 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
330 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
331 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
332 are preserved on all copies.
334 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
335 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
336 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
337 permission notice identical to this one.
339 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
340 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
349 @top The Gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 This manual corresponds to Pterodactyl Gnus .
369 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
370 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
372 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
373 being accused of plagiarism:
375 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
376 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
377 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
378 even read news with it!
380 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
381 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
382 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
383 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
384 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
391 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
392 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
393 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
394 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
395 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
396 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
397 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
398 * Various:: General purpose settings.
399 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
400 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
401 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
402 * Key Index:: Key Index.
406 @chapter Starting Gnus
411 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
412 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
415 @findex gnus-other-frame
416 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
417 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
418 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
420 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
421 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
422 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
424 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
425 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
428 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
429 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
430 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
431 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
432 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
433 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
434 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
435 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
436 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
437 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
438 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
442 @node Finding the News
443 @section Finding the News
446 @vindex gnus-select-method
448 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
449 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
450 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
451 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
454 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
455 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
458 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
461 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
464 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
467 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
468 certainly be much faster.
470 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
472 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
473 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
474 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
475 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
476 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
477 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
479 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
480 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
481 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
482 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
484 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
485 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
486 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
487 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
488 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
489 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
490 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
491 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
492 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
495 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
497 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
498 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
499 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
500 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
501 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
502 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
504 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
506 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
507 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
508 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
509 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
510 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
511 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
514 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
515 would typically set this variable to
518 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
523 @section The First Time
524 @cindex first time usage
526 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
527 be subscribed by default.
529 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
530 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
531 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
532 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
535 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
536 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
537 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
539 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
540 help you with most common problems.
542 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
543 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
547 @node The Server is Down
548 @section The Server is Down
549 @cindex server errors
551 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
552 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
553 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
555 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
556 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
557 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
558 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
559 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
560 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
561 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
563 @findex gnus-no-server
564 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
566 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
567 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
568 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
569 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
570 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
571 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
576 @section Slave Gnusae
579 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
580 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
581 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
582 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
584 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
587 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
588 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
589 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
590 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
591 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
592 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
593 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
595 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
596 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
597 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
598 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
599 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
600 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
601 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
602 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
604 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
605 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
608 @node Fetching a Group
609 @section Fetching a Group
610 @cindex fetching a group
612 @findex gnus-fetch-group
613 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
614 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
615 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
616 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
617 It takes the group name as a parameter.
625 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
626 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
627 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
628 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
629 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
630 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
631 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
632 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
633 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
636 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
637 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
638 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
642 @node Checking New Groups
643 @subsection Checking New Groups
645 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
646 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
647 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
648 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
649 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
650 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
651 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
652 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
653 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
654 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
656 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
657 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
658 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
659 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
660 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
661 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
662 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
663 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
664 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
665 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
666 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
668 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
669 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
670 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
671 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
672 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
673 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
676 @node Subscription Methods
677 @subsection Subscription Methods
679 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
680 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
681 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
683 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
684 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
686 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
690 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
691 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
692 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
693 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
694 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
696 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
697 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
698 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
699 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
701 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
702 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
703 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
705 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
706 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
707 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
708 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
709 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
710 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
711 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
712 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
713 up. Or something like that.
715 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
716 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
717 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
718 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
719 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
721 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
722 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
727 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
728 A closely related variable is
729 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
730 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
731 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
732 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
735 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
736 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
737 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
738 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
741 @node Filtering New Groups
742 @subsection Filtering New Groups
744 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
745 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
746 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
749 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
752 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
753 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
754 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
755 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
756 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
757 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
758 subscribing these groups.
759 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
760 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
762 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
763 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
764 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
765 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
766 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
767 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
768 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
769 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
771 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
772 Yet another variable that meddles here is
773 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
774 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
775 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
776 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
777 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
778 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
779 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
780 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
782 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
783 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
786 @node Changing Servers
787 @section Changing Servers
788 @cindex changing servers
790 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
791 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
792 very flaky and you want to use another.
794 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
795 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
799 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
800 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
801 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
802 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
805 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
806 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
807 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
808 functions more than absolutely necessary.
810 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
811 @findex gnus-change-server
812 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
813 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
814 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
815 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
816 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
818 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
819 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
820 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
821 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
822 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
824 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
825 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
826 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
827 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
828 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
829 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
831 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
832 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
833 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
837 @section Startup Files
838 @cindex startup files
843 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
844 information is traditionally stored in this file.
846 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
847 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
848 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
849 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
850 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
851 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
852 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
854 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
855 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
856 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
857 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
858 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
859 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
861 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
862 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
863 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
864 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
865 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
866 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
867 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
868 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
869 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
870 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
872 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
873 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
874 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
875 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
876 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
877 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
878 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
879 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
880 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
881 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
882 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
883 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
885 @vindex gnus-startup-file
886 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
887 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
888 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
890 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
891 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
892 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
893 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
894 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
895 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
896 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
897 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
898 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
899 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
902 (defun turn-off-backup ()
903 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
905 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
906 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
909 @vindex gnus-init-file
910 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
911 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
912 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
913 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
914 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
915 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
916 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
917 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
918 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
927 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
928 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
929 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
930 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
931 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
934 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
935 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
938 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
939 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
940 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
942 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
943 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
944 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
945 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
946 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
947 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
949 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
950 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
951 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
954 @node The Active File
955 @section The Active File
957 @cindex ignored groups
959 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
960 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
961 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
963 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
964 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
965 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
966 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
967 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
968 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
969 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
972 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
973 @c if you set it to anything else.
975 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
977 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
978 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
979 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
981 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
982 you actually subscribe to.
984 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
985 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
986 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
987 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
989 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
990 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
991 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
992 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
993 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
994 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
996 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
997 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
998 is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
1000 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1001 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1002 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1003 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1004 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1005 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1007 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1008 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1010 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1011 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1013 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1014 secondary select methods.
1017 @node Startup Variables
1018 @section Startup Variables
1022 @item gnus-load-hook
1023 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1024 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1025 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1026 times you start Gnus.
1028 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1029 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1030 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1032 @item gnus-startup-hook
1033 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1034 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1036 @item gnus-started-hook
1037 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1038 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1041 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1042 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1043 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1044 generating the group buffer.
1046 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1047 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1048 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1049 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1050 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1051 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1052 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1053 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1055 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1056 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1057 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1058 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1059 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1060 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1062 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1063 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1064 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1066 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1067 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1068 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1070 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1071 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1072 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1073 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1078 @node The Group Buffer
1079 @chapter The Group Buffer
1080 @cindex group buffer
1082 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1083 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1084 long as Gnus is active.
1088 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1089 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1090 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1091 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1092 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1093 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1094 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1095 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1101 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1102 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1103 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1104 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1105 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1106 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1107 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1108 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1109 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1110 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1111 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1112 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1113 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1114 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1115 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1116 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1117 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1121 @node Group Buffer Format
1122 @section Group Buffer Format
1125 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1126 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1127 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1131 @node Group Line Specification
1132 @subsection Group Line Specification
1133 @cindex group buffer format
1135 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1136 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1138 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1141 25: news.announce.newusers
1142 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1147 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1148 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1149 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1150 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1152 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1153 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1154 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1155 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1156 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1157 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1159 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1161 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1162 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1163 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1164 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1167 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1168 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1169 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1171 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1176 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1179 Whether the group is subscribed.
1182 Level of subscribedness.
1185 Number of unread articles.
1188 Number of dormant articles.
1191 Number of ticked articles.
1194 Number of read articles.
1197 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1198 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1201 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1204 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1213 Newsgroup description.
1216 @samp{m} if moderated.
1219 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1228 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1232 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1235 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1236 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1237 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1238 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1239 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1242 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1244 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1248 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1252 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1253 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1254 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1255 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1256 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1257 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1262 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1263 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1264 group, or a bogus native group.
1267 @node Group Modeline Specification
1268 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1269 @cindex group modeline
1271 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1272 The mode line can be changed by setting
1273 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1274 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1278 The native news server.
1280 The native select method.
1284 @node Group Highlighting
1285 @subsection Group Highlighting
1286 @cindex highlighting
1287 @cindex group highlighting
1289 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1290 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1291 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1292 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1293 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1295 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1299 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1300 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1301 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1302 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1303 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1304 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1305 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1306 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1307 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1308 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1310 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1311 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1312 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1313 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1314 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1315 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1318 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1320 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1327 The number of unread articles in the group.
1331 Whether the group is a mail group.
1333 The level of the group.
1335 The score of the group.
1337 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1339 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1340 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1342 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1343 topic being inserted.
1346 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1347 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1348 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1350 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1351 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1352 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1353 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1354 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1357 @node Group Maneuvering
1358 @section Group Maneuvering
1359 @cindex group movement
1361 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1362 expected, hopefully.
1368 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1369 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1370 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1376 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1377 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1378 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1382 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1383 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1387 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1388 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1392 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1393 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1394 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1398 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1399 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1400 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1403 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1409 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1410 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1411 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1416 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1417 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1418 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1422 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1423 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1424 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1427 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1428 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1429 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1430 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1434 @node Selecting a Group
1435 @section Selecting a Group
1436 @cindex group selection
1441 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1442 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1443 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1444 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1445 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1446 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1447 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1448 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1449 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1450 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1454 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1455 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1456 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1457 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1458 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1462 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1463 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1464 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1465 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1466 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1467 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1468 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1469 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1470 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1471 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1474 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1475 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1476 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1477 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1478 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1481 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1482 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1483 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1484 doing any processing of its contents
1485 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1486 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1487 manner will have no permanent effects.
1491 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1492 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1493 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1494 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1495 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1496 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1497 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1498 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1501 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1502 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1503 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1504 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1509 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1510 full summary buffer.
1513 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1516 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1521 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1522 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1523 Useful functions include:
1526 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1527 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1528 don't select the article.
1530 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1531 Select the first unread article.
1533 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1534 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1538 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1539 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1540 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1544 @node Subscription Commands
1545 @section Subscription Commands
1546 @cindex subscription
1554 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1555 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1556 Toggle subscription to the current group
1557 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1563 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1564 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1565 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1566 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1572 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1573 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1574 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1580 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1581 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1584 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1585 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1586 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1587 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1588 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1594 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1595 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1599 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1600 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1603 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1604 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1605 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1606 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1607 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1608 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1609 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1610 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1611 @file{.newsrc} file.
1615 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1625 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1626 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1627 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1628 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1629 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1630 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1635 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1636 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1637 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1641 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1642 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1643 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1645 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1646 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1647 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1648 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1649 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1650 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1657 @section Group Levels
1661 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1662 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1663 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1664 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1665 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1667 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1673 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1674 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1675 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1676 prompted for a level.
1679 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1680 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1681 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1682 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1683 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1684 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1685 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1686 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1687 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1688 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1689 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1690 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1691 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1692 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1693 reasons of efficiency.
1695 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1696 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1698 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1699 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1700 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1702 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1703 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1704 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1705 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1706 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1707 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1708 relevant valid ranges.
1710 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1711 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1712 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1713 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1714 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1715 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1718 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1719 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1720 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1723 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1724 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1725 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1726 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1729 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1730 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1731 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1732 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1734 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1735 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1736 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1737 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1738 to 5. The default is 6.
1742 @section Group Score
1747 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1748 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1749 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1752 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
1753 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
1754 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
1755 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
1756 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
1757 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
1758 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
1759 least significant part.))
1761 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1762 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1763 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1764 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1765 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1766 action after each summary exit, you can add
1767 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1768 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1769 slow things down somewhat.
1772 @node Marking Groups
1773 @section Marking Groups
1774 @cindex marking groups
1776 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1777 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1778 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1779 bidding on those groups.
1781 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1782 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1783 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1791 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1792 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1798 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1799 Remove the mark from the current group
1800 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1804 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1805 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1809 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1810 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1814 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1815 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1819 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1820 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1821 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1824 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1826 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1827 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1828 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1829 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1830 the command to be executed.
1833 @node Foreign Groups
1834 @section Foreign Groups
1835 @cindex foreign groups
1837 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1838 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1839 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1840 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1847 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1848 @cindex making groups
1849 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1850 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1851 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1855 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1856 @cindex renaming groups
1857 Rename the current group to something else
1858 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1859 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1865 @findex gnus-group-customize
1866 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1870 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1871 @cindex renaming groups
1872 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1873 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1877 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1878 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1879 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1883 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1884 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1885 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1889 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1891 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1892 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1897 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1898 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1902 @cindex (ding) archive
1903 @cindex archive group
1904 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1905 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1906 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1907 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1908 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1909 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1910 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1914 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1916 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1917 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1918 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1919 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1923 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1925 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1926 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1927 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1931 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1932 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1934 Make a group based on some file or other
1935 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1936 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1937 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1938 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1939 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
1940 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
1941 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
1945 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1946 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1947 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1948 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1952 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1957 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1958 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1959 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1960 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1961 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1962 @xref{Web Searches}.
1964 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1965 to a particular group by using a match string like
1966 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1969 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1970 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1971 This function will delete the current group
1972 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1973 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1974 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1975 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1976 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1980 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1981 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1982 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1986 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1987 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1988 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1991 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
1994 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1995 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1996 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1997 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1998 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1999 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2003 @node Group Parameters
2004 @section Group Parameters
2005 @cindex group parameters
2007 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2008 Here's an example group parameter list:
2011 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2015 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2016 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2017 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2018 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2020 The following group parameters can be used:
2025 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2028 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2031 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2032 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2033 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2034 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2035 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2037 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2038 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2039 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2040 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2041 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2042 list address instead.
2046 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2049 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2052 It is totally ignored
2053 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2054 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2056 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2057 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2058 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2059 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2060 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2062 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2063 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2064 sending the message.
2068 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2069 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2070 of whether it has any unread articles.
2072 @item broken-reply-to
2073 @cindex broken-reply-to
2074 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2075 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2076 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2077 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2078 broken behavior. So there!
2082 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2083 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2087 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2088 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2089 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2094 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2095 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2096 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2097 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2098 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2099 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2100 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2104 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2105 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2106 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2109 @cindex total-expire
2110 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2111 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2112 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2113 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2118 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2119 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2120 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2121 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2122 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2123 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2126 @cindex score file group parameter
2127 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2128 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2129 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2132 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2133 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2134 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2135 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2138 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2139 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2140 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2141 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2144 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2145 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2149 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2152 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2157 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2158 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2159 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2163 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2164 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2165 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2167 @item @var{(variable form)}
2168 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2169 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2170 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2171 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2172 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2173 @code{eval}ed there.
2175 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2176 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2177 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2178 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2179 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2182 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2183 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2184 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2185 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2186 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2188 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2189 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2190 like this in the group parameters:
2195 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2200 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2201 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2205 @node Listing Groups
2206 @section Listing Groups
2207 @cindex group listing
2209 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2217 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2218 List all groups that have unread articles
2219 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2220 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2221 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2222 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2229 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2230 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2231 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2232 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2233 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2234 unsubscribed groups).
2238 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2239 List all unread groups on a specific level
2240 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2241 with no unread articles.
2245 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2246 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2247 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2248 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2253 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2254 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2258 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2259 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2260 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2264 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2265 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2269 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2270 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2271 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2272 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2273 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2274 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2275 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2276 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2280 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2281 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2282 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2286 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2287 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2288 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2292 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2293 @cindex visible group parameter
2294 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2295 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2296 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2297 get the same effect.
2299 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2300 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2301 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2302 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2303 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2306 @node Sorting Groups
2307 @section Sorting Groups
2308 @cindex sorting groups
2310 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2311 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2312 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2313 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2314 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2315 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2320 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2321 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2322 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2324 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2325 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2326 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2328 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2329 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2330 Sort by group level.
2332 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2333 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2334 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2336 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2337 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2338 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2339 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2341 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2342 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2343 Sort by number of unread articles.
2345 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2346 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2347 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2352 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2353 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2357 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2358 some sorting criteria:
2362 @kindex G S a (Group)
2363 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2364 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2365 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2368 @kindex G S u (Group)
2369 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2370 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2371 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2374 @kindex G S l (Group)
2375 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2376 Sort the group buffer by group level
2377 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2380 @kindex G S v (Group)
2381 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2382 Sort the group buffer by group score
2383 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2386 @kindex G S r (Group)
2387 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2388 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2389 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2392 @kindex G S m (Group)
2393 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2394 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2395 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2399 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2400 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2402 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2403 commands will sort in reverse order.
2405 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2409 @kindex G P a (Group)
2410 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2411 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2412 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2415 @kindex G P u (Group)
2416 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2417 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2418 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2421 @kindex G P l (Group)
2422 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2423 Sort the groups by group level
2424 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2427 @kindex G P v (Group)
2428 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2429 Sort the groups by group score
2430 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2433 @kindex G P r (Group)
2434 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2435 Sort the groups by group rank
2436 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2439 @kindex G P m (Group)
2440 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2441 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2442 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2448 @node Group Maintenance
2449 @section Group Maintenance
2450 @cindex bogus groups
2455 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2456 Find bogus groups and delete them
2457 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2461 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2462 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2463 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2464 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2465 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2469 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2470 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2471 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2472 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2475 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2476 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2477 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2478 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2483 @node Browse Foreign Server
2484 @section Browse Foreign Server
2485 @cindex foreign servers
2486 @cindex browsing servers
2491 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2492 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2493 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2494 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2497 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2498 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2499 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2500 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2502 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2507 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2508 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2512 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2513 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2516 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2517 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2518 Enter the current group and display the first article
2519 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2522 @kindex RET (Browse)
2523 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2524 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2528 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2529 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2530 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2536 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2537 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2541 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2542 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2543 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2548 @section Exiting Gnus
2549 @cindex exiting Gnus
2551 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2556 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2557 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2558 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2559 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2563 @findex gnus-group-exit
2564 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2565 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2569 @findex gnus-group-quit
2570 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2571 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2574 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2575 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2576 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2577 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2578 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2583 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2584 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2585 trying to customize meta-variables.
2590 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2591 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2592 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2598 @section Group Topics
2601 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2602 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2603 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2604 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2605 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2606 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2610 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2611 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2622 2: alt.religion.emacs
2625 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2627 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2628 13: comp.sources.unix
2631 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2633 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2634 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2635 is a toggling command.)
2637 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2638 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2639 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2640 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2643 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2644 the hook for the group mode:
2647 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2651 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2652 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2653 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2654 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2655 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2659 @node Topic Variables
2660 @subsection Topic Variables
2661 @cindex topic variables
2663 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2664 really neat, I think.
2666 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2667 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2668 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2681 Number of groups in the topic.
2683 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2685 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2688 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2689 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2690 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2693 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2694 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2696 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2697 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2698 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2701 @node Topic Commands
2702 @subsection Topic Commands
2703 @cindex topic commands
2705 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2706 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2707 definitions slightly.
2713 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2714 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2715 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2719 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2720 Move the current group to some other topic
2721 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2722 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2726 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
2727 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
2731 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2732 Copy the current group to some other topic
2733 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2734 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2738 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2739 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2740 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2741 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2742 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2743 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2744 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2747 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2748 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2752 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2753 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2754 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2758 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2759 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2760 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2764 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2765 Toggle hiding empty topics
2766 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2770 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2771 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2772 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2775 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2776 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2777 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2778 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2782 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2784 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2785 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2786 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2787 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2790 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2791 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2792 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2793 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2797 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2799 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2800 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2801 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2802 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2803 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2804 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2807 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
2808 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
2809 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
2810 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
2814 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2815 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2816 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2820 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2821 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2822 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2827 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2828 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2831 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2832 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2833 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2837 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2838 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2839 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2843 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2844 @cindex group parameters
2845 @cindex topic parameters
2847 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2848 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2854 @subsection Topic Sorting
2855 @cindex topic sorting
2857 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2863 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2864 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2865 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2866 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2869 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2870 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2871 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2872 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2875 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2876 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2877 Sort the current topic by group level
2878 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2881 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2882 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2883 Sort the current topic by group score
2884 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2887 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2888 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2889 Sort the current topic by group rank
2890 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2893 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2894 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2895 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2896 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2900 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
2903 @node Topic Topology
2904 @subsection Topic Topology
2905 @cindex topic topology
2908 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2914 2: alt.religion.emacs
2917 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2919 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2920 13: comp.sources.unix
2923 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2924 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2925 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2930 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2931 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2935 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2936 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2937 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2938 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2939 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2940 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2942 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2943 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2944 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2947 @node Topic Parameters
2948 @subsection Topic Parameters
2949 @cindex topic parameters
2951 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2952 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2953 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2955 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2956 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2957 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2958 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2964 2: alt.religion.emacs
2968 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2970 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2971 13: comp.sources.unix
2975 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2976 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2977 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2978 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2979 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2980 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2982 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2983 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2984 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2985 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2986 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2988 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2989 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2990 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2991 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2992 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2993 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2994 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2995 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2998 @node Misc Group Stuff
2999 @section Misc Group Stuff
3002 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3003 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3004 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3005 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3012 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3013 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3014 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3018 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3019 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3020 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3024 @findex gnus-group-mail
3025 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3029 Variables for the group buffer:
3033 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3034 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3035 is called after the group buffer has been
3038 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3039 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3040 is called after the group buffer is
3041 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3044 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3045 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3046 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3047 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3049 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3050 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3051 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3052 whether they are empty or not.
3057 @node Scanning New Messages
3058 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3059 @cindex new messages
3060 @cindex scanning new news
3066 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3067 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3068 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3069 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3070 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3071 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3076 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3077 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3078 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3079 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3080 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3081 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3082 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3084 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3085 @cindex activating groups
3087 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3088 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3093 @findex gnus-group-restart
3094 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3095 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3096 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3100 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3101 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3103 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3104 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3108 @node Group Information
3109 @subsection Group Information
3110 @cindex group information
3111 @cindex information on groups
3118 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3119 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3122 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3123 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3124 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3125 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3126 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3127 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3128 for fetching the file.
3130 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3131 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3135 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3137 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3138 @cindex describing groups
3139 @cindex group description
3140 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3141 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3142 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3146 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3147 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3148 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3155 @findex gnus-version
3156 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3160 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3161 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3164 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3167 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3168 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3172 @node Group Timestamp
3173 @subsection Group Timestamp
3175 @cindex group timestamps
3177 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3178 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3179 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3182 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3185 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3187 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3188 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3191 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3192 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3195 This will result in lines looking like:
3198 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3199 0: custom 19961002T012713
3202 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3203 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3207 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3208 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3213 @subsection File Commands
3214 @cindex file commands
3220 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3221 @vindex gnus-init-file
3222 @cindex reading init file
3223 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3224 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3228 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3229 @cindex saving .newsrc
3230 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3231 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3232 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3235 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3236 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3237 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3242 @node The Summary Buffer
3243 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3244 @cindex summary buffer
3246 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3247 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3249 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3250 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3252 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3255 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3256 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3257 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3258 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3259 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3260 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3261 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3262 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3263 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3264 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3265 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3266 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3267 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3268 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3269 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3270 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3271 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3272 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3273 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3274 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3275 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3276 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3277 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3278 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3279 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3280 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3281 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3282 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3283 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3287 @node Summary Buffer Format
3288 @section Summary Buffer Format
3289 @cindex summary buffer format
3293 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3294 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3295 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3301 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3302 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3303 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3304 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3307 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3308 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3309 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3310 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3311 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3312 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3313 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3314 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3315 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3316 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3317 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3320 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3321 'mail-extract-address-components)
3324 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3325 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3326 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3327 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3330 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3331 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3333 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3334 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3335 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3336 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3337 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3339 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3341 The following format specification characters are understood:
3347 Subject string. List identifiers stripped, @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3349 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3350 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3351 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3353 Full @code{From} header.
3355 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3357 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3358 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3360 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3361 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3362 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3363 may be more thorough.
3365 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3368 Number of lines in the article.
3370 Number of characters in the article.
3372 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3374 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3375 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3377 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3378 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3380 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3381 for adopted articles.
3383 One space for each thread level.
3385 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3390 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3391 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3395 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3397 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3398 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3399 default level. If the difference between
3400 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3401 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3409 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3411 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3417 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3418 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3420 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3421 article has any children.
3427 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3428 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3429 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3430 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3431 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3432 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3435 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3436 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3437 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3438 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3439 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3440 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3442 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3443 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3445 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3448 @node To From Newsgroups
3449 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3453 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3454 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3455 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3456 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3457 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3461 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3462 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3463 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3467 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3468 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3471 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3472 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3475 @findex gnus-extra-header
3476 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3477 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3478 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3481 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3485 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3486 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3487 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3488 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3489 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3490 headers are used instead.
3494 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3495 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3496 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
3497 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
3500 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3501 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
3502 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
3503 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
3505 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3508 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3510 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3511 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3512 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3513 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3517 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
3518 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
3525 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
3526 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
3529 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3530 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3532 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3533 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3534 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3535 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3537 Here are the elements you can play with:
3543 Unprefixed group name.
3545 Current article number.
3547 Current article score.
3551 Number of unread articles in this group.
3553 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3556 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3557 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3558 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3559 and no unselected ones.
3561 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3562 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3564 Subject of the current article.
3566 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3568 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3570 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3572 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3574 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3576 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3580 @node Summary Highlighting
3581 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3585 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3586 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3587 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3588 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3589 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3591 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3592 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3593 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3594 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3596 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3597 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3598 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3599 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3601 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3602 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3603 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3604 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3605 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3606 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3608 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3609 ((> score default) . bold))
3611 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3612 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3616 @node Summary Maneuvering
3617 @section Summary Maneuvering
3618 @cindex summary movement
3620 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3621 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3623 None of these commands select articles.
3628 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3629 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3630 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3631 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3632 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3636 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3637 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3638 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3639 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3640 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3645 @kindex G j (Summary)
3646 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3647 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3648 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3651 @kindex G g (Summary)
3652 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3653 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3654 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3657 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3658 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3659 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3660 to the group buffer.
3662 Variables related to summary movement:
3666 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3667 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3668 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3669 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3670 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3671 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3672 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3673 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3674 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3675 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3676 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3677 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3678 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3679 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3681 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3682 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3683 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3684 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3685 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3686 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3687 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3689 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3691 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3692 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3693 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3694 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3695 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3697 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3698 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3699 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3700 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3701 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3702 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3703 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3704 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3707 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3708 the given number of lines from the top.
3713 @node Choosing Articles
3714 @section Choosing Articles
3715 @cindex selecting articles
3718 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3719 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3723 @node Choosing Commands
3724 @subsection Choosing Commands
3726 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3727 and they all select and display an article.
3731 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3732 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3733 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3734 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3739 @kindex G n (Summary)
3740 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3741 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3742 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3747 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3748 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3749 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3754 @kindex G N (Summary)
3755 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3756 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3761 @kindex G P (Summary)
3762 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3763 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3766 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3767 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3768 Go to the next article with the same subject
3769 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3772 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3773 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3774 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3775 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3779 @kindex G f (Summary)
3781 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3782 Go to the first unread article
3783 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3787 @kindex G b (Summary)
3789 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3790 Go to the article with the highest score
3791 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3796 @kindex G l (Summary)
3797 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3798 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3801 @kindex G o (Summary)
3802 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3804 @cindex article history
3805 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3806 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3807 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3808 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3809 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3810 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3814 @node Choosing Variables
3815 @subsection Choosing Variables
3817 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3820 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3821 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3822 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3823 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3824 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3825 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3827 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3828 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3829 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3830 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3832 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3833 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3834 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3835 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3836 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3837 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3838 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3839 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3840 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3841 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3842 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3843 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3844 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3845 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3850 @node Paging the Article
3851 @section Scrolling the Article
3852 @cindex article scrolling
3857 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3858 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3859 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3860 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3861 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3864 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3865 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3866 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3869 @kindex RET (Summary)
3870 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3871 Scroll the current article one line forward
3872 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3875 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3876 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3877 Scroll the current article one line backward
3878 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3882 @kindex A g (Summary)
3884 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3885 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3886 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3887 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3888 the way it came from the server.
3893 @kindex A < (Summary)
3894 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3895 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3896 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3901 @kindex A > (Summary)
3902 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3903 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3907 @kindex A s (Summary)
3909 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3910 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3911 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3915 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3916 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3921 @node Reply Followup and Post
3922 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3925 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3926 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3930 @node Summary Mail Commands
3931 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3933 @cindex composing mail
3935 Commands for composing a mail message:
3941 @kindex S r (Summary)
3943 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3944 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3945 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3946 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3947 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3952 @kindex S R (Summary)
3953 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3954 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3955 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3956 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3957 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3960 @kindex S w (Summary)
3961 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3962 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3963 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3964 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3965 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3968 @kindex S W (Summary)
3969 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3970 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3971 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3972 the process/prefix convention.
3975 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3976 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3977 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3978 Forward the current article to some other person
3979 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3980 headers of the forwarded article.
3985 @kindex S m (Summary)
3986 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3987 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3988 Send a mail to some other person
3989 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3992 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3993 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3994 @cindex bouncing mail
3995 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3996 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3997 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3998 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3999 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4000 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4001 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4002 very well fail, though.
4005 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4006 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4007 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4008 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4009 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4010 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4011 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4012 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4013 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4014 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4016 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4017 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4018 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4019 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4020 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4022 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4023 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4026 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4027 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4028 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4029 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4030 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4033 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4034 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4035 @cindex crossposting
4036 @cindex excessive crossposting
4037 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4038 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4040 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4041 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4042 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4043 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4044 command understands the process/prefix convention
4045 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4049 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4052 @node Summary Post Commands
4053 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4055 @cindex composing news
4057 Commands for posting a news article:
4063 @kindex S p (Summary)
4064 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4065 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4066 Post an article to the current group
4067 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4072 @kindex S f (Summary)
4073 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4074 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4075 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4079 @kindex S F (Summary)
4081 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4082 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4083 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4084 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4085 process/prefix convention.
4088 @kindex S n (Summary)
4089 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4090 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4091 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4094 @kindex S N (Summary)
4095 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4096 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4097 message through mail and include the original message
4098 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4099 the process/prefix convention.
4102 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4103 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4104 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4105 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4106 headers of the forwarded article.
4109 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4110 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4112 @cindex making digests
4113 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4114 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4115 process/prefix convention.
4118 @kindex S u (Summary)
4119 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4120 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4121 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4122 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4125 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4128 @node Canceling and Superseding
4129 @section Canceling Articles
4130 @cindex canceling articles
4131 @cindex superseding articles
4133 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4134 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4136 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4138 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4140 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4141 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4142 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4143 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4144 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4145 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4147 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4148 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4151 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4152 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4153 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4155 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4156 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4157 your original article.
4159 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4161 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4162 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4163 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4166 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4167 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4168 have posted almost the same article twice.
4170 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4171 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4172 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4173 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4174 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4175 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4176 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4177 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4178 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4179 canceled/superseded.
4181 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4184 @node Marking Articles
4185 @section Marking Articles
4186 @cindex article marking
4187 @cindex article ticking
4190 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4192 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4193 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4194 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4196 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4199 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4200 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4201 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4205 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4209 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4210 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4211 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4215 @node Unread Articles
4216 @subsection Unread Articles
4218 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4223 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4224 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4226 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4227 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4228 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4229 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4230 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4234 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4235 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4237 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4238 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4239 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4242 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4243 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4245 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4250 @subsection Read Articles
4251 @cindex expirable mark
4253 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4258 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4259 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4260 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4263 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4264 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4267 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4268 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4269 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4272 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4273 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4276 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4277 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4280 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4281 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4284 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4285 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4288 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4289 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4292 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4293 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4296 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4297 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4301 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4302 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4303 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4307 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4308 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4310 One more special mark, though:
4314 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4315 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4317 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4318 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4319 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4320 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4326 @subsection Other Marks
4327 @cindex process mark
4330 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4336 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4337 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4338 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4339 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4340 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4343 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4344 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4345 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4346 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4349 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4350 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4351 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4354 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4355 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4356 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4357 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4360 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4361 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4362 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4363 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4364 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4367 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4368 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4369 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4370 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4371 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4372 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4376 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4377 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4378 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4380 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4381 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4382 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4386 @subsection Setting Marks
4387 @cindex setting marks
4389 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4394 @kindex M c (Summary)
4395 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4396 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4397 @cindex mark as unread
4398 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4399 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4405 @kindex M t (Summary)
4406 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4407 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4408 @xref{Article Caching}.
4413 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4414 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4415 Mark the current article as dormant
4416 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4420 @kindex M d (Summary)
4422 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4423 Mark the current article as read
4424 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4428 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4429 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4430 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4435 @kindex M k (Summary)
4436 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4437 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4438 and then select the next unread article
4439 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4443 @kindex M K (Summary)
4444 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4445 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4446 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4447 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4450 @kindex M C (Summary)
4451 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4452 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4453 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4456 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4457 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4458 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4459 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4462 @kindex M H (Summary)
4463 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4464 Catchup the current group to point
4465 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4468 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4469 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4470 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4471 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4474 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4475 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4476 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4477 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4481 @kindex M e (Summary)
4483 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4484 Mark the current article as expirable
4485 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4488 @kindex M b (Summary)
4489 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4490 Set a bookmark in the current article
4491 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4494 @kindex M B (Summary)
4495 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4496 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4497 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4500 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4501 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4502 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4503 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4506 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4507 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4508 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4509 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4512 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4513 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4514 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4515 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4516 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4519 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4520 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4521 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4522 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4523 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4524 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4525 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4526 The default is @code{t}.
4529 @node Generic Marking Commands
4530 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
4532 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
4533 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
4534 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
4535 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
4536 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
4539 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
4540 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
4543 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
4544 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
4545 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
4546 to list in this manual.
4548 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
4549 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
4550 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
4551 article, you could say something like:
4554 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
4555 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4556 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
4562 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4563 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
4567 @node Setting Process Marks
4568 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4569 @cindex setting process marks
4576 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4577 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4578 Mark the current article with the process mark
4579 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4580 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4584 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4585 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4586 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4587 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4590 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4591 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4592 Remove the process mark from all articles
4593 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4596 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4597 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4598 Invert the list of process marked articles
4599 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4602 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4603 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4604 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4605 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4608 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4609 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4610 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4613 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4614 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4615 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4616 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4619 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4620 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4621 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4622 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4625 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4626 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4627 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4628 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4631 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4632 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4633 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4636 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4637 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4638 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4639 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4642 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4643 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4644 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4647 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4648 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4649 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4650 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4653 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4654 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4655 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4656 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4659 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4660 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4661 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4662 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4665 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4666 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4667 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4668 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4677 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4678 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4679 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4682 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4683 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4684 additional articles.
4690 @kindex / / (Summary)
4691 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4692 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4693 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4696 @kindex / a (Summary)
4697 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4698 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4699 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4702 @kindex / x (Summary)
4703 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
4704 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
4705 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
4706 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4710 @kindex / u (Summary)
4712 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4713 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4714 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4715 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4716 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4719 @kindex / m (Summary)
4720 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4721 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4722 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4725 @kindex / t (Summary)
4726 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4727 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4728 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4729 articles younger than that number of days.
4732 @kindex / n (Summary)
4733 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4734 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4735 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4736 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4739 @kindex / w (Summary)
4740 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4741 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4742 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4746 @kindex / v (Summary)
4747 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4748 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4749 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4753 @kindex M S (Summary)
4754 @kindex / E (Summary)
4755 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4756 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4757 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4760 @kindex / D (Summary)
4761 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4762 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4763 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4766 @kindex / * (Summary)
4767 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4768 Include all cached articles in the limit
4769 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4772 @kindex / d (Summary)
4773 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4774 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4775 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4778 @kindex / M (Summary)
4779 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
4780 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
4783 @kindex / T (Summary)
4784 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4785 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4788 @kindex / c (Summary)
4789 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4790 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4791 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4794 @kindex / C (Summary)
4795 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4796 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4797 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4798 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4806 @cindex article threading
4808 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4809 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4810 hierarchical fashion.
4812 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4813 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4814 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4815 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4816 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4817 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4818 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4820 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4824 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4827 A tree-like article structure.
4830 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4833 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4834 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4835 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4836 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4837 called loose threads.
4839 @item thread gathering
4840 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4842 @item sparse threads
4843 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4844 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4850 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4851 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4855 @node Customizing Threading
4856 @subsection Customizing Threading
4857 @cindex customizing threading
4860 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4861 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4862 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4863 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4868 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4871 @cindex loose threads
4874 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4875 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4876 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4877 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4878 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4879 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4881 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4882 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4883 There are four possible values:
4887 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4888 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4889 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4890 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4891 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4896 @cindex adopting articles
4901 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4902 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4903 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4904 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4907 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4908 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4909 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4910 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4911 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4912 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4913 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4916 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4917 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4918 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4922 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4923 display them after one another.
4926 Don't gather loose threads.
4929 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4930 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4931 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4932 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4933 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4934 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4935 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4936 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4937 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4938 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4939 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4941 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4942 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4943 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4946 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4947 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4948 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4949 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4950 simplification is used.
4952 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4953 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4954 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4955 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4957 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4959 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4965 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4966 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4967 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4968 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4973 (mapconcat 'identity
4974 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4976 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4979 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4982 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4983 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4984 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4985 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4986 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4987 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4989 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4992 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4993 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4994 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4996 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4997 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5000 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5001 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5002 Remove excessive whitespace.
5005 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5008 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5009 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5010 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5011 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5012 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5013 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5014 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5015 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5017 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5018 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5019 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5020 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5021 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5022 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5023 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5024 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5025 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5029 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5030 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5031 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5032 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5034 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5035 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5036 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5039 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5043 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5044 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5050 @node Filling In Threads
5051 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5054 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5055 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5056 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5057 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5058 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5059 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5060 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5061 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5062 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5063 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5064 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5065 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5067 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5068 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5069 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5071 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5072 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5073 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5074 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5075 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5076 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5077 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5078 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5079 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5080 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5081 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5082 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5083 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5084 @code{nil} by default.
5089 @node More Threading
5090 @subsubsection More Threading
5093 @item gnus-show-threads
5094 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5095 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5096 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5097 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5098 slower and more awkward.
5100 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5101 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5102 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5105 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5106 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5107 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5108 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5109 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5110 threads are expunged.
5112 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5113 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5114 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5117 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5118 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5119 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5120 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5121 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5124 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5125 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5126 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5129 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5130 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5131 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5132 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5133 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5134 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5135 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to. Setting
5136 this variable to an alternate value
5137 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5138 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5139 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5144 @node Low-Level Threading
5145 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5149 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5150 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5151 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5153 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5154 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5155 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5156 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5157 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5158 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5159 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5160 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5161 meaningful. Here's one example:
5164 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5166 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5167 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5169 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5171 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5178 @node Thread Commands
5179 @subsection Thread Commands
5180 @cindex thread commands
5186 @kindex T k (Summary)
5187 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5188 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5189 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5190 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5191 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5196 @kindex T l (Summary)
5197 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5198 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5199 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5200 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5203 @kindex T i (Summary)
5204 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5205 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5206 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5209 @kindex T # (Summary)
5210 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5211 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5212 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5215 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5216 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5217 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5218 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5221 @kindex T T (Summary)
5222 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5223 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5226 @kindex T s (Summary)
5227 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5228 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5229 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5232 @kindex T h (Summary)
5233 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5234 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5237 @kindex T S (Summary)
5238 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5239 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5242 @kindex T H (Summary)
5243 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5244 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5247 @kindex T t (Summary)
5248 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5249 Re-thread the current article's thread
5250 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5251 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5254 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5255 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5256 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5257 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5261 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5262 understand the numeric prefix.
5267 @kindex T n (Summary)
5268 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5269 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5272 @kindex T p (Summary)
5273 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5274 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5277 @kindex T d (Summary)
5278 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5279 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5282 @kindex T u (Summary)
5283 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5284 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5287 @kindex T o (Summary)
5288 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5289 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5292 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5293 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5294 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5295 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5296 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5297 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5298 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5299 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5300 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5301 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5302 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5303 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5310 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5311 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5312 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5313 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5314 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5315 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5316 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5317 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5318 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5319 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5320 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5322 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5323 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5324 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5325 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5326 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5328 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5329 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5330 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5332 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5333 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5334 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5335 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5336 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5337 ascending article order.
5339 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5340 by number, you could do something like:
5343 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5344 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5345 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5346 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5349 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5350 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5351 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5352 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5353 which the articles arrived.
5355 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5359 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5361 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5362 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5365 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5366 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5367 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5368 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5371 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5372 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5373 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5374 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5375 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5376 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5377 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5378 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5379 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5380 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5381 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5382 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5383 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5385 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5389 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5390 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5391 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5396 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5397 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5398 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5399 @cindex article pre-fetch
5402 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5403 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5404 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5405 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5406 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5408 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5409 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5411 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5412 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5413 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5414 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5415 connection is blocked.
5417 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5418 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5419 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5420 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5422 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5423 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5424 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5425 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5428 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5431 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5432 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5433 happen automatically.
5435 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5436 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5437 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5438 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5439 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5440 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5441 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5443 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5444 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5445 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5446 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5447 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5448 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5449 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5450 data structure as the only parameter.
5452 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5455 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5456 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5457 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5458 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5461 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5464 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5465 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5466 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5468 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5469 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5470 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5471 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5475 Remove articles when they are read.
5478 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5481 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5483 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5484 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5485 @c from the next group.
5488 @node Article Caching
5489 @section Article Caching
5490 @cindex article caching
5493 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5494 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5495 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5496 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5497 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5499 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5501 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5502 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5503 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5504 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5505 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5506 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5507 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5508 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5510 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5511 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5512 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5513 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5514 as dormant, and don't worry.
5516 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5518 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5519 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5520 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5521 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5522 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5523 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5524 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5525 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5526 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5527 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5529 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5530 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5531 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5532 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5533 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5534 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5535 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5536 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5537 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5538 not then be downloaded by this command.
5540 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5541 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5542 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5543 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5544 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5545 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5547 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5548 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5549 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5550 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5551 variables, the group is not cached.
5553 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5554 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5555 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5556 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5557 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5558 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5559 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5560 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5561 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5565 @node Persistent Articles
5566 @section Persistent Articles
5567 @cindex persistent articles
5569 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5570 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5571 useful in my opinion.
5573 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5574 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5575 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5576 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5577 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5578 the expiry going on at the news server.
5580 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5581 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5582 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5588 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5589 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5592 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5593 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5594 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5595 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5599 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5601 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5602 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5603 interested in persistent articles:
5606 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5610 @node Article Backlog
5611 @section Article Backlog
5613 @cindex article backlog
5615 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5616 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5617 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5618 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5619 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5620 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5621 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5622 increase memory usage some.
5624 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5625 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5626 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5627 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5628 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5629 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5630 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5632 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5635 @node Saving Articles
5636 @section Saving Articles
5637 @cindex saving articles
5639 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5640 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5641 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5642 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5643 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5645 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5646 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5647 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5649 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5650 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5651 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5652 deleted before saving.
5658 @kindex O o (Summary)
5660 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5661 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5662 Save the current article using the default article saver
5663 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5666 @kindex O m (Summary)
5667 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5668 Save the current article in mail format
5669 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5672 @kindex O r (Summary)
5673 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5674 Save the current article in rmail format
5675 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5678 @kindex O f (Summary)
5679 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5680 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5681 Save the current article in plain file format
5682 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5685 @kindex O F (Summary)
5686 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5687 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5688 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5691 @kindex O b (Summary)
5692 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5693 Save the current article body in plain file format
5694 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5697 @kindex O h (Summary)
5698 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5699 Save the current article in mh folder format
5700 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5703 @kindex O v (Summary)
5704 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5705 Save the current article in a VM folder
5706 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5709 @kindex O p (Summary)
5710 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5711 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5712 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5715 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5716 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5717 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5718 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5719 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5720 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5721 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5722 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5723 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5724 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5725 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5726 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5730 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5731 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5732 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
5733 functions below, or you can create your own.
5737 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5738 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5739 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5740 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5741 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5742 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5743 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5745 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5746 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5747 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5748 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5749 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5750 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5752 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5753 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5754 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5755 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5756 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5757 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5758 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5760 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5761 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5762 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5763 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5764 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5766 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5767 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5768 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5769 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5770 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5773 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5774 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5775 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5776 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5777 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5779 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5780 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5781 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5782 reader to use this setting.
5785 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5786 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5787 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5788 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5791 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5792 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5793 available functions that generate names:
5797 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5798 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5799 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5801 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5802 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5803 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5805 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5806 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5807 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5809 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5810 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5811 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5814 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5815 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5816 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5817 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5818 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5822 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5823 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5824 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5825 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5828 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5829 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5830 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5831 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5832 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5833 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5834 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5835 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5836 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5838 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5839 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5840 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5841 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5843 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5844 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5845 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5848 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5849 lots of mail groups called things like
5850 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5851 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5852 following will do just that:
5855 (defun my-save-name (group)
5856 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5857 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5859 (setq gnus-split-methods
5860 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5865 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5866 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5867 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5868 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5869 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5870 all the files in the top level directory
5871 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5872 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5873 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5874 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5876 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5877 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5878 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5879 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5880 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5883 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5887 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5888 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5891 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5892 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5893 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5894 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5897 @node Decoding Articles
5898 @section Decoding Articles
5899 @cindex decoding articles
5901 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5902 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5905 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5906 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5907 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5908 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5909 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5910 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5914 @cindex article series
5915 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5916 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5917 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5918 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5919 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5921 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5922 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5923 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5925 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5926 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5927 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5929 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5930 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5931 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5934 @node Uuencoded Articles
5935 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5937 @cindex uuencoded articles
5942 @kindex X u (Summary)
5943 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5944 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5945 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5948 @kindex X U (Summary)
5949 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5950 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5951 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5954 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5955 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5956 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5959 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5960 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5961 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5962 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5966 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5967 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5968 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5969 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5970 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5972 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5973 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5974 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5975 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5978 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5979 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5980 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5981 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5982 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5983 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5987 @node Shell Archives
5988 @subsection Shell Archives
5990 @cindex shell archives
5991 @cindex shared articles
5993 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5994 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5995 some commands to deal with these:
6000 @kindex X s (Summary)
6001 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6002 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6005 @kindex X S (Summary)
6006 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6007 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6010 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6011 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6012 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6015 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6016 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6017 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6018 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6022 @node PostScript Files
6023 @subsection PostScript Files
6029 @kindex X p (Summary)
6030 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6031 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6034 @kindex X P (Summary)
6035 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6036 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6037 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6040 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6041 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6042 View the current PostScript series
6043 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6046 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6047 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6048 View and save the current PostScript series
6049 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6054 @subsection Other Files
6058 @kindex X o (Summary)
6059 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6060 Save the current series
6061 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6064 @kindex X b (Summary)
6065 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6066 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6067 doesn't really work yet.
6071 @node Decoding Variables
6072 @subsection Decoding Variables
6074 Adjective, not verb.
6077 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6078 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6079 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6083 @node Rule Variables
6084 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6085 @cindex rule variables
6087 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6088 variables are of the form
6091 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6098 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6099 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6101 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6102 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6105 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6106 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6109 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6110 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6111 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6112 user and default view rules.
6114 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6115 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6116 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6121 @node Other Decode Variables
6122 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6125 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6127 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6128 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6129 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6130 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6131 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6135 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6136 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6139 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6140 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6141 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6144 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6145 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6146 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6147 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6148 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6151 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6152 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6153 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6155 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6156 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6157 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6158 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6159 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6162 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6163 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6164 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6166 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6167 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6168 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6169 looking for files to display.
6171 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6172 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6173 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6176 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6177 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6178 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6181 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6182 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6183 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6186 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6187 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6188 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6191 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6192 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6193 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6194 decoded articles as unread.
6196 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6197 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6198 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6199 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6201 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6202 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6203 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6205 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6206 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6208 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6209 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6210 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6211 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6213 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6214 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6215 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6216 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6217 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6218 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6219 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6220 simply dropped them.
6225 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6226 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6230 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6231 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6232 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6233 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6234 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6235 for you when you post the article.
6237 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6238 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6239 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6240 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6242 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6243 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6244 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6245 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6246 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6247 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6248 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6250 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6251 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6252 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6253 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6254 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6255 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6256 Default is @code{t}.
6262 @subsection Viewing Files
6263 @cindex viewing files
6264 @cindex pseudo-articles
6266 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6267 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6268 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6269 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6270 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6271 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6272 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6274 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6275 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6276 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6277 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6279 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6280 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6281 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6283 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6284 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6285 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6286 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6287 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6289 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6290 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6291 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6292 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6293 a list of parameters to that command.
6295 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6296 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6297 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6299 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6300 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6301 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6304 @node Article Treatment
6305 @section Article Treatment
6307 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6308 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6309 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6310 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6311 these articles easier.
6314 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6315 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6316 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6317 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6318 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6319 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6320 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6321 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6325 @node Article Highlighting
6326 @subsection Article Highlighting
6327 @cindex highlighting
6329 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6330 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6335 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6336 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6337 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6338 Do much highlighting of the current article
6339 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6340 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6343 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6344 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6345 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6346 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6347 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6348 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6349 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6350 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6351 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6352 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6353 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6356 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6357 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6358 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6360 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6363 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6365 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6366 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6367 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6369 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6370 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6371 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6373 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6374 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6375 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6377 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6378 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6379 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6380 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6381 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6382 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6384 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6385 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6386 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6388 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6389 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6390 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6392 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6393 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6394 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6395 that it's a citation.
6397 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6398 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6399 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6401 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6402 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6403 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6405 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6406 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6407 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6408 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6414 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6415 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6416 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6417 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6418 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6419 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6420 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6421 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6426 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
6429 @node Article Fontisizing
6430 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6432 @cindex article emphasis
6434 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6435 @kindex W e (Summary)
6436 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6437 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
6438 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6439 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6441 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6442 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6443 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6444 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6445 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6446 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6447 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6448 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6452 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6453 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6454 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6463 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6464 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6465 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6466 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6467 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6468 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6469 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6470 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6471 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6472 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6473 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6474 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6475 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6477 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6478 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6479 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6483 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6486 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
6488 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
6489 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
6490 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
6491 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
6493 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
6496 @node Article Hiding
6497 @subsection Article Hiding
6498 @cindex article hiding
6500 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6501 too much cruft in most articles.
6506 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6507 @findex gnus-article-hide
6508 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6509 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6510 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6513 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6514 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6515 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6519 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6520 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6521 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6522 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6525 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6526 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6527 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6531 @kindex W W l (Summary)
6532 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
6533 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
6534 Hide list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. Theese
6535 are strings some list servers add to the beginning of all @code{Subject}
6536 headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}.
6540 @item gnus-list-identifiers
6541 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
6542 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
6543 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
6548 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6549 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6550 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6551 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6552 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6553 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6554 articles that have signatures in them do:
6556 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6558 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
6560 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6561 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6563 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6566 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6571 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6572 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6573 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6574 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6577 @kindex W W B (Summary)
6578 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
6581 @cindex stripping advertisments
6582 @cindex advertisments
6583 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
6584 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
6585 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
6586 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
6587 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
6588 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
6589 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
6590 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
6591 signature should be removed.
6594 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6595 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6596 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6597 customizing the hiding:
6601 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6602 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6603 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6604 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6605 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6606 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6607 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6612 Starting point of the hidden text.
6614 Ending point of the hidden text.
6616 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6618 Number of lines of hidden text.
6621 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6622 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6623 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6628 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6629 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6631 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6632 following two variables:
6635 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6636 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6637 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6638 50), hide the cited text.
6640 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6641 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6642 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6647 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6648 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6649 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6650 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6651 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6652 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6656 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6657 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6658 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6660 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6661 citation customization.
6663 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
6667 @node Article Washing
6668 @subsection Article Washing
6670 @cindex article washing
6672 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6673 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6675 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6676 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6682 @kindex W l (Summary)
6683 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6684 Remove page breaks from the current article
6685 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
6689 @kindex W r (Summary)
6690 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6691 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6692 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6693 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6694 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6695 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6697 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6698 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6699 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6700 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6703 @kindex W t (Summary)
6704 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6705 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6706 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6709 @kindex W v (Summary)
6710 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6711 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6712 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6715 @kindex W o (Summary)
6716 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6717 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6720 @kindex W d (Summary)
6721 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6722 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6724 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6726 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6727 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6728 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
6729 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
6733 @kindex W w (Summary)
6734 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6735 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
6737 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6741 @kindex W Q (Summary)
6742 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
6743 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
6746 @kindex W C (Summary)
6747 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
6748 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
6749 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
6752 @kindex W c (Summary)
6753 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6754 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6755 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6756 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6757 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6760 @kindex W q (Summary)
6761 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6762 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6763 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6764 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6765 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6766 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
6767 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
6768 header that says that this encoding has been done.
6771 @kindex W f (Summary)
6773 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6774 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6775 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6776 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6782 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6783 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6784 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6785 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6786 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6787 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6788 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6789 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6790 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6791 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6792 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6793 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6794 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6795 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6799 @kindex W b (Summary)
6800 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6801 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6802 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6805 @kindex W B (Summary)
6806 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6807 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6808 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6811 @kindex W W H (Summary)
6812 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
6813 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
6814 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
6817 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6818 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6819 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6820 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6823 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6824 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6825 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6826 lines with a single empty line.
6827 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6830 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6831 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6832 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6833 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6836 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6837 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6838 Do all the three commands above
6839 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6842 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6843 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6844 Remove all blank lines
6845 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6848 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6849 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6850 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6851 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6854 @kindex W E e (Summary)
6855 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
6856 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
6857 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
6861 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
6864 @node Article Buttons
6865 @subsection Article Buttons
6868 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6869 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6870 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6871 button on these references.
6873 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6874 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6875 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6880 @item gnus-button-alist
6881 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6882 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6885 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6891 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6892 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6893 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6896 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6897 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6898 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6901 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6902 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6903 avoid false matches.
6906 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6909 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6910 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6914 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6917 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6920 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6921 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6922 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6923 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6924 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6927 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6930 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6932 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6933 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6934 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6935 default values of the variables above.
6937 @item gnus-article-button-face
6938 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6939 Face used on buttons.
6941 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6942 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6943 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6947 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6951 @subsection Article Date
6953 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6954 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6955 when the article was sent.
6960 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6961 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6962 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6963 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6966 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6967 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6969 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6970 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6973 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6974 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6975 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6978 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6979 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6980 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6981 @findex format-time-string
6982 Display the date using a user-defined format
6983 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6984 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6985 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6986 for a list of possible format specs.
6989 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6990 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6991 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6992 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6993 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6994 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
6997 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7000 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7001 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7004 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7005 into wonderful absurdities.
7007 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7010 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7013 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7014 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7018 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7019 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7020 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7021 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7022 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7023 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7024 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7028 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7029 preferred format automatically.
7032 @node Article Signature
7033 @subsection Article Signature
7035 @cindex article signature
7037 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7038 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7039 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7040 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7041 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7042 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7043 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7044 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7045 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7048 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7049 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7050 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7051 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7052 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7053 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7054 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7055 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7058 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7061 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7062 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7063 signature when displaying articles.
7067 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7070 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7073 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7074 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7076 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7077 in question is not a signature.
7080 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7081 listed above. Here's an example:
7084 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7085 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7088 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7089 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7090 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7091 signature after all.
7094 @node Article Miscellania
7095 @subsection Article Miscellania
7099 @kindex A t (Summary)
7100 @findex gnus-article-babel
7101 Translate the article from one language to another
7102 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7108 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7109 @cindex MIME decoding
7113 @kindex X m (Summary)
7114 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7115 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7116 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7117 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7120 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7121 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7122 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7123 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7126 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7127 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
7128 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7131 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7132 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7133 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7135 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7136 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7137 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7138 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7139 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7140 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7143 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7144 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7145 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7152 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7153 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7154 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7155 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7158 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7161 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7165 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7166 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7167 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7168 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7169 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7171 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7172 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7173 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7174 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7175 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7176 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7177 save all jpegs into some directory).
7179 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7182 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7183 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7185 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7186 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7187 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7188 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7189 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7192 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7193 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7194 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7203 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7204 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7205 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7206 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7207 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7208 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7209 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7211 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7212 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7213 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7214 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7216 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7217 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7218 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7219 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7220 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7221 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7222 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7223 something some agents insist on having in there.
7226 @node Article Commands
7227 @section Article Commands
7234 @kindex A P (Summary)
7235 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7236 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7237 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7238 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7239 run just before printing the buffer.
7244 @node Summary Sorting
7245 @section Summary Sorting
7246 @cindex summary sorting
7248 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7249 can't really see why you'd want that.
7254 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7255 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7256 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7259 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7260 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7261 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7264 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7265 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7266 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7269 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7270 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7271 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7274 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7275 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7276 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7279 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
7280 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
7281 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
7284 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7285 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7286 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7289 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7290 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7291 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7292 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7293 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7297 @node Finding the Parent
7298 @section Finding the Parent
7299 @cindex parent articles
7300 @cindex referring articles
7305 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7306 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7307 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7308 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7309 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7310 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7311 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7312 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7313 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7315 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7316 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7317 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
7318 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7319 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7323 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7324 @kindex A R (Summary)
7325 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7326 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7329 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7330 @kindex A T (Summary)
7331 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7332 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7333 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7334 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7335 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7336 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7337 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7339 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7340 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7341 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7342 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7343 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7344 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7347 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7348 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7350 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7351 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7352 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7353 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7354 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7355 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7356 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7359 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7360 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7361 by giving this command a prefix.
7363 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7364 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7365 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7366 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7367 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7368 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7371 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7372 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7373 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7374 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7375 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7376 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7379 @node Alternative Approaches
7380 @section Alternative Approaches
7382 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7383 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7386 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7387 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7392 @subsection Pick and Read
7393 @cindex pick and read
7395 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7396 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7397 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7398 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7400 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7401 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7402 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7403 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7404 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7405 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7407 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7412 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7413 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7414 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7415 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7416 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7417 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7418 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7419 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7422 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7423 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7424 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7425 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7429 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7430 Unpick the thread or article
7431 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7432 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7433 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7434 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7435 the thread or article at that line.
7439 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7440 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7441 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7442 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7443 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7444 will still be visible when you are reading.
7448 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7449 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7450 which is mapped to the same function
7451 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7453 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7456 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7459 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7460 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7462 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7463 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7464 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7466 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7467 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7468 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7469 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7470 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7471 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7472 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7476 @subsection Binary Groups
7477 @cindex binary groups
7479 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7480 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7481 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7482 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7483 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7484 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7485 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7488 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7489 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7490 command, when you have turned on this mode
7491 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7493 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7494 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7498 @section Tree Display
7501 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7502 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
7503 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7504 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7507 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7510 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7511 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7512 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7514 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7515 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7516 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7517 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7518 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7520 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7521 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7522 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7523 default is @code{modeline}.
7525 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7526 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7527 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7528 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7529 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7530 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7531 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7537 The name of the poster.
7539 The @code{From} header.
7541 The number of the article.
7543 The opening bracket.
7545 The closing bracket.
7550 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7552 Variables related to the display are:
7555 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7556 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7557 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7558 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7559 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7560 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7562 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7563 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7564 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7565 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7569 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7570 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7571 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7572 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7573 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7574 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7575 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7576 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7577 other windows displayed next to it.
7579 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7580 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7581 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7582 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7583 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7584 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7585 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7589 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7592 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7602 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7606 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7607 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7609 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7611 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7616 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7617 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7618 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7621 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7622 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7623 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7624 (gnus-add-configuration
7628 (summary 0.75 point)
7633 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7636 @node Mail Group Commands
7637 @section Mail Group Commands
7638 @cindex mail group commands
7640 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7641 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7643 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7644 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7649 @kindex B e (Summary)
7650 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7651 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7652 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7655 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7656 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7657 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7658 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7659 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7660 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7663 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7664 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7665 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7666 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7667 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7668 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7671 @kindex B m (Summary)
7673 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7674 Move the article from one mail group to another
7675 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7678 @kindex B c (Summary)
7680 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7681 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7682 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7683 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7686 @kindex B B (Summary)
7687 @cindex crosspost mail
7688 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7689 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7690 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7691 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7692 be properly updated.
7695 @kindex B i (Summary)
7696 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7697 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7698 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7699 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7702 @kindex B r (Summary)
7703 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7704 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7705 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7706 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7707 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7711 @kindex B w (Summary)
7713 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7714 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7715 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7716 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7717 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7718 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7721 @kindex B q (Summary)
7722 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7723 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7724 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7725 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7728 @kindex B t (Summary)
7729 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7730 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7731 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7734 @kindex B p (Summary)
7735 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7736 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7737 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7738 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7739 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7740 article from your news server (or rather, from
7741 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7742 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7743 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7744 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7745 just not have arrived yet.
7749 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7750 @cindex moving articles
7751 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7752 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7753 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7754 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7755 suggestions you find reasonable.
7758 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7759 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7760 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7761 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7765 @node Various Summary Stuff
7766 @section Various Summary Stuff
7769 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7770 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7771 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7772 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7776 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7777 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7778 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7780 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7781 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7782 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7783 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7784 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7785 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7788 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7789 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7790 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7791 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7792 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7794 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7795 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7796 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7799 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7800 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7801 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7802 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7803 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7804 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7805 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7806 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7807 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7808 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7813 @node Summary Group Information
7814 @subsection Summary Group Information
7819 @kindex H f (Summary)
7820 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7821 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7822 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7823 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7824 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7825 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7826 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7827 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7828 be used for fetching the file.
7831 @kindex H d (Summary)
7832 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7833 Give a brief description of the current group
7834 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7835 rereading the description from the server.
7838 @kindex H h (Summary)
7839 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7840 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7841 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7844 @kindex H i (Summary)
7845 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7846 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7850 @node Searching for Articles
7851 @subsection Searching for Articles
7856 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7857 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7858 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7859 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7862 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7863 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7864 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7865 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7869 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7870 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7871 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7872 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7876 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7877 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7878 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7879 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7882 @node Summary Generation Commands
7883 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7888 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7889 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7890 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7893 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7894 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7895 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7896 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7901 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7902 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7908 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7909 @kindex A D (Summary)
7910 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7911 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7912 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7913 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7914 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7915 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7916 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7917 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7921 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7922 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7923 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7924 several documents into one biiig group
7925 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7926 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7927 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7928 command understands the process/prefix convention
7929 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7932 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7933 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7934 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7935 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7936 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7937 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7941 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7942 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7943 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7946 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7947 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7948 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7949 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7952 @kindex M-C-g (Summary)
7953 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
7954 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7955 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
7960 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7961 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7962 @cindex summary exit
7963 @cindex exiting groups
7965 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7966 group and return you to the group buffer.
7972 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7974 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7975 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7976 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7977 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7978 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7979 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7980 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7981 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7982 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7983 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7984 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7988 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7990 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7991 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7992 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7996 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7998 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7999 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8000 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8001 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8004 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8005 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8006 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8007 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8010 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8011 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8012 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8013 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8016 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8017 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8018 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8019 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8020 all articles, both read and unread.
8024 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8025 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8026 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8027 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8028 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8029 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8030 articles, both read and unread.
8033 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8034 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8035 Exit the group and go to the next group
8036 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8039 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8040 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8041 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8042 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8045 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8046 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8047 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8048 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8049 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8050 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8053 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8054 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
8057 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8058 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8059 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8060 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8061 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8062 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8063 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8064 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8065 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8066 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8067 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8068 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8070 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8072 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8073 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8074 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8075 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8076 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8077 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8078 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8079 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8080 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8083 @node Crosspost Handling
8084 @section Crosspost Handling
8088 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8089 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8090 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8091 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8092 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8093 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8096 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8097 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8098 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8099 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8100 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8102 @cindex cross-posting
8105 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8106 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8107 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8108 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8109 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8110 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8111 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8112 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8113 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8114 the cross reference mechanism.
8116 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8117 @cindex overview.fmt
8118 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8119 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8120 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8121 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8122 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8123 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8126 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8127 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8128 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8133 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8136 @node Duplicate Suppression
8137 @section Duplicate Suppression
8139 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8140 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8141 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8142 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8147 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8148 is evil and not very common.
8151 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8152 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8155 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8156 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8159 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8162 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8163 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8165 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8166 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8167 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8168 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8169 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8170 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8171 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8174 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8175 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8176 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8177 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8178 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8182 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8183 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8184 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8186 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8187 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8188 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8189 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8190 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
8191 session are suppressed.
8193 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8194 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8195 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8196 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8198 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8199 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8200 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8201 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8204 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
8205 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8206 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8207 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8208 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
8209 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8210 to you to figure out, I think.
8213 @node The Article Buffer
8214 @chapter The Article Buffer
8215 @cindex article buffer
8217 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8218 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8219 tell Gnus otherwise.
8222 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8223 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8224 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8225 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8226 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8230 @node Hiding Headers
8231 @section Hiding Headers
8232 @cindex hiding headers
8233 @cindex deleting headers
8235 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8236 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8238 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8239 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8240 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8241 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8242 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8243 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8244 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8245 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8246 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8248 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8252 @item gnus-visible-headers
8253 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8254 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8255 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8256 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8258 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8259 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8262 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8265 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8268 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8269 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8270 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8271 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8272 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8273 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8275 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
8276 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
8279 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8282 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8285 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8286 variable will have no effect.
8290 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8291 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8292 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8293 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8294 the headers are to be displayed.
8296 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8297 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8300 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8303 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8304 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8306 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8307 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8308 You can hide further boring headers by setting
8309 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-header} to @code{head}. What this function
8310 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
8311 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
8312 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
8315 These conditions are:
8318 Remove all empty headers.
8320 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8321 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8323 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8326 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8329 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8332 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8334 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8337 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8340 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8341 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8344 This is also the default value for this variable.
8348 @section Using @sc{mime}
8351 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8352 while people stand around yawning.
8354 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8355 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8357 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8358 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8359 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8361 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
8362 @findex gnus-display-mime
8363 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
8364 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
8365 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
8366 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
8368 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
8372 @findex gnus-article-press-button
8374 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
8375 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
8376 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
8378 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
8379 @item M-RET (Article)
8381 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
8382 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
8384 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
8386 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
8387 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
8389 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
8391 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
8392 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
8394 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
8396 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
8397 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}.
8399 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
8401 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
8404 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
8405 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
8408 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
8409 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
8410 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
8411 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
8412 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
8413 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
8414 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
8415 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
8416 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
8418 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8420 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
8423 @node Customizing Articles
8424 @section Customizing Articles
8425 @cindex article customization
8427 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
8428 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
8429 called automatically when you select the articles.
8431 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
8432 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
8433 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
8434 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
8436 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
8437 for sensible values.
8441 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
8444 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
8447 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
8450 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
8453 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
8457 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
8458 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
8459 regexps in the list.
8462 A list where the first element is not a string:
8464 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
8465 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
8466 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
8470 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
8475 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
8476 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
8477 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
8478 considered to contain just a single part.
8480 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
8481 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
8482 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
8483 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
8484 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
8485 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
8486 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
8488 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
8489 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
8490 group. Values in brackets are suggested sensible values. Others are possible
8491 but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
8494 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
8495 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
8496 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
8497 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
8498 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
8499 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
8500 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
8501 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
8502 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
8503 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
8504 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
8505 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
8506 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
8507 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
8508 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
8509 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
8510 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
8511 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
8512 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
8513 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
8514 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
8515 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
8516 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
8517 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
8518 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
8519 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
8520 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
8521 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
8522 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
8523 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
8524 @item gnus-treat-translate
8527 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
8528 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
8529 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
8530 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
8531 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
8535 @node Article Keymap
8536 @section Article Keymap
8538 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8539 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8540 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8541 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8544 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8549 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8550 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8551 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8554 @kindex DEL (Article)
8555 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8556 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8559 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8560 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8561 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8562 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8563 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8566 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8567 @findex gnus-article-mail
8568 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8569 given a prefix, include the mail.
8573 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8574 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8575 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8579 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8580 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8581 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8584 @kindex TAB (Article)
8585 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8586 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8587 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8590 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8591 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8592 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8598 @section Misc Article
8602 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8603 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8604 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8605 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8608 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8609 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8611 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8612 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8614 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8615 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8616 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8617 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8618 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8619 the contents of the article buffer.
8621 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8622 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8623 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8625 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8626 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8627 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8628 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8630 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8631 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8632 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8633 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8634 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8639 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8640 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8643 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
8646 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8648 @item gnus-break-pages
8649 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8650 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8651 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8652 paging will not be done.
8654 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8655 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8656 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8661 @node Composing Messages
8662 @chapter Composing Messages
8663 @cindex composing messages
8666 @cindex sending mail
8671 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8672 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8673 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8674 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8675 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8676 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8677 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8680 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8681 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8682 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8683 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8684 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8685 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8686 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8687 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8690 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8691 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8697 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8700 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8701 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8702 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8703 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8705 @item gnus-add-to-list
8706 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8707 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8708 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8716 Variables for composing news articles:
8719 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8720 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8721 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8722 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8723 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8724 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8725 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8726 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8727 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8730 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8731 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8732 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8733 file. It is 1000 by default.
8738 @node Posting Server
8739 @section Posting Server
8741 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8742 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8744 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8746 @vindex gnus-post-method
8748 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8749 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8750 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8751 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8752 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8755 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8758 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8759 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8760 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8761 the ``current'' server for posting.
8763 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8764 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8766 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8767 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8770 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8771 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8772 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8777 @section Mail and Post
8779 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8783 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8784 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8785 @cindex mailing lists
8787 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8788 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8789 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8790 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8791 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8792 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8793 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8794 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8795 still a pain, though.
8799 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8800 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8801 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8804 @findex ispell-message
8806 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8810 @node Archived Messages
8811 @section Archived Messages
8812 @cindex archived messages
8813 @cindex sent messages
8815 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8816 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8817 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8818 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8821 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8822 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8823 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8827 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8828 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8829 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8830 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8833 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8834 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8835 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8836 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8839 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8840 '(nnfolder "archive"
8841 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8842 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8843 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8846 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8848 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8849 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8850 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8852 This variable can be used to do the following:
8856 Messages will be saved in that group.
8857 @item a list of strings
8858 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8859 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8860 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8862 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8867 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8869 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8872 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8874 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8877 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8879 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8880 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8881 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8882 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8887 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8888 '((if (message-news-p)
8893 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8894 messages in one file per month:
8897 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8898 '((if (message-news-p)
8900 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8901 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8904 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8905 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8907 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8908 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8909 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8910 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8911 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8912 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8913 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8914 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8915 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8916 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8918 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8919 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8920 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8921 this will disable archiving.
8924 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8925 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8926 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8927 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8928 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8931 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8932 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8933 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8936 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8937 but the latter is the preferred method.
8941 @node Posting Styles
8942 @section Posting Styles
8943 @cindex posting styles
8946 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8948 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8949 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8950 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8953 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8954 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8955 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8956 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8957 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8962 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8963 (organization "What me?"))
8965 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8966 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8967 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8970 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8971 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8972 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8973 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8974 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8975 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8976 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8977 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8979 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8980 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8981 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
8982 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
8983 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
8984 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8985 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8986 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8989 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8990 attribute consists of a @var{(name value)} pair. The attribute name
8991 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8992 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
8993 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8994 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8995 article. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated,
8996 and the result is thrown away.
8998 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
8999 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9000 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9001 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9002 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9003 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9005 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9006 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9007 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9009 @findex message-mail-p
9010 @findex message-news-p
9012 So here's a new example:
9015 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9017 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9019 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9020 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9022 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9023 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9024 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9026 (signature my-news-signature))
9027 ((header "From.*To" "larsi.*org")
9028 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9029 ((posting-from-work-p)
9030 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9031 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9032 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9033 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9035 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9043 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9044 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9045 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9046 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9047 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9049 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9050 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9051 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9052 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9053 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9057 @vindex nndraft-directory
9058 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9059 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9060 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9061 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9062 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9063 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9065 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9066 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9069 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9070 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9071 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9072 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9073 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9074 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9075 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9076 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9077 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9078 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9079 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9080 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9081 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9082 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9084 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9085 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9086 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9088 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9090 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9091 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9092 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9094 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9097 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9098 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9099 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9100 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9101 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9102 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9103 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9106 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9107 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9108 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9111 @node Rejected Articles
9112 @section Rejected Articles
9113 @cindex rejected articles
9115 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9116 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9117 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9118 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9120 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
9121 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9122 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9123 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
9124 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9126 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9127 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9128 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9131 @node Select Methods
9132 @chapter Select Methods
9133 @cindex foreign groups
9134 @cindex select methods
9136 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9137 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9138 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9139 personal mail group.
9141 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9142 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9143 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9144 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9145 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9146 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9148 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9149 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9151 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9154 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9155 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9156 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9157 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9158 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9160 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9163 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9164 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9165 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9166 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9167 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9168 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9172 @node The Server Buffer
9173 @section The Server Buffer
9175 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9176 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9177 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9178 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9179 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9180 backend represents a virtual server.
9182 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9183 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9184 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9185 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9187 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9188 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9189 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9190 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9191 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9192 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9193 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9195 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9196 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9199 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9200 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9201 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9202 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9203 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9204 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9205 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9208 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9209 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9212 @node Server Buffer Format
9213 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9214 @cindex server buffer format
9216 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9217 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9218 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9219 variable, with some simple extensions:
9224 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9227 The name of this server.
9230 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9233 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9236 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9237 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9238 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9239 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9249 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9252 @node Server Commands
9253 @subsection Server Commands
9254 @cindex server commands
9260 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9261 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9265 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9266 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
9269 @kindex SPACE (Server)
9270 @findex gnus-server-read-server
9271 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
9275 @findex gnus-server-exit
9276 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
9280 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
9281 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
9285 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
9286 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
9290 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
9291 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
9295 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
9296 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
9300 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
9301 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
9302 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9307 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
9308 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
9309 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
9310 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
9315 @node Example Methods
9316 @subsection Example Methods
9318 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9321 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9324 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9330 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9331 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9334 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9335 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
9337 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
9338 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
9342 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
9345 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
9346 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
9348 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
9349 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
9350 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
9354 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
9357 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
9360 Here's the method for a public spool:
9364 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
9365 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
9368 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
9369 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
9370 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
9371 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
9372 should probably look something like this:
9376 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
9377 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9378 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9379 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9380 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
9383 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
9384 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
9385 server that would look something like this:
9389 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
9390 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
9391 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9392 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9393 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9394 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9397 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9398 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9399 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9400 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9403 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9404 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9406 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9407 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9409 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9410 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9411 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9413 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9415 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9416 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9417 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9418 will contain the following:
9428 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9429 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9430 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9433 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9434 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9435 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9438 @node Server Variables
9439 @subsection Server Variables
9441 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9442 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9443 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9444 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9445 won't change the "derived" variables.
9447 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9448 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9449 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9450 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9451 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9452 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9453 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9454 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9455 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9459 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9460 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9461 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9465 @node Servers and Methods
9466 @subsection Servers and Methods
9468 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9469 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9470 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9471 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9475 @node Unavailable Servers
9476 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9478 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9479 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9480 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9481 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9482 actually the case or not.
9484 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9485 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9486 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9487 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9488 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9489 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9490 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9491 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9493 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9494 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9496 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9497 with the following commands:
9503 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9504 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9505 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9509 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9510 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9511 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9515 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9516 Mark the current server as unreachable
9517 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9520 @kindex M-o (Server)
9521 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9522 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9523 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9526 @kindex M-c (Server)
9527 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9528 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9529 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9533 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9534 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9535 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9541 @section Getting News
9542 @cindex reading news
9543 @cindex news backends
9545 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9546 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9547 or it can read from a local spool.
9550 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9551 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9556 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9559 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9560 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9561 server as the, uhm, address.
9563 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9564 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9565 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9566 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9568 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9569 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9570 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9572 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9577 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9578 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9579 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9581 @cindex authentification
9582 @cindex nntp authentification
9583 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9584 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9585 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9586 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9587 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9588 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9589 present in this hook.
9591 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9592 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9593 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9594 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9595 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9596 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9597 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9598 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9599 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9600 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9601 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9602 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9606 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9609 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9610 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9611 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9612 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9613 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9618 Here's an example file:
9621 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9622 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9625 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9626 have to be first, for instance.
9628 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9629 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9630 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9631 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9632 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9633 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9634 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9636 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9637 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9643 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9644 previously mentioned.
9646 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9648 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9649 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9650 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9651 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9652 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9655 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9659 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9661 The default value is
9664 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9665 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9668 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9669 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9671 @item nntp-maximum-request
9672 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9673 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9674 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9675 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9676 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9677 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9678 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9680 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9681 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9682 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9683 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9684 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9685 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9686 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9687 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9688 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9689 no timeouts are done.
9691 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9692 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9693 @c @cindex PPP connections
9694 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9695 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9696 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9697 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9698 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9699 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9700 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9701 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9702 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9703 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9705 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9706 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9707 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9708 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9711 @item nntp-server-hook
9712 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9713 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9716 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9717 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9718 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9719 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9720 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9721 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9722 functions are supplied:
9725 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9726 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9729 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9730 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9731 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9734 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9738 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9739 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9740 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9741 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9743 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9744 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9745 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9747 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9748 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9749 User name on the remote system.
9753 @item nntp-open-telnet
9754 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9755 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9757 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9760 @item nntp-telnet-command
9761 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9762 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9764 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9765 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9766 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9768 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9769 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9770 User name for log in on the remote system.
9772 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9773 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9774 Password to use when logging in.
9776 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9777 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9778 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9781 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9782 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9783 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9784 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9786 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9787 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9788 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9789 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9790 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9794 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9795 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9796 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9797 you must have SSLay installed
9798 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9799 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9800 define a server as follows:
9803 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9805 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9807 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9808 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9809 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9810 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9815 @item nntp-end-of-line
9816 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9817 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9818 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9819 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9821 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9822 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9823 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9827 @vindex nntp-address
9828 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9830 @item nntp-port-number
9831 @vindex nntp-port-number
9832 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9835 @item nntp-buggy-select
9836 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9837 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9839 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9840 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9841 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9842 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9845 @item nntp-xover-commands
9846 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9849 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9850 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9854 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9855 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9856 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9857 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9858 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9859 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9860 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9861 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9862 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9863 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9864 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9866 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9867 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9868 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9870 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9871 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9872 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9873 server closes connection.
9875 @item nntp-record-commands
9876 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9877 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9878 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9879 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9880 that doesn't seem to work.
9886 @subsection News Spool
9890 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9891 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9892 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9895 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9896 anything else) as the address.
9898 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9899 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9900 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9901 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9905 @item nnspool-inews-program
9906 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9907 Program used to post an article.
9909 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9910 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9911 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9913 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9914 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9915 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9916 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9918 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9919 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9920 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9921 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9923 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9924 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9925 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9927 @item nnspool-active-file
9928 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9929 The path to the active file.
9931 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9932 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9933 The path to the group descriptions file.
9935 @item nnspool-history-file
9936 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9937 The path to the news history file.
9939 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9940 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9941 The path to the active date file.
9943 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9944 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9945 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9948 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9949 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9951 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9952 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9953 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9959 @section Getting Mail
9960 @cindex reading mail
9963 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9967 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
9968 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9969 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9970 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
9971 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9972 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9973 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
9974 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9975 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9976 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9977 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9978 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9979 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9983 @node Mail in a Newsreader
9984 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
9986 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
9987 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
9990 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
9991 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
9993 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
9994 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
9995 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
9996 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
9998 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10000 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10001 deleted? How awful!
10003 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10004 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10005 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10006 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10009 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10010 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10011 they want to treat a message.
10013 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10014 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10015 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10016 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10017 archived somewhere else.
10019 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10020 These are transported via NNTP, and are therefore news. But we may need
10021 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10022 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10023 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10025 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10026 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10027 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10029 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10030 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10033 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10034 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10035 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10036 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10037 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10039 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10040 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10041 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10042 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10043 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10044 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10048 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10049 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10051 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10052 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10053 and things will happen automatically.
10055 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10056 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10059 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10060 '((nnml "private")))
10063 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10064 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10065 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10066 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10067 like any other group.
10069 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10072 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10073 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10074 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10078 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10079 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10080 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10083 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10084 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10085 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
10088 @node Splitting Mail
10089 @subsection Splitting Mail
10090 @cindex splitting mail
10091 @cindex mail splitting
10093 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
10094 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
10095 to be split into groups.
10098 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10099 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10100 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10101 ("mail.other" "")))
10104 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
10105 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
10106 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
10107 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
10108 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
10109 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
10110 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
10113 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
10116 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
10117 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
10118 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
10119 mail belongs in that group.
10121 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
10122 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
10123 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
10124 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
10125 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
10126 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
10128 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
10129 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
10130 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
10131 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
10132 thinks should carry this mail message.
10134 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
10135 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
10136 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
10137 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
10139 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
10140 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
10141 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
10142 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
10143 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
10145 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
10148 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
10149 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
10150 links. If that's the case for you, set
10151 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
10152 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
10154 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
10155 @kindex nnmail-split-history
10156 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
10157 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
10159 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
10160 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
10161 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
10162 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
10163 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
10164 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
10165 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
10166 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10167 month's rent money.
10171 @subsection Mail Sources
10173 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10174 POP mail server, or from a procmail directory, for instance.
10177 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10178 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
10179 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10183 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10184 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10186 @cindex mail server
10189 @cindex mail source
10191 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
10192 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
10197 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10200 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10201 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10202 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10205 The following mail source types are available:
10209 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
10215 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
10216 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
10219 An example file mail source:
10222 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
10225 Or using the default path:
10232 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
10233 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
10239 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
10243 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
10247 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
10248 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
10249 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
10250 predicate are considered.
10254 Script run before/after fetching mail.
10258 An example directory mail source:
10261 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
10266 Get mail from a POP server.
10272 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
10273 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10276 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
10279 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
10283 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
10287 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
10288 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
10291 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
10294 The valid format specifier characters are:
10298 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
10299 included in this string.
10302 The name of the server.
10305 The port number of the server.
10308 The user name to use.
10311 The password to use.
10314 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
10315 corresponding keywords.
10318 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10319 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10322 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10323 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10326 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
10327 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
10330 @item :authentication
10331 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
10332 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
10337 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
10338 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
10340 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
10341 default user name, and default fetcher:
10347 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
10350 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
10351 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
10354 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
10357 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
10361 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox currently only
10362 supported by qmail, where each file in a special directory contains
10369 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
10370 @samp{~/Maildir/new}.
10372 If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
10373 them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
10374 @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the following example.
10378 An example maildir mail source:
10381 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
10385 Get mail from a IMAP server. If you don't want to use IMAP as intended,
10386 as a network mail reading protocol, for some reason or other Gnus let
10387 you treat it similar to a POP server and fetches articles from a given
10394 The name of the IMAP server. The default is taken from the
10395 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10398 The port number of the IMAP server. The default is @samp{143}, or
10399 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
10402 The user name to give to the IMAP server. The default is the login
10406 The password to give to the IMAP server. If not specified, the user is
10410 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
10411 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
10412 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
10414 @item :authenticator
10415 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
10416 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this means
10417 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
10421 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
10422 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
10425 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default,
10426 @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people,
10427 but if you sometimes peek in your mailbox with a IMAP client and mark
10428 some articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to
10429 @samp{nil}. Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter
10430 what. For a complete list of predicates, see RFC2060 §6.4.4.
10434 An example IMAP mail source:
10437 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4)
10443 @node Mail Source Customization
10444 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
10446 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
10447 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
10451 @item mail-source-crash-box
10452 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
10453 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
10454 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
10456 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
10457 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
10458 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
10460 @item mail-source-directory
10461 @vindex mail-source-directory
10462 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
10463 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
10464 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
10467 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
10468 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
10469 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
10474 @node Fetching Mail
10475 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
10477 @vindex mail-sources
10478 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
10479 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
10480 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
10481 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
10483 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
10484 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
10487 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
10488 mail server, you'd say something like:
10493 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10494 :password "secret")))
10497 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
10501 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
10502 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10505 :password "secret")))
10509 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
10510 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
10511 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
10512 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
10513 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
10514 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
10518 @node Mail Backend Variables
10519 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
10521 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
10525 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10526 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10527 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
10528 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
10530 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
10531 @item nnmail-split-hook
10532 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
10533 @findex RFC1522 decoding
10534 @findex RFC2047 decoding
10535 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
10536 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
10537 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
10538 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
10539 in the buffer will show up in any files.
10540 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
10543 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10544 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10545 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10546 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10547 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
10548 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
10549 starting to handle the new mail) and
10550 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
10551 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
10552 default file modes the new mail files get:
10555 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10556 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
10558 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
10559 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
10562 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
10563 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
10564 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
10565 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
10566 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
10567 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
10568 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
10570 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
10571 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
10572 @findex delete-file
10573 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
10575 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10576 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10577 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
10578 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
10579 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
10584 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
10585 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
10586 @cindex mail splitting
10587 @cindex fancy mail splitting
10589 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
10590 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
10591 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
10592 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
10593 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
10594 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
10596 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
10599 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
10600 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
10601 ;; from real errors.
10602 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
10604 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
10605 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
10606 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
10607 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
10608 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
10609 ;; Other mailing lists...
10610 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
10611 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
10612 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
10613 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
10614 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
10615 ;; message was really cross-posted.
10616 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
10617 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
10619 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
10620 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
10624 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
10625 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
10626 the five possible split syntaxes:
10631 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
10632 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
10636 @var{(FIELD VALUE [- RESTRICT [- RESTRICT [...]]] SPLIT)}: If the split
10637 is a list, the first element of which is a string, then store the
10638 message as specified by SPLIT, if header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE
10639 (also a regexp). If RESTRICT (yet another regexp) matches some string
10640 after FIELD and before the end of the matched VALUE, the SPLIT is
10641 ignored. If none of the RESTRICT clauses match, SPLIT is processed.
10644 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10645 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
10646 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
10647 be stored in one or more groups.
10650 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10651 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
10654 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
10655 this message. Use with extreme caution.
10658 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
10659 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
10660 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
10664 @var{(! FUNC SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, and the first element
10665 is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be called as a
10666 function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should return a split.
10669 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
10673 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
10674 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
10675 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
10676 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
10677 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
10679 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
10680 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
10681 are expanded as specified by the variable
10682 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
10683 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
10686 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
10687 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
10688 when all this splitting is performed.
10690 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
10691 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
10692 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
10695 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
10698 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
10699 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
10701 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
10702 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
10703 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
10704 groupings 1 through 9.
10707 @node Group Mail Splitting
10708 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
10709 @cindex mail splitting
10710 @cindex group mail splitting
10712 @findex gnus-group-split
10713 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
10714 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
10715 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
10716 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
10717 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
10718 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
10719 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
10720 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
10722 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
10723 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
10724 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
10725 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
10727 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
10728 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{FIELD} is @samp{any},
10729 the @var{VALUE} is a single regular expression that matches
10730 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
10731 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{SPLIT} is the name of the
10732 group. @var{RESTRICT}s are also supported: just set the
10733 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
10735 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
10736 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
10737 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
10738 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
10739 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
10740 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
10741 @code{gnus-group-split}.
10743 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
10744 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
10745 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
10746 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
10747 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
10748 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
10749 that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
10750 there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
10751 @code{&} split and the catch-all group.
10753 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
10758 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
10759 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
10761 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
10762 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
10763 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
10764 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
10766 ((split-spec . catch-all))
10769 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
10770 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
10771 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
10774 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
10775 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
10776 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
10780 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
10781 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
10782 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
10786 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
10789 @var{GROUPS} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
10790 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
10791 @var{NO-CROSSPOST} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
10792 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{CATCH-ALL} may be the name
10793 of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
10794 @var{CATCH-ALL} is @code{nil}, or if @var{SPLIT-REGEXP} matches the
10795 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
10796 Otherwise, if some group has @var{SPLIT-SPEC} set to @code{catch-all},
10797 this group will override the value of the @var{CATCH-ALL} argument.
10799 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
10800 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
10801 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
10802 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
10803 used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
10804 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
10805 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
10806 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
10807 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
10809 @findex gnus-group-split-update
10810 However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
10811 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
10812 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
10813 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
10814 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
10817 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
10820 If @var{AUTO-UPDATE} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
10821 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
10822 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
10823 don't omit @var{CATCH-ALL} (it's optional),
10824 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
10827 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
10828 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
10829 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
10830 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
10832 @node Incorporating Old Mail
10833 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
10835 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
10836 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
10837 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
10840 Doing so can be quite easy.
10842 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
10843 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
10844 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
10845 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
10846 your @code{nnml} groups.
10852 Go to the group buffer.
10855 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
10856 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10859 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
10862 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
10863 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
10866 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
10867 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
10870 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
10871 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
10872 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
10873 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
10874 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
10876 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
10877 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
10878 using the new mail backend.
10881 @node Expiring Mail
10882 @subsection Expiring Mail
10883 @cindex article expiry
10885 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
10886 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
10887 different approach to mail reading.
10889 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
10890 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
10891 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
10892 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
10893 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
10894 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
10897 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
10898 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
10899 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
10900 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
10901 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
10902 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
10903 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
10904 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
10906 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10907 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
10908 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
10909 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
10910 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
10911 column in the summary buffer.
10913 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
10914 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
10915 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
10916 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
10919 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
10921 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
10922 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
10923 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
10926 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
10927 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10928 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10929 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10930 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10932 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10933 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10936 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10937 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10940 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10941 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
10943 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
10944 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
10945 don't really mix very well.
10947 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
10948 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
10949 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
10950 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
10953 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
10954 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
10955 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
10956 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
10959 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10961 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10963 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
10965 ((string= group "mail.junk")
10967 ((string= group "important")
10973 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
10974 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
10976 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
10977 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
10978 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
10981 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
10982 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10984 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10985 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
10986 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
10987 easier for procmail users.
10989 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
10990 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
10991 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
10992 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
10993 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
10994 caution. Even more dangerous is the
10995 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
10996 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
10997 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
10998 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
10999 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
11000 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
11001 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
11004 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
11006 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
11007 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
11008 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
11009 auto-expire turned on.
11013 @subsection Washing Mail
11014 @cindex mail washing
11015 @cindex list server brain damage
11016 @cindex incoming mail treatment
11018 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
11019 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
11020 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
11021 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
11022 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
11023 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
11025 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
11026 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
11027 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
11030 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
11031 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
11032 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
11033 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
11036 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11037 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11038 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
11039 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
11040 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
11043 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11044 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11045 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
11046 Emacs running on MS machines.
11050 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11051 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11052 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
11053 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
11056 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11057 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11058 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
11059 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
11061 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11062 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11063 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
11064 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
11065 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
11066 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
11067 also be a list of regexp.
11069 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
11070 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
11073 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
11074 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
11077 This can also be done non-destructively with
11078 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
11080 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
11081 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
11082 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
11084 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11085 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11087 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
11088 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
11089 @code{References} headers.
11093 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11094 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11095 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
11099 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
11100 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
11101 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
11108 @subsection Duplicates
11110 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
11111 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
11112 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
11113 @cindex duplicate mails
11114 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
11115 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
11116 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
11117 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
11118 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
11119 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
11120 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
11121 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
11122 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
11123 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
11124 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
11125 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
11126 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
11128 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
11129 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
11130 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
11131 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
11133 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
11136 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
11137 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
11141 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11142 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
11143 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
11144 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
11145 (any mail "mail.misc")
11152 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11153 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
11158 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
11159 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
11160 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
11161 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
11162 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
11165 @node Not Reading Mail
11166 @subsection Not Reading Mail
11168 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
11169 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
11170 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
11172 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
11173 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
11174 mail, which should help.
11176 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11177 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11178 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11179 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11180 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11181 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
11182 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
11183 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
11184 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
11185 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
11186 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
11188 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
11189 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
11193 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
11194 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
11196 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
11197 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
11198 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
11200 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
11201 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
11202 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
11203 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
11206 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
11207 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
11208 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
11209 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
11210 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
11211 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
11215 @node Unix Mail Box
11216 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
11218 @cindex unix mail box
11220 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11221 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11222 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
11223 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
11224 which group it belongs in.
11226 Virtual server settings:
11229 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
11230 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11231 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
11233 @item nnmbox-active-file
11234 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11235 The name of the active file for the mail box.
11237 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
11238 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11239 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
11245 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
11249 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
11250 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
11251 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
11252 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
11253 article to say which group it belongs in.
11255 Virtual server settings:
11258 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
11259 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
11260 The name of the rmail mbox file.
11262 @item nnbabyl-active-file
11263 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
11264 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
11266 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11267 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11268 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
11273 @subsubsection Mail Spool
11275 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
11277 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
11278 format. It should be used with some caution.
11280 @vindex nnml-directory
11281 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
11282 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
11283 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
11284 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
11286 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
11289 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
11290 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
11291 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
11292 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
11293 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
11294 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
11295 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
11296 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
11298 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
11299 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
11300 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
11301 backend when it comes to reading mail.
11303 Virtual server settings:
11306 @item nnml-directory
11307 @vindex nnml-directory
11308 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
11310 @item nnml-active-file
11311 @vindex nnml-active-file
11312 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
11314 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
11315 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
11316 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
11319 @item nnml-get-new-mail
11320 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11321 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
11323 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
11324 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
11325 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
11327 @item nnml-nov-file-name
11328 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
11329 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
11331 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
11332 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
11333 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
11337 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
11338 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
11339 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
11340 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
11341 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
11342 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
11343 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
11348 @subsubsection MH Spool
11350 @cindex mh-e mail spool
11352 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
11353 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
11354 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
11355 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
11357 Virtual server settings:
11360 @item nnmh-directory
11361 @vindex nnmh-directory
11362 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
11364 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
11365 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11366 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
11369 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
11370 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
11371 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
11372 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
11373 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
11374 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
11375 to set this variable to @code{t}.
11380 @subsubsection Mail Folders
11382 @cindex mbox folders
11383 @cindex mail folders
11385 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
11386 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
11387 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
11390 Virtual server settings:
11393 @item nnfolder-directory
11394 @vindex nnfolder-directory
11395 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
11397 @item nnfolder-active-file
11398 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
11399 The name of the active file.
11401 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11402 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11403 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
11405 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
11406 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11407 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
11409 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11410 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11411 @cindex backup files
11412 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
11413 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
11414 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
11415 your @file{.emacs} file:
11418 (defun turn-off-backup ()
11419 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
11421 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
11424 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11425 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11426 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
11427 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
11428 extract some information from it before removing it.
11433 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
11434 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
11435 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
11436 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
11437 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
11438 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
11441 @node Comparing Mail Backends
11442 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
11444 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
11445 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
11446 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
11447 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
11448 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
11450 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
11451 typically done by NNTP these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
11452 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
11453 articles lay (the machine which today we call an NNTP server), and
11454 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
11455 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
11456 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
11457 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
11460 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
11461 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
11462 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
11463 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
11468 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
11469 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
11470 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
11471 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
11472 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
11473 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
11474 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
11475 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
11476 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
11477 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
11478 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
11479 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
11480 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
11485 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
11486 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
11487 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
11488 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
11489 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
11490 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
11491 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
11492 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
11493 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
11494 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
11495 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
11496 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
11497 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
11498 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
11500 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
11501 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
11506 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
11507 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
11508 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
11509 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
11510 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
11511 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
11512 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
11513 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
11514 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
11515 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
11516 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
11517 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
11518 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
11519 provided by the active file and overviews.
11521 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
11522 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
11523 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
11524 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
11525 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
11528 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
11529 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
11534 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
11535 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
11536 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
11537 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
11538 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
11539 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
11540 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
11544 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
11545 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
11546 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
11547 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
11548 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
11549 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
11550 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
11551 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
11552 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
11554 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
11555 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
11556 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
11557 friendly mail backend all over.
11563 @node Other Sources
11564 @section Other Sources
11566 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
11567 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
11571 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
11572 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
11573 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
11574 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
11575 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
11576 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
11577 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a IMAP client.
11581 @node Directory Groups
11582 @subsection Directory Groups
11584 @cindex directory groups
11586 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
11587 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
11590 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
11591 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
11592 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
11593 backend to read directories. Big deal.
11595 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
11596 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
11597 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
11598 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
11599 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
11601 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
11603 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
11604 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
11605 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
11606 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
11609 @node Anything Groups
11610 @subsection Anything Groups
11613 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
11614 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
11615 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
11618 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
11619 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
11620 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
11621 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
11622 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
11623 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
11624 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
11625 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
11626 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
11627 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
11630 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
11631 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
11632 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
11633 in the article buffer, just as usual.
11635 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
11636 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
11637 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
11638 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
11640 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
11641 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
11642 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
11643 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
11644 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
11645 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
11646 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
11647 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
11652 @item nneething-map-file-directory
11653 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
11654 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
11655 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
11657 @item nneething-exclude-files
11658 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
11659 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
11660 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
11662 @item nneething-include-files
11663 @vindex nneething-include-files
11664 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
11665 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
11667 @item nneething-map-file
11668 @vindex nneething-map-file
11669 Name of the map files.
11673 @node Document Groups
11674 @subsection Document Groups
11676 @cindex documentation group
11679 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
11680 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
11687 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
11692 The standard Unix mbox file.
11694 @cindex MMDF mail box
11696 The MMDF mail box format.
11699 Several news articles appended into a file.
11702 @cindex rnews batch files
11703 The rnews batch transport format.
11704 @cindex forwarded messages
11707 Forwarded articles.
11710 Netscape mail boxes.
11713 MIME multipart messages.
11715 @item standard-digest
11716 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
11719 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
11722 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
11723 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
11724 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
11727 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
11728 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
11729 group. And that's it.
11731 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
11732 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
11733 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
11734 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
11735 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
11736 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
11737 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
11738 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
11739 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
11740 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
11742 Virtual server variables:
11745 @item nndoc-article-type
11746 @vindex nndoc-article-type
11747 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
11748 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
11749 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
11750 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
11752 @item nndoc-post-type
11753 @vindex nndoc-post-type
11754 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
11755 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
11760 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
11764 @node Document Server Internals
11765 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
11767 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
11768 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
11769 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
11770 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
11772 First, here's an example document type definition:
11776 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
11777 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
11780 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
11781 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
11782 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
11783 types can be defined with very few settings:
11786 @item first-article
11787 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
11788 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
11791 @item article-begin
11792 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
11793 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
11795 @item head-begin-function
11796 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
11799 @item nndoc-head-begin
11800 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
11803 @item nndoc-head-end
11804 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
11805 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
11807 @item body-begin-function
11808 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
11812 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
11815 @item body-end-function
11816 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
11820 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
11823 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
11824 regexp will be totally ignored.
11828 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
11829 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
11830 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
11831 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
11832 something that's palatable for Gnus:
11835 @item prepare-body-function
11836 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
11837 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
11838 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
11840 @item article-transform-function
11841 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
11842 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
11843 body of the article.
11845 @item generate-head-function
11846 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
11847 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
11848 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
11849 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
11853 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
11858 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11859 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11860 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
11861 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
11862 (head-end . "^ ?$")
11863 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
11864 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
11865 (subtype digest guess))
11868 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
11869 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
11870 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
11871 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
11872 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
11874 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
11875 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
11876 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
11877 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
11878 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
11879 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
11880 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
11881 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
11882 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
11883 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
11891 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
11892 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
11893 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
11895 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
11896 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
11897 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
11900 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
11901 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
11902 that interested in doing things properly.
11904 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
11905 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
11908 First some terminology:
11913 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
11914 get news and/or mail from.
11917 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
11918 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
11921 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
11925 @item message packets
11926 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
11927 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
11928 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11930 @item response packets
11931 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
11932 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
11933 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11943 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
11944 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
11945 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
11946 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
11949 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
11952 You put the packet in your home directory.
11955 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
11956 the native or secondary server.
11959 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
11960 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
11963 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
11967 You transfer this packet to the server.
11970 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
11973 You then repeat until you die.
11977 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
11978 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
11981 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
11982 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
11983 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
11987 @node SOUP Commands
11988 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
11990 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
11994 @kindex G s b (Group)
11995 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
11996 Pack all unread articles in the current group
11997 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
11998 process/prefix convention.
12001 @kindex G s w (Group)
12002 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
12003 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
12006 @kindex G s s (Group)
12007 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
12008 Send all replies from the replies packet
12009 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
12012 @kindex G s p (Group)
12013 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
12014 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
12017 @kindex G s r (Group)
12018 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
12019 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
12022 @kindex O s (Summary)
12023 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
12024 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
12025 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
12026 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12031 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
12036 @item gnus-soup-directory
12037 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
12038 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
12039 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
12041 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
12042 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
12043 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
12044 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
12046 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
12047 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
12048 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
12049 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
12051 @item gnus-soup-packer
12052 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
12053 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
12054 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
12056 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
12057 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
12058 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
12059 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
12061 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
12062 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
12063 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
12065 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
12066 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
12067 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
12068 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
12074 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
12077 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
12078 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
12079 you can read them at leisure.
12081 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
12085 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
12086 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
12087 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
12088 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
12090 @item nnsoup-directory
12091 @vindex nnsoup-directory
12092 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
12093 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
12095 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
12096 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
12097 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
12098 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
12100 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
12101 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
12102 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
12103 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
12104 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
12106 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
12107 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
12108 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
12109 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
12111 @item nnsoup-active-file
12112 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
12113 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
12114 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
12115 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
12116 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
12118 @item nnsoup-packer
12119 @vindex nnsoup-packer
12120 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
12121 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
12123 @item nnsoup-unpacker
12124 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
12125 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
12126 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
12128 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
12129 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
12130 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
12133 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
12134 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
12135 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
12138 @item nnsoup-always-save
12139 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
12140 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
12146 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
12148 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
12149 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
12150 more for that to happen.
12152 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
12153 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
12154 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
12157 In specific, this is what it does:
12160 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
12161 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
12164 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
12165 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
12166 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
12170 @subsection Web Searches
12174 @cindex InReference
12175 @cindex Usenet searches
12176 @cindex searching the Usenet
12178 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
12179 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
12180 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
12181 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
12182 searches without having to use a browser.
12184 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
12185 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
12186 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
12187 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
12188 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
12190 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
12191 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
12192 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
12193 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
12194 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
12195 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
12196 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
12197 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
12198 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
12199 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
12202 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
12203 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
12204 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
12205 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
12206 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
12207 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
12209 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
12210 to use @code{nnweb}.
12212 Virtual server variables:
12217 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
12218 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
12222 @vindex nnweb-search
12223 The search string to feed to the search engine.
12225 @item nnweb-max-hits
12226 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
12227 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
12230 @item nnweb-type-definition
12231 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
12232 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
12233 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
12238 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
12242 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
12245 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
12248 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
12252 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
12259 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
12260 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
12261 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
12264 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
12265 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
12266 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
12268 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
12274 @item nngateway-address
12275 @vindex nngateway-address
12276 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
12278 @item nngateway-header-transformation
12279 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
12280 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
12281 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
12282 transformation should be called, and defaults to
12283 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
12284 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
12287 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
12288 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
12289 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
12292 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
12295 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
12298 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
12301 The following pre-defined functions exist:
12303 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
12306 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
12307 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
12308 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
12310 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
12312 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
12313 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
12314 @code{nngateway-address}.
12319 (setq gnus-post-method
12320 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
12321 (nngateway-header-transformation
12322 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
12330 So, to use this, simply say something like:
12333 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
12343 IMAP is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...), think of
12344 it as a modernized NNTP. Connecting to a IMAP server is much similar to
12345 connecting to a news server, you just specify the network address of the
12348 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
12353 @item nnimap-address
12354 @vindex nnimap-address
12356 The address of the remote IMAP server. Defaults to the virtual server
12357 name if not specified.
12359 @item nnimap-server-port
12360 @vindex nnimap-server-port
12361 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
12363 @item nnimap-list-pattern
12364 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
12365 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups
12366 to. This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
12367 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via IMAP,
12368 you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in @file{~/Mail/*}
12371 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
12372 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
12373 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
12379 ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
12382 @item nnimap-stream
12383 @vindex nnimap-stream
12384 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
12385 will use the most secure stream your server is capable of.
12389 @dfn{kerberos4:} Uses the `imtest' program.
12391 @dfn{ssl:} Uses OpenSSL or SSLeay.
12393 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
12396 @item nnimap-authenticator
12397 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
12399 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap will
12400 use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
12404 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication.
12406 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
12408 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
12410 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
12413 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
12415 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
12416 Unlike Parmenides the IMAP designers has decided that things that
12417 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, IMAP has this
12418 concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually delete
12419 them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what nnimap
12420 does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or similair).
12422 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
12423 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
12424 running in circles yet?
12426 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
12427 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
12430 The possible options are:
12435 The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
12438 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing the
12439 articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other IMAP clients may allow
12440 you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command manually,
12441 @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
12443 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
12450 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
12451 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
12452 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
12457 @node Splitting in IMAP
12458 @subsubsection Splitting in IMAP
12459 @cindex splitting imap mail
12461 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
12462 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many IMAP
12463 server has server side splitting and those that have splitting seem to
12464 use some non-standard protocol. This means that IMAP support for Gnus
12465 has to do it's own splitting.
12469 There are three variables of interest:
12473 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
12474 @cindex splitting, crosspost
12476 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
12478 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
12479 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
12481 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
12483 @item nnimap-split-inbox
12484 @cindex splitting, inbox
12486 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
12488 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of IMAP mailboxes
12489 to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is disabled!
12492 (setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
12495 No nnmail equivalent.
12497 @item nnimap-split-rule
12498 @cindex Splitting, rules
12499 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
12501 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
12504 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
12505 sublist gives the name of the IMAP mailbox to move articles matching the
12506 regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that? Neither did I, we
12510 (setq nnimap-split-rule
12511 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
12512 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
12513 ("INBOX.private" "")))
12516 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
12517 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
12518 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
12520 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
12521 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
12525 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@")
12528 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12529 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
12530 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
12531 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
12533 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
12534 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
12535 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
12536 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
12537 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
12538 them every time you fetch new mail.)
12540 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
12541 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
12542 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
12544 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
12546 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
12550 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
12551 @subsubsection Editing IMAP ACLs
12552 @cindex editing imap acls
12553 @cindex Access Control Lists
12554 @cindex Editing IMAP ACLs
12556 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
12558 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in IMAP for limiting
12559 (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all IMAP
12560 servers support this, this function will give an error if it doesn't.
12562 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
12563 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
12564 editing window with detailed instructions.
12566 Some possible uses:
12570 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
12571 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
12572 follow the list without subscribing to it.
12574 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
12575 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
12576 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the IMAP mailbox
12580 @node Expunging mailboxes
12581 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
12585 @cindex Manual expunging
12587 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
12589 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
12590 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
12591 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
12593 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
12598 @node Combined Groups
12599 @section Combined Groups
12601 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
12605 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
12606 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
12610 @node Virtual Groups
12611 @subsection Virtual Groups
12613 @cindex virtual groups
12614 @cindex merging groups
12616 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
12619 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
12620 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
12621 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
12623 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
12624 regexp to match component groups.
12626 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
12627 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
12628 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
12629 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
12630 the virtual group.)
12632 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
12633 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
12636 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
12639 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
12640 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
12642 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
12643 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
12644 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
12645 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
12648 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
12651 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
12652 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
12653 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
12655 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
12656 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
12657 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
12658 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
12659 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
12661 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
12662 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
12663 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
12665 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
12666 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
12667 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
12668 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
12669 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
12670 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
12671 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
12672 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
12673 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
12674 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
12675 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
12677 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
12678 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
12679 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
12680 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
12681 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
12682 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
12683 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
12685 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
12686 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
12690 @node Kibozed Groups
12691 @subsection Kibozed Groups
12695 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
12696 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
12697 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
12698 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
12700 @kindex G k (Group)
12701 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
12704 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
12705 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
12706 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
12707 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
12709 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
12710 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
12711 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
12713 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
12714 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
12715 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
12716 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
12717 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
12718 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
12719 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
12720 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
12722 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
12723 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
12724 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
12725 Stranger things have happened.
12727 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
12728 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
12730 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
12731 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
12732 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
12733 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
12734 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
12735 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
12737 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
12738 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
12741 @node Gnus Unplugged
12742 @section Gnus Unplugged
12747 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
12749 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
12750 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
12751 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
12752 read news. Believe it or not.
12754 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
12755 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
12756 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
12757 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
12758 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
12760 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
12761 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
12762 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
12763 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
12764 reading news on a machine.
12766 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
12770 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
12771 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
12775 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
12776 @file{.gnus.el} file:
12783 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
12785 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
12788 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
12789 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
12790 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
12791 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
12792 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
12793 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
12794 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
12795 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
12796 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
12801 @subsection Agent Basics
12803 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
12805 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
12806 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
12807 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
12808 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
12810 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
12811 connected to the net continuously.
12813 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
12814 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
12816 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
12821 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
12822 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
12823 already fetched while in this mode.
12826 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
12827 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
12828 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
12831 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
12832 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
12833 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
12834 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
12837 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
12838 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
12839 then you read the news offline.
12842 And then you go to step 2.
12845 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
12851 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
12852 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
12853 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
12854 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
12855 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
12856 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
12859 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
12866 @node Agent Categories
12867 @subsection Agent Categories
12869 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
12870 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
12871 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
12872 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
12873 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
12874 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
12875 you're interested in the articles anyway.
12877 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
12878 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
12879 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
12880 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
12881 managing categories.
12884 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
12885 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
12886 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
12890 @node Category Syntax
12891 @subsubsection Category Syntax
12893 A category consists of two things.
12897 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
12898 are eligible for downloading; and
12901 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
12902 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
12903 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
12906 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
12907 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
12908 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
12909 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
12911 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
12912 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
12913 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
12915 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
12916 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
12917 operators sprinkled in between.
12919 Perhaps some examples are in order.
12921 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
12922 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
12928 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
12929 short (for some value of ``short'').
12931 Here's a more complex predicate:
12940 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
12941 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
12944 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
12945 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
12946 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
12948 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
12949 you want to do, you can write your own.
12953 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
12954 lines; default 100.
12957 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
12958 lines; default 200.
12961 True iff the article has a download score less than
12962 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
12965 True iff the article has a download score greater than
12966 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
12969 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
12970 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
12971 checksum and sees whether articles match.
12980 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
12981 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
12982 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
12985 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
12986 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
12987 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
12988 something along the lines of the following:
12991 (defun my-article-old-p ()
12992 "Say whether an article is old."
12993 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
12994 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
12997 with the predicate then defined as:
13000 (not my-article-old-p)
13003 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
13004 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
13005 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
13006 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
13009 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
13010 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
13011 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
13014 and simply specify your predicate as:
13020 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
13021 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
13022 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
13023 just don't give a damm.
13026 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
13027 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
13028 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
13029 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
13030 parameters like so:
13033 (agent-predicate . short)
13036 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
13037 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
13038 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
13041 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
13044 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
13047 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
13048 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
13049 predicate is assumed to be a list.
13052 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
13053 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
13054 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
13055 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
13056 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
13057 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
13059 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
13060 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
13061 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
13062 if it's to be specific to that group.
13064 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
13071 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
13072 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
13078 Category specification
13082 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
13088 Group Parameter specification
13091 (agent-score ("from"
13092 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
13097 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
13103 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
13110 Category specification
13113 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
13119 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
13123 Group Parameter specification
13126 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
13129 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
13134 Use @code{normal} score files
13136 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
13137 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
13138 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
13139 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
13141 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
13142 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
13143 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
13144 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
13148 Category Specification
13155 Group Parameter specification
13158 (agent-score . file)
13163 @node The Category Buffer
13164 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
13166 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
13167 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
13168 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
13170 The following commands are available in this buffer:
13174 @kindex q (Category)
13175 @findex gnus-category-exit
13176 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
13179 @kindex k (Category)
13180 @findex gnus-category-kill
13181 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
13184 @kindex c (Category)
13185 @findex gnus-category-copy
13186 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
13189 @kindex a (Category)
13190 @findex gnus-category-add
13191 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
13194 @kindex p (Category)
13195 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
13196 Edit the predicate of the current category
13197 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
13200 @kindex g (Category)
13201 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
13202 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
13203 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
13206 @kindex s (Category)
13207 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
13208 Edit the download score rule of the current category
13209 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
13212 @kindex l (Category)
13213 @findex gnus-category-list
13214 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
13218 @node Category Variables
13219 @subsubsection Category Variables
13222 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
13223 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
13224 Hook run in category buffers.
13226 @item gnus-category-line-format
13227 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
13228 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
13229 Variables}). Valid elements are:
13233 The name of the category.
13236 The number of groups in the category.
13239 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
13240 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
13241 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
13243 @item gnus-agent-short-article
13244 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
13245 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
13247 @item gnus-agent-long-article
13248 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
13249 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
13251 @item gnus-agent-low-score
13252 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
13253 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
13256 @item gnus-agent-high-score
13257 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
13258 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
13264 @node Agent Commands
13265 @subsection Agent Commands
13267 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
13268 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
13269 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
13273 * Group Agent Commands::
13274 * Summary Agent Commands::
13275 * Server Agent Commands::
13278 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
13279 following incantation:
13281 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
13283 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
13288 @node Group Agent Commands
13289 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
13293 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
13294 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
13295 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
13296 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
13299 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
13300 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
13301 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
13304 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
13305 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
13306 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
13307 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
13310 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
13311 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
13312 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
13313 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
13316 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
13317 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
13318 Add the current group to an Agent category
13319 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
13320 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13323 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
13324 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
13325 Remove the current group from its category, if any
13326 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
13327 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13332 @node Summary Agent Commands
13333 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
13337 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
13338 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
13339 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
13342 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
13343 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
13344 Remove the downloading mark from the article
13345 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
13348 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
13349 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
13350 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
13353 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
13354 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
13355 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
13360 @node Server Agent Commands
13361 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
13365 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
13366 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
13367 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
13368 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
13371 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
13372 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
13373 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
13374 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
13380 @subsection Agent Expiry
13382 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
13383 @findex gnus-agent-expire
13384 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
13385 @cindex Agent expiry
13386 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
13389 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
13390 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
13391 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
13392 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
13393 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
13394 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
13396 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
13397 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
13398 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
13399 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
13400 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
13403 @node Outgoing Messages
13404 @subsection Outgoing Messages
13406 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
13407 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
13408 after posting, and edit them at will.
13410 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
13411 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
13412 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
13413 messages in the draft group.
13417 @node Agent Variables
13418 @subsection Agent Variables
13421 @item gnus-agent-directory
13422 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
13423 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
13424 @file{~/News/agent/}.
13426 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
13427 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
13428 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
13429 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
13430 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
13433 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
13434 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
13435 Hook run when connecting to the network.
13437 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
13438 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
13439 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
13444 @node Example Setup
13445 @subsection Example Setup
13447 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
13448 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
13449 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
13452 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
13453 ;;; from your ISP's server.
13454 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
13456 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
13457 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
13458 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
13460 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
13461 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13463 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
13467 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
13468 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
13471 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
13472 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
13473 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
13474 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
13475 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
13478 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
13479 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
13480 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
13481 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
13482 back all the killed groups.)
13484 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
13485 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
13486 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
13489 @node Batching Agents
13490 @subsection Batching Agents
13492 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
13493 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
13494 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
13498 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
13502 @node Agent Caveats
13503 @subsection Agent Caveats
13505 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
13506 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
13510 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
13515 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
13516 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
13522 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
13523 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
13530 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
13531 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
13532 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
13535 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
13536 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
13537 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
13538 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
13539 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
13541 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
13542 before generating the summary buffer.
13544 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
13545 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
13546 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
13548 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
13549 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
13550 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
13551 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
13554 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
13555 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
13556 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
13557 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
13558 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
13559 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
13560 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
13561 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
13562 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
13563 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
13564 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
13565 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
13566 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
13567 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
13568 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
13569 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
13573 @node Summary Score Commands
13574 @section Summary Score Commands
13575 @cindex score commands
13577 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
13578 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
13579 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
13580 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
13581 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
13583 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
13584 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
13585 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
13586 score file the current one.
13588 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
13593 @kindex V s (Summary)
13594 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
13595 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
13598 @kindex V S (Summary)
13599 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
13600 Display the score of the current article
13601 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
13604 @kindex V t (Summary)
13605 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
13606 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
13607 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
13610 @kindex V R (Summary)
13611 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
13612 Run the current summary through the scoring process
13613 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
13614 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
13615 effect you're having.
13618 @kindex V c (Summary)
13619 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
13620 Make a different score file the current
13621 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
13624 @kindex V e (Summary)
13625 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
13626 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
13627 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
13631 @kindex V f (Summary)
13632 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
13633 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
13634 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
13637 @kindex V F (Summary)
13638 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
13639 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
13640 after editing score files.
13643 @kindex V C (Summary)
13644 @findex gnus-score-customize
13645 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
13646 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
13650 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
13655 @kindex V m (Summary)
13656 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
13657 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
13658 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
13661 @kindex V x (Summary)
13662 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
13663 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
13664 expunge all articles below this score
13665 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
13668 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
13669 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
13672 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
13673 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
13677 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
13678 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
13680 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
13681 keys are available:
13685 Score on the author name.
13688 Score on the subject line.
13691 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
13694 Score on the @code{References} line.
13700 Score on the number of lines.
13703 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
13706 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
13707 the followups to this author.
13721 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
13722 what headers you are scoring on.
13734 Substring matching.
13737 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
13766 Greater than number.
13771 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
13772 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
13773 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
13777 Temporary score entry.
13780 Permanent score entry.
13783 Immediately scoring.
13788 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
13789 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
13790 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
13791 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
13793 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
13794 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
13795 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
13796 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
13797 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
13799 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
13800 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
13801 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
13802 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
13803 current score file.
13805 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
13806 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
13807 pretend they are keymaps or not.
13810 @node Group Score Commands
13811 @section Group Score Commands
13812 @cindex group score commands
13814 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
13819 @kindex W f (Group)
13820 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
13821 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
13822 all the time. This command will flush the cache
13823 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
13827 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
13829 @findex gnus-batch-score
13830 @cindex batch scoring
13832 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
13836 @node Score Variables
13837 @section Score Variables
13838 @cindex score variables
13842 @item gnus-use-scoring
13843 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
13844 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
13845 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
13847 @item gnus-kill-killed
13848 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
13849 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
13850 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
13851 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
13852 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
13853 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
13854 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
13856 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
13857 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
13858 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
13859 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
13860 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
13862 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
13863 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
13864 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
13865 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
13867 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
13868 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
13869 @cindex score cache
13870 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
13871 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
13872 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
13873 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
13874 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
13875 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
13878 @item gnus-save-score
13879 @vindex gnus-save-score
13880 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
13881 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
13882 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
13884 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
13885 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
13886 across group visits.
13888 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
13889 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
13890 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
13891 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
13892 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
13893 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
13894 manually entered data.
13896 @item gnus-summary-default-score
13897 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
13898 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
13900 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
13901 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
13902 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
13903 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
13904 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
13905 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
13907 @item gnus-score-over-mark
13908 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
13909 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
13910 default. Default is @samp{+}.
13912 @item gnus-score-below-mark
13913 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
13914 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
13915 default. Default is @samp{-}.
13917 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
13918 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
13919 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
13920 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
13922 Predefined functions available are:
13925 @item gnus-score-find-single
13926 @findex gnus-score-find-single
13927 Only apply the group's own score file.
13929 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
13930 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
13931 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
13932 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
13933 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
13934 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
13935 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
13936 then a regexp match is done.
13938 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
13939 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
13941 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
13942 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
13943 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
13944 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
13946 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
13947 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
13948 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
13949 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
13950 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
13953 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
13954 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
13955 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
13956 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
13957 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
13958 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
13961 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
13962 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
13963 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
13964 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
13965 are expired. It's 7 by default.
13967 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
13968 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
13969 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
13970 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
13971 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
13972 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
13973 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
13976 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
13977 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
13978 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
13980 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
13981 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
13982 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
13983 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
13984 threading---according to the current value of
13985 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
13986 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
13987 simplified in this manner.
13992 @node Score File Format
13993 @section Score File Format
13994 @cindex score file format
13996 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
13997 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
13998 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
14000 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
14004 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
14006 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
14008 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
14010 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
14015 (mark-and-expunge -10)
14019 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
14020 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
14021 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
14022 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
14026 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
14027 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
14029 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
14030 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
14031 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
14033 Six keys are supported by this alist:
14038 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
14039 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
14040 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
14041 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
14042 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
14043 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
14044 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
14045 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
14046 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
14047 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
14048 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
14049 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
14050 to articles that matches these score entries.
14052 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
14053 score entry has one to four elements.
14057 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
14058 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
14062 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
14063 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
14064 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
14065 is successful. If this element is not present, the
14066 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
14067 instead. This is 1000 by default.
14070 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
14071 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
14072 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
14073 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
14074 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
14077 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
14078 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
14079 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
14080 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
14083 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
14084 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
14085 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
14086 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
14087 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
14088 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
14089 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
14090 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
14091 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
14092 instead, if you feel like.
14095 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
14096 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
14098 These predicates are true if
14101 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
14104 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
14105 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
14112 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
14113 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
14114 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
14115 it's not. I think.)
14117 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
14118 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
14119 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
14120 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
14123 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
14124 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
14125 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
14126 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
14127 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
14128 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
14129 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
14133 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
14134 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
14135 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
14136 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
14137 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
14138 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
14139 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
14140 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
14143 @item Head, Body, All
14144 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
14148 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
14149 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
14150 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
14151 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
14152 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
14153 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
14154 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
14158 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
14159 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
14160 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
14161 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
14162 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
14163 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
14164 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
14165 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
14166 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
14167 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
14171 @cindex Score File Atoms
14173 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14174 lower than this number will be marked as read.
14177 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14178 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
14180 @item mark-and-expunge
14181 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14182 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
14185 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
14186 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
14187 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
14188 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
14189 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
14192 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
14193 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
14196 @item exclude-files
14197 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
14198 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
14202 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
14203 ignored when handling global score files.
14206 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
14207 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
14208 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
14209 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
14212 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
14213 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
14214 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
14215 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
14217 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
14221 (mark-and-expunge -100)
14224 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
14225 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
14226 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
14227 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
14228 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
14230 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
14231 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
14232 ordinary scoring rules.
14235 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
14236 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
14237 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
14238 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
14239 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
14240 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
14241 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
14242 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
14243 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
14244 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
14245 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
14249 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
14250 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
14251 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
14252 file for a number of groups.
14255 @cindex local variables
14256 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
14257 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
14258 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
14259 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
14260 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
14264 @node Score File Editing
14265 @section Score File Editing
14267 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
14268 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
14269 with a mode for that.
14271 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
14272 additional commands:
14277 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
14278 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
14279 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
14280 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
14283 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
14284 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
14285 Insert the current date in numerical format
14286 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
14287 you were wondering.
14290 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
14291 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
14292 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
14293 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
14294 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
14299 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
14301 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
14302 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
14304 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
14305 e} to begin editing score files.
14308 @node Adaptive Scoring
14309 @section Adaptive Scoring
14310 @cindex adaptive scoring
14312 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
14313 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
14314 stupidity, to be precise.
14316 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
14317 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
14318 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
14319 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
14320 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
14321 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
14322 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
14323 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
14324 variable to @code{(word line)}.
14326 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
14327 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
14328 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
14329 might look something like this:
14332 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
14333 '((gnus-unread-mark)
14334 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
14335 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
14336 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
14337 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
14338 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
14339 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
14340 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
14341 (gnus-ancient-mark)
14342 (gnus-low-score-mark)
14343 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
14346 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
14347 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
14348 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
14349 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
14350 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
14351 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
14354 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
14355 will be applied to each article.
14357 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
14358 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
14359 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
14360 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
14362 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
14363 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
14364 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
14365 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
14367 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
14368 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
14369 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
14370 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
14372 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
14373 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
14374 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
14375 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
14376 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
14377 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
14379 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
14380 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
14381 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
14382 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
14383 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
14384 aspirins afterwards.)
14386 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
14387 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
14388 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
14390 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
14391 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
14392 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
14394 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
14395 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
14396 let you use different rules in different groups.
14398 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
14399 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
14400 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
14403 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
14404 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
14405 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
14406 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
14407 the length of the match is less than
14408 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
14409 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
14412 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
14413 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
14414 headers. If you adapt on words, the
14415 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
14416 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
14419 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
14420 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
14421 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
14422 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
14423 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
14426 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
14427 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
14428 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
14429 score with 30 points.
14431 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
14432 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
14433 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
14434 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
14435 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
14437 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
14438 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
14439 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
14440 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
14442 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
14443 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
14444 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
14445 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
14447 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
14448 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
14449 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
14450 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
14451 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
14453 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
14454 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
14455 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
14457 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
14458 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
14459 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
14460 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
14463 @node Home Score File
14464 @section Home Score File
14466 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
14467 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
14468 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
14469 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
14471 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
14472 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
14473 could perhaps use the same home score file.
14475 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
14476 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
14481 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
14485 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
14486 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
14490 A list. The elements in this list can be:
14494 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
14495 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
14498 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
14499 the home score file.
14502 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
14505 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
14510 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
14513 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14514 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
14517 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
14518 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
14520 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
14522 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14523 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
14526 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
14527 Other functions include
14530 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
14531 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
14532 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
14533 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
14537 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
14538 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
14539 their own home score files:
14542 (setq gnus-home-score-file
14543 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
14544 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
14545 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
14546 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
14549 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
14550 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
14551 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
14552 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
14553 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
14555 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
14556 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
14557 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
14558 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
14559 precedence over this variable.
14562 @node Followups To Yourself
14563 @section Followups To Yourself
14565 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
14566 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
14567 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
14568 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
14569 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
14570 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
14574 @item gnus-score-followup-article
14575 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
14576 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
14579 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
14580 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
14581 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
14585 @vindex message-sent-hook
14586 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
14587 @code{message-sent-hook}.
14589 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
14590 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
14594 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
14595 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
14598 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
14599 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
14604 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
14608 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
14609 is system-dependent.
14613 @section Scoring Tips
14614 @cindex scoring tips
14620 @cindex scoring crossposts
14621 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
14622 the @code{Xref} header.
14624 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
14627 @item Multiple crossposts
14628 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
14629 more than, say, 3 groups:
14631 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
14634 @item Matching on the body
14635 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
14636 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
14637 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
14638 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
14639 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
14640 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
14641 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
14644 @item Marking as read
14645 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
14646 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
14647 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
14651 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
14653 @item Negated character classes
14654 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
14655 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
14656 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
14660 @node Reverse Scoring
14661 @section Reverse Scoring
14662 @cindex reverse scoring
14664 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
14665 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
14666 like this in your score file:
14670 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
14675 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
14676 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
14679 @node Global Score Files
14680 @section Global Score Files
14681 @cindex global score files
14683 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
14684 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
14685 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
14687 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
14688 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
14689 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
14691 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
14692 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
14693 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
14694 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
14695 files are applicable to which group.
14697 Say you want to use the score file
14698 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
14699 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
14702 (setq gnus-global-score-files
14703 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
14704 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
14707 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
14708 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
14709 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
14710 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
14711 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
14713 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
14714 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
14716 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
14717 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
14718 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
14719 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
14720 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
14721 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
14723 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
14729 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
14731 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
14733 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
14735 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
14736 lowered out of existence.
14738 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
14739 articles completely.
14742 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
14743 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
14744 old articles for a long time.
14747 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
14748 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
14749 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
14750 holding our breath yet?
14754 @section Kill Files
14757 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
14758 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
14759 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
14761 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
14762 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
14763 files into score files.
14765 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
14766 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
14767 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
14768 that isn't a very good idea.
14770 Normal kill files look like this:
14773 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14774 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
14778 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
14779 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
14781 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
14782 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
14785 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
14790 @kindex M-k (Summary)
14791 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
14792 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
14795 @kindex M-K (Summary)
14796 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
14797 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
14800 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
14805 @kindex M-k (Group)
14806 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
14807 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
14810 @kindex M-K (Group)
14811 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
14812 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
14815 Kill file variables:
14818 @item gnus-kill-file-name
14819 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
14820 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
14821 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
14822 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
14823 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
14824 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
14826 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
14827 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
14828 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
14829 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
14832 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
14833 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
14834 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
14835 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
14836 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
14837 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
14838 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
14839 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
14840 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
14842 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
14843 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
14844 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
14849 @node Converting Kill Files
14850 @section Converting Kill Files
14852 @cindex converting kill files
14854 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
14855 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
14856 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
14859 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
14860 You can fetch it from
14861 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
14863 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
14864 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
14865 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
14873 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
14874 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
14875 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
14877 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
14878 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
14879 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
14880 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
14881 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
14882 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
14883 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
14884 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
14888 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
14889 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
14890 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
14891 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
14895 @node Using GroupLens
14896 @subsection Using GroupLens
14898 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
14900 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
14901 better bit in town at the moment.
14903 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
14907 @item gnus-use-grouplens
14908 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
14909 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
14910 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
14912 @item grouplens-pseudonym
14913 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
14914 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
14915 with the Better Bit Bureau.
14917 @item grouplens-newsgroups
14918 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
14919 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
14923 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
14924 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
14925 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
14926 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
14927 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
14928 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
14931 @node Rating Articles
14932 @subsection Rating Articles
14934 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
14935 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
14936 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
14937 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
14940 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
14945 @kindex r (GroupLens)
14946 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
14947 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
14950 @kindex k (GroupLens)
14951 @findex grouplens-score-thread
14952 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
14953 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
14954 threads in rec.humor.
14958 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
14959 the score of the article you're reading.
14964 @kindex n (GroupLens)
14965 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
14966 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
14969 @kindex , (GroupLens)
14970 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
14971 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
14975 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
14976 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
14979 @node Displaying Predictions
14980 @subsection Displaying Predictions
14982 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
14983 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
14984 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
14985 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
14986 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
14988 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
14989 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
14990 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
14991 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
14992 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
14993 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
14994 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
14995 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
14996 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
14997 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
14998 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
14999 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
15000 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
15002 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
15003 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
15004 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
15005 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
15007 The following are valid values for that variable.
15010 @item prediction-spot
15011 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
15014 @item confidence-interval
15015 A numeric confidence interval.
15017 @item prediction-bar
15018 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
15020 @item confidence-bar
15021 Numerical confidence.
15023 @item confidence-spot
15024 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
15026 @item prediction-num
15027 Plain-old numeric value.
15029 @item confidence-plus-minus
15030 Prediction +/- confidence.
15035 @node GroupLens Variables
15036 @subsection GroupLens Variables
15040 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
15041 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
15042 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
15043 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
15046 @item grouplens-bbb-host
15047 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
15050 @item grouplens-bbb-port
15051 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
15053 @item grouplens-score-offset
15054 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
15055 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
15058 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
15059 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
15060 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
15065 @node Advanced Scoring
15066 @section Advanced Scoring
15068 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
15069 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
15070 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
15071 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
15072 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
15074 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
15078 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
15079 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
15080 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
15084 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
15085 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
15087 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
15088 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
15089 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
15090 non-@code{nil} value.
15092 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
15093 operator, and various match operators.
15100 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
15101 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
15102 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
15107 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
15108 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
15109 then this operator will return @code{false}.
15114 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
15115 logical negation of the value of its argument.
15119 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
15120 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
15121 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
15122 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
15123 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
15124 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
15125 the ancestry you want to go.
15127 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
15128 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
15129 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
15130 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
15131 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
15134 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
15135 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
15137 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
15138 when he's talking about Gnus:
15142 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15143 ("subject" "Gnus"))
15149 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
15153 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15160 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
15161 really don't want to read what he's written:
15165 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15166 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
15170 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
15171 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
15172 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
15179 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
15180 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
15181 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
15182 ("body" "white.*socks"))
15186 The possibilities are endless.
15189 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
15190 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
15192 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
15193 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
15194 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
15195 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
15196 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
15197 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
15198 @samp{subject}) first.
15200 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
15201 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
15212 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
15213 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
15219 ("subject" "Gnus")))
15226 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
15227 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
15232 @section Score Decays
15233 @cindex score decays
15236 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
15237 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
15238 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
15239 use them in any sensible way.
15241 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
15242 @findex gnus-decay-score
15243 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
15244 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
15245 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
15246 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
15247 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
15248 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
15249 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
15250 definition of that function:
15253 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
15255 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
15256 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
15259 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
15261 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
15263 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
15266 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
15267 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
15268 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
15269 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
15273 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
15276 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
15279 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
15283 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
15284 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
15285 the new score, which should be an integer.
15287 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
15288 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
15295 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
15296 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
15297 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
15298 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
15299 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
15300 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
15301 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
15302 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
15303 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
15304 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
15305 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
15306 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
15307 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
15308 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
15309 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
15310 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
15311 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
15312 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
15316 @node Process/Prefix
15317 @section Process/Prefix
15318 @cindex process/prefix convention
15320 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
15321 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
15323 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
15324 command to be performed on.
15328 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
15329 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
15330 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
15331 with the current one.
15333 @vindex transient-mark-mode
15334 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
15335 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
15337 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
15338 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
15341 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
15342 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
15344 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
15347 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
15348 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
15349 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
15350 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15352 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
15353 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
15354 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
15355 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
15356 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
15357 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
15358 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
15359 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
15363 @section Interactive
15364 @cindex interaction
15368 @item gnus-novice-user
15369 @vindex gnus-novice-user
15370 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
15371 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
15372 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
15373 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
15376 @item gnus-expert-user
15377 @vindex gnus-expert-user
15378 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
15379 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
15380 matter how strange.
15382 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
15383 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
15384 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
15385 is @code{t} by default.
15387 @item gnus-interactive-exit
15388 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
15389 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
15394 @node Symbolic Prefixes
15395 @section Symbolic Prefixes
15396 @cindex symbolic prefixes
15398 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
15399 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
15400 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
15401 rule of 900 to the current article.
15403 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
15404 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
15405 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
15406 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
15407 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
15408 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
15409 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
15411 @kindex M-i (Summary)
15412 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
15413 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
15414 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
15415 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
15416 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
15417 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
15418 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
15419 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
15421 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
15422 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
15423 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
15425 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
15429 @node Formatting Variables
15430 @section Formatting Variables
15431 @cindex formatting variables
15433 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
15434 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
15435 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
15436 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
15437 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
15440 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
15441 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
15442 lots of percentages everywhere.
15445 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
15446 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
15447 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
15448 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
15449 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
15452 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
15453 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
15454 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
15455 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
15456 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
15457 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
15458 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
15459 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
15461 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
15462 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
15464 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
15465 @findex gnus-update-format
15466 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
15467 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
15468 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
15469 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
15473 @node Formatting Basics
15474 @subsection Formatting Basics
15476 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
15477 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
15478 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
15480 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
15481 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
15482 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
15483 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
15484 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
15487 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
15488 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
15489 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
15490 less than 4 characters wide.
15493 @node Mode Line Formatting
15494 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
15496 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
15497 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
15498 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
15499 with the following two differences:
15504 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
15507 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
15508 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
15509 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
15510 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
15511 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
15512 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
15513 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
15518 @node Advanced Formatting
15519 @subsection Advanced Formatting
15521 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
15522 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
15523 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
15524 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
15526 These are the valid modifiers:
15531 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
15535 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
15540 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
15543 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
15548 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
15551 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
15554 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
15557 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
15561 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
15562 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
15563 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
15564 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
15565 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
15566 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
15567 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
15569 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
15570 last operation, padding.
15572 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
15573 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
15574 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
15575 @xref{Compilation}.
15578 @node User-Defined Specs
15579 @subsection User-Defined Specs
15581 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
15582 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
15583 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
15584 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
15585 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
15586 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
15587 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
15588 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
15589 should protect against that.
15591 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
15592 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
15593 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
15594 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
15598 @node Formatting Fonts
15599 @subsection Formatting Fonts
15601 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
15602 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
15603 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
15604 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
15607 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
15608 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
15609 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
15610 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
15611 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
15612 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
15614 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
15615 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
15616 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
15617 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
15618 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
15619 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
15620 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
15621 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
15623 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
15626 ;; Create three face types.
15627 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
15628 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
15630 ;; We want the article count to be in
15631 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
15632 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
15633 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
15635 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
15636 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
15638 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
15639 (setq gnus-group-line-format
15640 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
15643 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
15644 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
15646 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
15647 mode-line variables.
15650 @node Windows Configuration
15651 @section Windows Configuration
15652 @cindex windows configuration
15654 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
15656 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
15657 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
15658 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
15659 @code{t} by default.
15661 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
15662 glitches. Use at your own peril.
15664 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
15665 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
15666 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
15669 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
15670 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
15671 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
15675 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
15676 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
15677 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
15678 possible names is listed below.
15680 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
15681 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
15684 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
15688 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
15689 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
15690 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
15691 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
15692 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
15693 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
15694 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
15695 size spec per split.
15697 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
15698 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
15699 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
15700 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
15701 present) gets focus.
15703 Here's a more complicated example:
15706 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
15707 (summary 0.25 point)
15708 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
15712 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
15713 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
15714 occupy, not a percentage.
15716 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
15717 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
15718 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
15719 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
15720 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
15723 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
15726 (article (horizontal 1.0
15731 (summary 0.25 point)
15736 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
15737 @code{horizontal} thingie?
15739 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
15740 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
15741 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
15742 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
15743 the screen is to be given to this strip.
15745 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
15746 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
15747 lines from the splits.
15749 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
15753 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
15754 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
15755 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
15756 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
15757 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
15758 size = number | frame-params
15759 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
15762 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
15763 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
15764 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
15765 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
15767 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
15768 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
15769 @cindex window height
15770 @cindex window width
15771 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
15772 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
15773 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
15774 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
15775 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
15776 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
15778 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
15779 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
15780 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
15781 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
15783 @findex gnus-configure-frame
15784 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
15785 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
15786 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
15787 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
15788 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
15789 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
15790 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
15791 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
15792 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
15793 configuration list.
15796 (gnus-configure-frame
15800 (article 0.3 point))
15808 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
15809 @code{frame} split:
15812 (gnus-configure-frame
15815 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
15817 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
15818 (user-position . t)
15819 (left . -1) (top . 1))
15824 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
15825 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
15826 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
15827 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
15828 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
15829 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
15830 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
15831 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
15833 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
15834 be found in its default value.
15836 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
15837 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
15838 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
15842 (message (horizontal 1.0
15843 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
15845 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
15850 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
15851 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
15852 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
15855 (message (frame 1.0
15856 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
15857 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
15858 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
15859 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
15860 (name . "Message"))
15861 (message 1.0 point))))
15864 @findex gnus-add-configuration
15865 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
15866 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
15867 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
15868 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
15871 (gnus-add-configuration
15872 '(article (vertical 1.0
15874 (summary .25 point)
15878 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
15879 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
15880 Gnus has been loaded.
15882 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
15883 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
15884 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
15885 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
15886 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
15888 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
15889 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
15890 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
15894 @node Faces and Fonts
15895 @section Faces and Fonts
15900 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
15901 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
15902 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
15907 @section Compilation
15908 @cindex compilation
15909 @cindex byte-compilation
15911 @findex gnus-compile
15913 Remember all those line format specification variables?
15914 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
15915 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
15916 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
15917 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
15918 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
15921 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
15922 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
15923 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
15924 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
15925 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
15926 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
15927 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
15931 @section Mode Lines
15934 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
15935 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
15936 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
15937 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
15938 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
15939 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
15940 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
15943 @cindex display-time
15945 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
15946 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
15947 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
15948 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
15949 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
15950 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
15951 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
15952 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
15955 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
15957 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
15958 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
15960 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
15961 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
15962 (length display-time-string)))))
15965 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
15966 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
15967 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
15968 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
15969 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
15972 @node Highlighting and Menus
15973 @section Highlighting and Menus
15975 @cindex highlighting
15978 @vindex gnus-visual
15979 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
15980 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
15981 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
15984 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
15985 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
15988 @item group-highlight
15989 Do highlights in the group buffer.
15990 @item summary-highlight
15991 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
15992 @item article-highlight
15993 Do highlights in the article buffer.
15995 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
15997 Create menus in the group buffer.
15999 Create menus in the summary buffers.
16001 Create menus in the article buffer.
16003 Create menus in the browse buffer.
16005 Create menus in the server buffer.
16007 Create menus in the score buffers.
16009 Create menus in all buffers.
16012 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
16013 buffers, you could say something like:
16016 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
16019 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
16022 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
16025 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
16026 in all Gnus buffers.
16028 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
16031 @item gnus-mouse-face
16032 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
16033 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
16034 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
16038 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
16042 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
16043 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
16044 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
16046 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
16047 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
16048 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
16050 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
16051 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
16052 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
16054 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
16055 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
16056 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
16058 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
16059 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
16060 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
16062 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
16063 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
16064 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
16075 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
16076 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
16077 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
16078 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
16079 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
16083 @vindex gnus-carpal
16084 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
16085 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
16086 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
16091 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
16092 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
16093 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
16095 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
16096 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
16097 Face used on buttons.
16099 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
16100 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
16101 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
16103 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
16104 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
16105 Buttons in the group buffer.
16107 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
16108 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
16109 Buttons in the summary buffer.
16111 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
16112 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
16113 Buttons in the server buffer.
16115 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
16116 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
16117 Buttons in the browse buffer.
16120 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
16121 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
16122 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
16130 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
16131 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
16132 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
16133 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
16134 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
16136 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
16137 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
16138 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
16140 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
16141 been idle for thirty minutes:
16144 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
16147 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
16151 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
16154 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
16155 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
16156 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
16158 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
16159 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
16160 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
16161 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
16163 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
16164 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
16165 @var{idle} minutes.
16167 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
16168 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
16171 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
16172 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
16173 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
16175 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
16176 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
16177 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
16178 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
16180 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
16181 your @file{.gnus} file:
16183 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
16185 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
16188 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
16189 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
16190 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
16191 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
16192 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
16193 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
16194 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
16195 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
16196 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
16197 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
16198 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
16200 @findex gnus-demon-init
16201 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
16202 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
16203 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
16204 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
16205 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
16207 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
16208 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
16209 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
16218 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
16219 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
16221 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
16222 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
16223 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
16224 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
16227 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
16228 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
16229 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
16230 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
16232 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
16233 this will make spam disappear.
16235 There are some variables to customize, of course:
16238 @item gnus-use-nocem
16239 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
16240 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
16243 @item gnus-nocem-groups
16244 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
16245 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
16246 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
16247 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
16249 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
16250 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
16251 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
16252 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
16253 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
16254 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
16255 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
16257 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
16260 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
16261 @cindex Chris Lewis
16262 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
16263 usenet abuse than anybody else.
16266 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
16267 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
16268 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
16270 @item jem@@xpat.com;
16272 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
16275 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
16276 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
16277 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
16280 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
16281 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
16282 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
16283 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
16284 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
16285 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
16286 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
16287 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
16288 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
16289 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
16291 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
16292 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
16295 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
16298 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
16299 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
16302 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
16305 The specs are applied left-to-right.
16308 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
16309 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
16311 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
16312 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
16313 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
16314 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
16316 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
16317 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
16320 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
16322 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
16330 This might be dangerous, though.
16332 @item gnus-nocem-directory
16333 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
16334 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
16335 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
16337 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
16338 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
16339 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
16340 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
16341 might then see old spam.
16345 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
16346 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
16347 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
16348 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
16355 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
16356 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
16357 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
16359 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
16360 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
16361 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
16362 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
16363 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
16364 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
16365 @code{undo} function.
16367 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
16368 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
16369 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
16370 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
16371 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
16372 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
16373 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
16374 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
16375 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
16376 never be totally undoable.
16378 @findex gnus-undo-mode
16379 @vindex gnus-use-undo
16381 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
16382 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
16383 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
16384 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
16389 @section Moderation
16392 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
16393 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
16394 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
16397 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
16401 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
16404 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
16406 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
16411 You split your incoming mail by matching on
16412 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
16413 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
16416 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
16417 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
16420 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
16421 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
16425 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
16428 (setq gnus-moderated-list
16429 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
16433 @node XEmacs Enhancements
16434 @section XEmacs Enhancements
16437 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
16441 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
16442 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
16443 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
16444 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
16457 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
16458 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
16459 over your shoulder as you read news.
16462 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
16463 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
16464 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
16465 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
16466 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
16471 @subsubsection Picon Basics
16473 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
16482 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
16483 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
16484 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
16485 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
16486 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
16487 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
16488 @code{GIF} formats.
16491 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16492 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
16493 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
16494 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
16495 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
16497 @vindex gnus-picons-database
16498 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
16499 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
16500 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
16501 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
16502 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
16505 @node Picon Requirements
16506 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
16508 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
16509 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
16512 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
16513 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
16514 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
16516 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
16517 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
16518 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
16519 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
16520 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
16524 @subsubsection Easy Picons
16526 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
16527 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
16530 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
16531 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
16534 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
16535 containing the Picons databases.
16537 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
16540 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16541 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
16546 @subsubsection Hard Picons
16554 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
16555 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
16556 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
16557 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
16558 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
16563 @item gnus-picons-database
16564 @vindex gnus-picons-database
16565 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
16566 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
16567 subdirectories. This is only useful if
16568 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
16569 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
16571 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16572 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16573 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
16574 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
16575 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
16576 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
16577 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
16579 @item gnus-picons-display-where
16580 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
16581 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
16582 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
16583 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
16584 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
16585 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
16586 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
16588 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
16589 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
16590 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
16595 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
16596 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
16598 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
16599 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
16602 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
16604 @item gnus-article-display-picons
16605 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
16606 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
16607 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
16609 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
16610 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
16611 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
16617 @node Picon Useless Configuration
16618 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
16626 The following variables offer further control over how things are
16627 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
16628 don't need to worry about.
16632 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
16633 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
16634 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
16635 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
16637 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
16638 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
16639 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
16640 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
16642 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
16643 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
16644 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
16645 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
16646 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
16648 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
16649 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
16650 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
16651 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
16652 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
16653 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
16654 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
16656 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
16657 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
16658 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
16659 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
16661 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
16662 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
16663 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
16664 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
16665 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
16666 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
16667 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
16669 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
16670 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
16671 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
16672 Defaults to @code{nil}.
16674 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
16675 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
16676 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
16677 Defaults to @code{t}.
16679 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
16680 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
16681 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
16682 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
16684 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
16685 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
16686 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
16688 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
16689 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
16690 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
16691 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
16693 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
16694 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
16696 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
16697 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
16698 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
16699 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
16700 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
16701 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
16702 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
16703 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
16714 @subsection Smileys
16719 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
16724 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
16725 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
16727 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
16728 @file{.gnus.el} file:
16731 (setq gnus-treat-display-smiley t)
16734 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
16735 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
16736 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
16737 text and maps that to file names.
16739 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
16740 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
16741 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
16742 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
16743 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
16744 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
16746 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
16747 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
16749 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
16750 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
16751 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
16753 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
16754 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
16758 @item smiley-data-directory
16759 @vindex smiley-data-directory
16760 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
16762 @item smiley-flesh-color
16763 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
16764 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
16766 @item smiley-features-color
16767 @vindex smiley-features-color
16768 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
16770 @item smiley-tongue-color
16771 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
16772 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
16774 @item smiley-circle-color
16775 @vindex smiley-circle-color
16776 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
16778 @item smiley-mouse-face
16779 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
16780 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
16786 @subsection Toolbar
16796 @item gnus-use-toolbar
16797 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
16798 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
16799 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
16800 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
16802 @item gnus-group-toolbar
16803 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
16804 The toolbar in the group buffer.
16806 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
16807 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
16808 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
16810 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
16811 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
16812 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
16818 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
16821 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
16822 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
16823 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
16824 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
16825 unusual directory structure.
16827 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
16828 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
16829 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
16830 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
16832 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
16833 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
16834 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
16835 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
16836 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
16837 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
16839 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
16840 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
16841 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
16855 @node Fuzzy Matching
16856 @section Fuzzy Matching
16857 @cindex fuzzy matching
16859 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
16860 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
16862 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
16863 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
16864 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
16866 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
16867 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
16868 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
16869 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
16870 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
16873 @node Thwarting Email Spam
16874 @section Thwarting Email Spam
16878 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
16880 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
16881 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
16882 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
16883 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
16884 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
16885 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
16886 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
16887 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
16890 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
16891 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
16892 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
16893 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
16894 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
16895 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
16899 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
16900 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
16902 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
16903 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
16904 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
16905 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
16906 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
16907 part of the mail address.)
16910 (setq message-default-news-headers
16911 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
16914 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
16915 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
16920 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
16921 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
16922 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
16928 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
16929 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
16930 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
16931 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
16933 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
16934 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
16935 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
16936 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
16937 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
16938 your fancy split rule in this way:
16943 (to "larsi" "misc")
16947 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
16948 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
16949 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
16950 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
16951 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
16953 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
16954 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
16955 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
16956 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
16957 cosmic balance somewhat.
16959 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
16960 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
16961 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
16962 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
16965 @node Various Various
16966 @section Various Various
16972 @item gnus-home-directory
16973 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
16974 defaults to @file{~/}.
16976 @item gnus-directory
16977 @vindex gnus-directory
16978 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
16979 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
16980 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
16982 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
16983 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
16984 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
16985 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
16987 @item gnus-default-directory
16988 @vindex gnus-default-directory
16989 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
16990 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
16991 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
16992 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16993 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
16994 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
16997 @vindex gnus-verbose
16998 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
16999 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
17000 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
17001 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
17002 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
17004 @item gnus-verbose-backends
17005 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
17006 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
17007 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
17009 @item nnheader-max-head-length
17010 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
17011 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
17012 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
17013 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
17014 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
17015 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
17016 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
17017 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
17018 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
17020 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
17021 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
17022 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
17023 read when doing the operation described above.
17025 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17026 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17028 @cindex invalid characters in file names
17029 @cindex characters in file names
17030 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
17031 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
17032 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
17035 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17039 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
17040 Windows (phooey) systems.
17042 @item gnus-hidden-properties
17043 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
17044 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
17045 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
17046 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
17048 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
17049 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
17050 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
17051 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
17052 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
17054 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
17055 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
17056 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
17065 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
17066 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
17068 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
17070 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
17076 Not because of victories @*
17079 but for the common sunshine,@*
17081 the largess of the spring.
17085 but for the day's work done@*
17086 as well as I was able;@*
17087 not for a seat upon the dais@*
17088 but at the common table.@*
17093 @chapter Appendices
17096 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
17097 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
17098 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
17099 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
17100 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
17101 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
17102 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
17110 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
17111 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
17113 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
17114 can point your (feh!) web browser to
17115 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
17116 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
17117 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
17119 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
17120 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
17121 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
17122 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
17123 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
17124 appropriate name, don't you think?)
17126 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
17127 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
17128 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
17129 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
17131 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
17132 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
17133 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
17135 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
17136 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
17138 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
17139 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
17141 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
17142 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
17144 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
17145 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
17146 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
17147 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
17148 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
17152 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
17153 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
17154 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
17155 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
17156 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
17157 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
17158 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
17159 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
17166 What's the point of Gnus?
17168 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
17169 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
17170 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
17171 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
17172 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
17173 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
17174 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
17175 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
17176 keep track of millions of people who post?
17178 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
17179 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
17180 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
17181 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
17182 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
17183 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
17184 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
17185 every one of you to explore and invent.
17187 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
17188 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
17191 @node Compatibility
17192 @subsection Compatibility
17194 @cindex compatibility
17195 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
17196 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
17197 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
17202 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
17206 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
17209 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
17212 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
17213 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
17214 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
17215 important variables have their values copied into their global
17216 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
17217 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
17219 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
17220 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
17221 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
17222 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
17223 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
17227 @cindex highlighting
17228 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
17229 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
17230 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
17231 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
17232 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
17233 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
17236 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
17237 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
17238 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
17239 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
17241 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
17242 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
17243 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
17244 to stop doing it the old way.
17246 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
17248 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
17250 @cindex reporting bugs
17252 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
17253 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
17254 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
17256 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
17257 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
17258 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
17259 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
17264 @subsection Conformity
17266 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
17267 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
17274 There are no known breaches of this standard.
17278 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
17280 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
17281 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
17282 We do have some breaches to this one.
17288 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
17289 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
17290 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
17291 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
17292 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
17297 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
17298 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
17299 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
17300 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
17304 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
17305 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
17310 @subsection Emacsen
17316 Gnus should work on :
17324 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
17328 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
17329 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
17332 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
17333 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
17334 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
17338 @node Gnus Development
17339 @subsection Gnus Development
17341 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
17342 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
17343 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
17344 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
17345 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
17346 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
17347 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
17348 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
17350 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
17351 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
17352 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
17353 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
17354 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
17357 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
17358 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
17359 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
17360 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
17361 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
17363 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
17364 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
17365 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
17366 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
17367 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
17368 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
17369 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
17370 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
17371 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
17372 can't be assumed to do so.
17377 @subsection Contributors
17378 @cindex contributors
17380 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
17381 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
17382 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
17383 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
17384 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
17385 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
17386 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
17387 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
17388 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
17389 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
17391 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
17397 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
17400 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
17401 well as numerous other things).
17404 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
17407 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
17410 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el and many other things
17411 connected with @sc{mime} and other types of en/decoding.
17414 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
17415 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
17418 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
17421 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
17422 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
17425 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
17428 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
17431 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
17434 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
17437 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
17438 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
17441 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
17444 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
17447 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
17450 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
17454 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
17457 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
17460 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
17463 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
17464 well as autoconf support.
17468 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
17469 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
17471 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
17480 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
17484 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
17494 Alexei V. Barantsev,
17509 Massimo Campostrini,
17514 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
17515 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
17519 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
17522 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
17528 Michael Welsh Duggan,
17533 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
17537 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
17545 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
17547 Michelangelo Grigni,
17551 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
17553 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
17555 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
17562 François Felix Ingrand,
17563 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
17564 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
17566 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
17577 Peter Skov Knudsen,
17578 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
17580 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
17581 Thor Kristoffersen,
17584 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
17602 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
17603 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
17610 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
17615 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
17619 John McClary Prevost,
17625 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
17630 Christian von Roques,
17633 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
17640 Philippe Schnoebelen,
17642 Randal L. Schwartz,
17657 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
17662 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
17678 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
17683 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
17684 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
17685 (550kB and counting).
17687 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
17690 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
17691 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
17695 @subsection New Features
17696 @cindex new features
17699 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
17700 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
17701 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
17702 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
17705 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
17706 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
17707 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
17711 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
17713 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
17718 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
17719 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
17722 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
17723 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
17726 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
17729 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
17730 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
17731 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
17734 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
17735 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
17736 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
17737 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
17740 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
17741 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
17744 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
17745 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
17746 (@pxref{The Active File}).
17749 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
17750 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
17753 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
17754 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
17755 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
17758 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
17759 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
17760 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
17763 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
17764 the @file{.emacs} file.
17767 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
17768 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17771 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
17772 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
17775 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
17776 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
17779 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
17780 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
17783 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
17784 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
17787 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
17790 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
17791 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
17794 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
17795 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
17798 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
17799 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
17802 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
17805 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
17806 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
17809 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
17813 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
17817 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
17818 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
17821 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
17827 @node September Gnus
17828 @subsubsection September Gnus
17832 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
17836 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
17841 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
17842 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
17846 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
17847 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
17851 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
17855 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
17856 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
17859 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
17863 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
17866 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
17869 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
17872 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
17876 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
17877 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
17880 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
17884 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
17888 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
17892 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
17896 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
17899 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
17900 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
17903 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
17907 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
17908 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
17911 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
17914 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
17915 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
17916 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
17919 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
17923 The Gnus cache is much faster.
17926 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
17930 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
17931 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
17934 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
17935 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
17938 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
17939 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
17942 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
17943 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
17944 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
17947 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
17948 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
17951 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
17954 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
17957 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
17960 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
17963 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
17964 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
17967 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
17971 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
17974 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
17979 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
17982 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
17986 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
17989 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
17993 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
17996 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
17999 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
18000 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
18003 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
18004 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
18008 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
18009 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
18012 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
18016 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
18017 buffer to allow easier treatment.
18020 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
18023 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
18027 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
18031 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
18032 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
18035 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
18039 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
18040 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
18043 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
18044 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
18047 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
18051 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
18054 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
18057 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
18063 @subsubsection Red Gnus
18065 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
18069 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
18076 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
18079 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
18080 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
18083 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
18084 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
18088 Article washing status can be displayed in the
18089 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
18092 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
18095 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
18096 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
18099 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
18103 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
18104 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
18108 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
18109 Server Internals}).
18112 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
18116 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
18119 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
18120 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
18123 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
18124 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
18125 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
18128 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
18129 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
18132 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
18133 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
18136 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
18140 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
18141 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
18144 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
18145 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
18148 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
18152 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
18155 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
18159 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
18160 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
18163 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
18164 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
18167 A new command for reading collections of documents
18168 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
18169 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
18172 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
18176 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
18177 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
18180 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
18181 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
18182 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
18185 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
18186 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
18190 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
18194 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
18198 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
18203 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
18207 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
18211 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
18212 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
18215 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
18221 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
18223 New features in Gnus 5.6:
18228 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
18229 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
18230 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
18233 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
18234 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
18235 group, which is created automatically.
18238 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
18242 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
18245 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
18246 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
18249 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
18253 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
18256 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
18257 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
18260 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
18263 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
18264 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
18267 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
18268 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
18271 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
18272 control over simplification.
18275 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
18278 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
18282 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
18285 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
18288 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
18289 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
18290 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
18293 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
18294 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
18297 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
18301 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
18302 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
18305 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
18306 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
18309 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
18313 A history of where mails have been split is available.
18316 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
18319 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
18320 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
18323 A new function for citing in Message has been
18324 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
18327 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
18330 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
18334 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
18335 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
18338 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
18339 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
18342 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
18345 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
18350 @node Newest Features
18351 @subsection Newest Features
18354 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
18357 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
18359 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
18360 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
18363 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
18368 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
18369 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
18372 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
18375 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
18378 facep is not declared.
18381 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
18382 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
18385 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
18390 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
18391 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
18392 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
18393 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
18394 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
18395 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
18396 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
18401 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
18404 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
18407 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
18409 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
18410 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
18412 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
18414 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
18416 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
18417 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
18419 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
18421 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
18422 be marked as unread.
18424 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
18426 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
18428 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
18429 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
18431 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
18433 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
18435 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
18436 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
18438 topics that contain just groups with ticked
18439 articles aren't displayed.
18441 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
18443 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
18444 make the mail groups killed.
18446 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
18448 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
18449 and articles have to be removed.
18451 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
18454 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
18456 finding short score file names takes forever.
18458 canceling articles in foreign groups.
18460 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
18462 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
18464 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
18466 nnweb doesn't work properly.
18468 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
18470 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
18471 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
18475 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
18477 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
18478 bar and the Gnus bar.
18481 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
18482 `(canonize-message-id id)'
18483 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
18484 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
18485 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
18486 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
18491 nnml .overview directory with splits.
18495 postponed commands.
18497 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
18499 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
18502 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
18503 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
18505 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
18506 inherit copy prompts and save files.
18508 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
18510 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
18511 for backends that support that.
18513 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
18515 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
18516 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
18518 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
18519 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
18521 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
18523 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
18525 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
18527 server mode command: close/open all connections
18529 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
18530 has been changed before using it.
18532 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
18534 hide (sub)threads with low score.
18536 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
18538 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
18540 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
18541 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
18543 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
18544 contain groups that match a regexp.
18546 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
18549 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
18552 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
18553 from subject lines.
18555 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
18557 nntp-ping-before-connect
18559 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
18561 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
18562 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
18564 message annotations.
18566 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
18568 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
18569 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
18571 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
18576 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
18578 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
18580 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
18582 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
18583 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
18585 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
18587 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
18589 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
18590 finds and generate proper active ranges.
18592 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
18593 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
18595 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
18597 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
18599 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
18600 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
18602 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
18604 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
18606 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
18607 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
18610 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
18612 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
18614 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
18615 `C-c C-c' when posting.
18617 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
18620 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
18621 should be marker as expirable.
18623 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
18625 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
18626 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
18628 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
18629 Also consult Date headers.
18631 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
18633 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
18635 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
18636 Message-ID, delete the "original".
18638 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
18639 into a See-Also header.
18641 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
18643 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
18645 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
18646 should be listed as such and not as "K".
18648 generate font names dynamically.
18650 score file mode auto-alist.
18652 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
18653 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
18655 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
18656 absolutely all headers there is.
18658 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
18659 and pipe them to the process.
18661 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
18662 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
18663 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
18665 function for starting to edit a file to put into
18666 the current mail group.
18668 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
18670 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
18671 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
18673 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
18674 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
18676 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
18678 when replying to several process-marked articles,
18679 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
18681 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
18682 groups it has been mailed to.
18684 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
18686 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
18688 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
18690 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
18691 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
18693 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
18694 newlines) should be ignored.
18696 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
18697 groups in subtopics as well.
18699 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
18701 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
18704 add edit and forward secondary marks.
18706 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
18708 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
18710 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
18712 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
18714 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
18716 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
18717 or the formatted article.
18719 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
18721 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
18722 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
18724 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
18726 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
18728 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
18730 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
18731 even unread articles.
18733 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
18735 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
18737 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
18739 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
18741 canceling articles in foreign groups.
18743 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
18746 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
18747 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
18749 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
18750 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
18752 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
18754 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
18756 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
18757 from a particular server? Hm.
18759 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
18760 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
18762 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
18764 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
18765 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
18767 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
18768 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
18770 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
18771 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
18772 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
18775 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
18776 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
18778 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
18780 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
18782 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
18784 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
18787 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
18790 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
18791 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
18793 command to show and edit group scores
18795 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
18798 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
18800 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
18802 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
18803 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
18806 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
18807 that are of that length.
18809 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
18811 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
18813 asynchronous posting under nntp.
18815 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
18817 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
18819 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
18821 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
18822 a score lower than this number.
18824 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
18826 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
18828 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
18829 so that each copy can be edited separately.
18831 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
18833 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
18834 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
18836 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
18839 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
18840 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
18841 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
18842 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
18844 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
18847 command to remove all topic stuff.
18849 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
18850 and splitting the resulting digests.
18852 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
18854 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
18856 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
18857 matches an alist -- before saving.
18859 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
18861 variable to activate each group before entering them
18862 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
18864 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
18865 starting Gnus first if necessary.
18867 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
18868 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
18870 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
18872 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
18873 of several groups at once.
18875 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
18876 matches some regexp(s).
18878 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
18880 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
18882 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
18884 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
18886 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
18888 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
18890 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
18892 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
18893 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
18894 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
18895 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
18897 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
18898 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
18900 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
18902 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
18903 recently cited text.
18905 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
18907 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
18910 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
18911 server and just read the articles in the server
18913 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
18914 value of nnoo variables.
18916 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
18918 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
18919 listed in each group info.
18921 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
18924 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
18925 should only be applied to some groups.
18927 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
18928 mail-copies-to: never.
18930 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
18931 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
18933 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
18935 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
18938 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
18941 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
18943 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
18946 group user-defined meta-parameters.
18950 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
18952 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
18953 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
18954 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
18955 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
18956 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
18958 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
18959 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
18966 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
18967 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
18969 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
18970 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
18972 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
18973 "Return the date the group was last read."
18974 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
18979 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
18980 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
18981 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
18982 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
18986 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
18987 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
18989 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
18992 They could be used like this:
18996 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
18997 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
18998 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
19000 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
19002 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
19005 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
19008 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
19009 affect the summary line format.
19013 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
19015 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
19016 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
19018 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
19021 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
19023 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
19025 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
19027 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
19029 - For other files, just find them normally.
19031 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
19032 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
19035 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
19036 tell him what you are doing.
19039 Currently, I get prompted:
19043 decend into sci.something ?
19047 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
19048 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
19049 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
19050 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
19053 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
19054 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
19055 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
19056 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
19059 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
19060 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
19066 more than n blank lines
19068 more than m identical lines
19069 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
19071 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
19075 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
19076 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
19077 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
19078 "same" subject for threading purposes.
19081 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
19082 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
19083 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
19084 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
19087 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
19090 soup - bowl of soup
19091 score below - dim light bulb
19092 score over - bright light bulb
19095 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
19100 show-list-of-articles-in-group
19101 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
19102 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
19103 if (articles-selected)
19104 start-reading-selected-articles;
19105 junk-unread-articles;
19110 else if (key-pressed = '.')
19111 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
19112 select-thread-under-cursor;
19114 select-article-under-cursor;
19118 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
19119 if (more-pages-in-article)
19121 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
19128 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
19129 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
19130 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
19133 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
19134 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
19135 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
19136 the wildcard expression).
19139 It would be nice if it also handled
19141 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
19143 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
19148 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
19149 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
19150 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
19151 article versions) variable.
19153 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
19155 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
19156 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
19160 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
19163 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
19164 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
19165 (message-sent-hook).
19167 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
19170 * Enhancements to Gnus:
19174 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
19175 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
19178 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
19179 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
19180 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
19183 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
19184 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
19188 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
19191 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
19195 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
19196 the nnmail duplicate checking.
19199 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
19200 value of the signature file.
19203 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
19204 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
19207 (setq message-tab-alist
19208 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
19209 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
19211 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
19215 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
19218 a command to import a buffer into a group.
19221 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
19224 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
19225 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
19228 a command to process mark all unread articles.
19231 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
19232 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
19233 do more gathering by subject.
19236 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
19237 article numerical order.
19240 (gnus-thread-total-score
19241 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
19245 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
19248 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
19249 in the summary buffer.
19252 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
19253 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
19256 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
19257 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
19258 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
19259 and/or newsgroup name.
19262 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
19265 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
19268 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
19271 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
19272 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
19273 will automatically get the process mark.
19276 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
19277 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
19278 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
19281 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
19285 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
19286 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
19289 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
19290 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
19294 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
19295 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
19298 be able to post via DejaNews.
19301 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
19304 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
19305 allow them to be displayed separately.
19308 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
19309 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
19312 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
19313 articles that match a certain From header.
19316 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
19317 saving living summary buffers.
19320 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
19321 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
19324 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
19325 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
19328 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
19329 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
19332 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
19333 (goto-char (point-min))
19334 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
19335 (replace-match "`" t t))
19336 (goto-char (point-min))
19337 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
19338 (replace-match "'" t t))
19339 (goto-char (point-min))
19340 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
19341 (replace-match "\"" t t))
19342 (goto-char (point-min))
19343 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
19344 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
19349 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
19351 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
19352 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
19353 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
19354 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
19358 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
19361 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
19362 numbers and match on the age of the article.
19366 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
19367 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
19368 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
19370 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
19371 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
19373 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
19374 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
19379 all commands that react to the process mark should push
19380 the current process mark set onto the stack.
19383 gnus-article-hide-pgp
19384 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
19386 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
19388 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
19389 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
19392 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
19393 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
19396 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
19400 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
19401 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
19404 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
19407 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
19410 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
19413 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
19417 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
19423 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
19426 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
19430 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
19431 X characters in the body.
19434 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
19437 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
19440 format spec to "tab" to a position.
19443 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
19446 command to display all dormant articles.
19449 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
19452 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
19453 to something someone else has said.
19456 Read Netscape discussion groups:
19457 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
19460 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
19461 the displayed version.
19464 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
19468 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
19471 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
19472 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
19473 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
19477 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
19478 in the head or body.
19481 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
19484 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
19487 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
19488 in a special, unique buffer.
19491 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
19494 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
19495 is less than a certain number of days old.
19498 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
19501 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
19504 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
19505 file, for instance.
19508 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
19509 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
19510 dummy root instead of the first article.
19513 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
19514 topics for displaying.
19517 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
19518 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
19521 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
19524 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
19525 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
19526 summary buffer for each article.
19529 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
19532 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
19536 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
19539 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
19543 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
19546 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
19549 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
19550 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
19553 `S D r' should allow expansion of aliases.
19556 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
19557 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
19560 Fetch by Message-ID from dejanews.
19562 <URL:http://search.dejanews.com/msgid.xp?MID=%3C62h9l9$hm4@@basement.replay.com%3E&fmt=raw>
19565 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
19566 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
19569 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
19570 timeout for all commands.
19573 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
19574 It should go somewhere else.
19577 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
19578 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
19579 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
19581 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
19582 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
19584 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
19585 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
19592 Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
19593 --text follows this line--
19594 Sorry I killfiled you...
19596 Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
19598 Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
19603 Allow "orphan" scores in the Agent scoring.
19607 - Edit article's summary line.
19609 - Sort lines in buffer by subject
19611 --> the old subject line appears in Summary buffer, not the one that was
19617 Remove list identifiers from the subject in the summary when doing `^'
19621 Solve the halting problem.
19630 @section The Manual
19634 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
19635 either @code{texi2dvi}
19637 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
19638 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
19640 to get what you hold in your hands now.
19642 The following conventions have been used:
19647 This is a @samp{string}
19650 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
19653 This is a @file{file}
19656 This is a @code{symbol}
19660 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
19664 (setq flargnoze "yes")
19667 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
19670 (setq flumphel 'yes)
19673 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
19674 ever get them confused.
19678 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
19679 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
19680 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
19681 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
19682 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
19683 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
19684 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
19692 @section Terminology
19694 @cindex terminology
19699 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
19700 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
19701 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
19702 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
19703 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
19707 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
19708 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
19709 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
19710 not posting, and replying is not following up.
19714 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
19718 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
19723 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
19724 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
19725 is all done by the backends.
19729 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
19730 default, way of getting news.
19734 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
19735 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
19740 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
19741 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
19745 A message that has been posted as news.
19748 @cindex mail message
19749 A message that has been mailed.
19753 A mail message or news article
19757 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
19762 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
19767 A line from the head of an article.
19771 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
19772 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
19776 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
19777 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
19778 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
19779 normal @sc{head} format.
19783 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
19784 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
19785 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
19786 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
19787 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
19788 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
19790 @item killed groups
19791 @cindex killed groups
19792 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
19793 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
19795 @item zombie groups
19796 @cindex zombie groups
19797 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
19800 @cindex active file
19801 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
19802 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
19803 is rather large, as you might surmise.
19806 @cindex bogus groups
19807 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
19808 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
19809 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
19812 @cindex activating groups
19813 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
19814 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
19815 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
19819 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
19821 @item select method
19822 @cindex select method
19823 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
19826 @item virtual server
19827 @cindex virtual server
19828 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
19829 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
19830 whole is a virtual server.
19834 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
19835 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
19838 @item ephemeral groups
19839 @cindex ephemeral groups
19840 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
19841 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
19842 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
19845 @cindex solid groups
19846 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
19847 group buffer are solid groups.
19849 @item sparse articles
19850 @cindex sparse articles
19851 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
19852 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
19856 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
19857 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
19861 @cindex thread root
19862 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
19863 articles in the thread.
19867 An article that has responses.
19871 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
19875 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
19876 specified by RFC1153.
19882 @node Customization
19883 @section Customization
19884 @cindex general customization
19886 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
19887 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
19888 for some quite common situations.
19891 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
19892 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
19893 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
19894 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
19898 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
19899 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
19901 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
19902 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
19903 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
19907 @item gnus-read-active-file
19908 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
19909 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
19910 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
19911 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
19912 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
19914 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
19915 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
19916 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
19917 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
19921 @node Slow Terminal Connection
19922 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
19924 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
19925 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
19926 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
19930 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
19931 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
19932 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
19933 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
19934 horizontal and vertical recentering.
19936 @item gnus-visible-headers
19937 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
19938 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
19939 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
19940 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
19942 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
19944 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
19945 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
19946 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
19949 @item gnus-use-full-window
19950 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
19951 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
19952 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
19953 want to read them anyway.
19955 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
19956 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
19959 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
19960 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
19961 lines, which might save some time.
19965 @node Little Disk Space
19966 @subsection Little Disk Space
19969 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
19970 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
19974 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
19975 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
19976 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
19977 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19980 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
19981 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
19982 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
19983 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19986 @item gnus-save-killed-list
19987 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
19988 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
19989 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
19990 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
19996 @subsection Slow Machine
19997 @cindex slow machine
19999 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
20000 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
20002 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20003 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
20005 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
20006 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
20007 summary buffer faster.
20011 @node Troubleshooting
20012 @section Troubleshooting
20013 @cindex troubleshooting
20015 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
20023 Make sure your computer is switched on.
20026 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
20027 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
20031 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
20032 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
20033 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
20034 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
20037 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
20041 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
20042 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
20043 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
20044 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
20045 something like that.
20048 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
20051 @cindex reporting bugs
20053 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20055 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
20056 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
20057 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
20058 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
20060 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
20061 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
20062 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
20063 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
20066 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
20067 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
20068 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
20069 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
20070 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
20071 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
20073 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
20074 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
20075 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
20078 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
20079 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
20081 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
20082 @cindex ding mailing list
20083 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
20084 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
20088 @node Gnus Reference Guide
20089 @section Gnus Reference Guide
20091 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
20092 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
20093 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
20094 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
20097 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
20098 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
20099 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
20100 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
20101 and general methods of operation.
20104 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
20105 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
20106 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
20107 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
20108 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
20109 * Group Info:: The group info format.
20110 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
20111 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
20112 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
20116 @node Gnus Utility Functions
20117 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
20118 @cindex Gnus utility functions
20119 @cindex utility functions
20121 @cindex internal variables
20123 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
20124 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
20125 Below is a list of the most common ones.
20129 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
20130 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
20131 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
20133 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
20134 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
20135 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
20137 @item gnus-group-real-name
20138 @findex gnus-group-real-name
20139 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
20142 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
20143 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
20144 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
20145 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
20147 @item gnus-get-info
20148 @findex gnus-get-info
20149 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
20151 @item gnus-group-unread
20152 @findex gnus-group-unread
20153 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
20157 @findex gnus-active
20158 The active entry for @var{group}.
20160 @item gnus-set-active
20161 @findex gnus-set-active
20162 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
20164 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20165 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20166 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
20169 @item gnus-continuum-version
20170 @findex gnus-continuum-version
20171 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
20172 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
20175 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
20176 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
20177 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
20179 @item gnus-news-group-p
20180 @findex gnus-news-group-p
20181 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
20183 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20184 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20185 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
20187 @item gnus-server-to-method
20188 @findex gnus-server-to-method
20189 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
20191 @item gnus-server-equal
20192 @findex gnus-server-equal
20193 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
20195 @item gnus-group-native-p
20196 @findex gnus-group-native-p
20197 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
20199 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
20200 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
20201 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
20203 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
20204 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
20205 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
20207 @item group-group-find-parameter
20208 @findex group-group-find-parameter
20209 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
20210 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
20212 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
20213 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
20214 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
20216 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
20217 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
20218 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
20220 @item gnus-check-backend-function
20221 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
20222 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
20223 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
20226 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
20230 @item gnus-read-method
20231 @findex gnus-read-method
20232 Prompts the user for a select method.
20237 @node Backend Interface
20238 @subsection Backend Interface
20240 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
20241 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
20242 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
20243 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
20244 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
20245 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
20247 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
20248 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
20249 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
20250 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
20251 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
20252 been opened, the function should fail.
20254 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
20255 name. Take this example:
20259 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
20260 (nntp-port-number 4324))
20263 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
20264 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
20266 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
20267 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
20268 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
20270 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
20271 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
20272 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
20274 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
20275 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
20276 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
20277 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
20278 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
20279 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
20282 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
20283 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
20284 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
20285 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
20288 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
20291 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
20294 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
20295 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
20296 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
20297 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
20298 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
20299 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
20303 @node Required Backend Functions
20304 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
20308 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
20310 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
20311 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
20312 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
20313 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
20315 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
20316 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
20317 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
20318 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
20320 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
20321 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
20322 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
20323 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
20324 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
20325 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
20326 number, do maximum fetches.
20328 Here's an example HEAD:
20331 221 1056 Article retrieved.
20332 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
20333 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
20334 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
20335 Subject: Re: Something very droll
20336 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
20337 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
20339 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
20340 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
20341 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
20345 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
20346 these in the data buffer.
20348 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
20352 head = error / valid-head
20353 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
20354 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
20355 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
20356 header = <text> eol
20359 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
20360 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
20364 nov-buffer = *nov-line
20365 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
20366 field = <text except TAB>
20369 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
20373 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
20375 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
20376 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
20378 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
20379 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
20380 server. In fact, it should do so.
20382 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
20383 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
20386 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
20388 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
20389 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
20392 There should be no data returned.
20395 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
20397 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
20398 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
20399 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
20400 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
20402 There should be no data returned.
20405 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
20407 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
20408 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
20409 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
20410 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
20412 There should be no data returned.
20415 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
20417 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
20419 There should be no data returned.
20422 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
20424 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
20425 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
20426 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
20427 it would be nice if that were possible.
20429 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
20430 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
20431 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
20432 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
20433 into its article buffer.
20435 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
20436 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
20437 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
20438 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
20439 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
20440 on successful article retrieval.
20443 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
20445 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
20446 making @var{group} the current group.
20448 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
20451 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
20454 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
20457 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
20458 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
20459 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
20460 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
20461 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
20462 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
20463 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
20464 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
20467 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
20468 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
20469 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
20473 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
20475 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
20476 a no-op on most backends.
20478 There should be no data returned.
20481 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
20483 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
20486 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
20489 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
20490 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
20493 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
20494 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
20497 active-file = *active-line
20498 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
20500 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
20503 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
20504 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
20505 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
20508 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
20510 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
20511 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
20512 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
20513 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
20514 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
20515 clear if the posting could not be completed.
20517 There should be no result data from this function.
20522 @node Optional Backend Functions
20523 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
20527 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
20529 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
20530 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
20531 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
20533 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
20534 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
20535 former is in the same format as the data from
20536 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
20537 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
20540 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
20544 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
20546 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
20547 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
20548 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
20549 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
20550 should return the (altered) group info.
20552 There should be no result data from this function.
20555 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
20557 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
20558 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
20559 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
20560 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
20561 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
20562 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
20563 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
20564 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
20566 There should be no result data from this function.
20569 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
20571 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
20572 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
20573 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as IMAP) however carry all
20574 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
20575 the mark information to the server.
20577 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
20580 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
20583 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
20584 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
20585 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
20586 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
20587 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
20588 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
20589 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
20590 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
20591 not limit itself to theese.
20593 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
20594 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
20595 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
20596 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
20598 An example action list:
20601 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
20602 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
20603 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
20606 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
20607 mark on (currently not used for anything).
20609 There should be no result data from this function.
20611 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
20613 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
20614 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
20615 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
20616 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
20617 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
20619 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
20620 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
20621 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
20624 There should be no result data from this function.
20627 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
20629 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
20630 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
20631 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
20632 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
20633 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
20634 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
20635 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
20637 There should be no result data from this function.
20640 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
20642 The result data from this function should be a description of
20646 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
20648 description = <text>
20651 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
20653 The result data from this function should be the description of all
20654 groups available on the server.
20657 description-buffer = *description-line
20661 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
20663 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
20664 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
20665 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
20668 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
20670 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
20672 There should be no return data.
20675 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
20677 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
20678 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
20679 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
20680 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
20681 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
20684 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
20687 There should be no result data returned.
20690 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
20693 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
20694 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
20696 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
20697 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
20698 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
20699 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
20700 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
20701 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
20703 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
20704 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
20707 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
20708 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
20710 There should be no data returned.
20713 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
20715 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
20716 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
20717 this function in short order.
20719 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
20720 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
20722 There should be no data returned.
20725 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
20727 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
20728 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
20730 There should be no data returned.
20733 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
20735 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
20736 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
20737 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
20739 There should be no data returned.
20742 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
20744 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
20745 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
20747 There should be no data returned.
20752 @node Error Messaging
20753 @subsubsection Error Messaging
20755 @findex nnheader-report
20756 @findex nnheader-get-report
20757 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
20758 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
20759 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
20760 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
20761 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
20762 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
20765 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
20767 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
20770 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
20771 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
20772 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
20773 takes one argument---the server symbol.
20775 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
20776 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
20777 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
20780 @node Writing New Backends
20781 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
20783 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
20784 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
20785 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
20786 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
20787 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
20790 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
20791 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
20792 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
20794 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
20795 package called @code{nnoo}.
20797 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
20798 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
20804 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
20805 parameters. For instance:
20808 (nnoo-declare nndir
20812 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
20813 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
20816 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
20817 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
20818 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
20820 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
20821 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
20822 a function in those backends.
20825 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
20826 "Where nndir will look for groups."
20827 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
20830 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
20831 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
20832 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
20834 @item nnoo-define-basics
20835 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
20839 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
20843 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
20844 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
20845 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
20847 @item nnoo-map-functions
20848 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
20849 functions from the parent backends.
20852 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
20853 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20854 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
20857 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
20858 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
20859 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
20860 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
20863 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
20864 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
20865 haven't already been defined.
20871 nnmh-request-newgroups)
20875 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
20876 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
20877 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
20882 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
20885 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
20886 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
20890 (require 'nnheader)
20894 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
20896 (nnoo-declare nndir
20899 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
20900 "Where nndir will look for groups."
20901 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
20903 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
20904 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
20907 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
20908 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
20909 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
20911 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
20912 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
20914 ;;; Interface functions.
20916 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
20918 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
20919 (setq nndir-directory
20920 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
20922 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
20923 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
20924 (push `(nndir-current-group
20925 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
20927 (push `(nndir-top-directory
20928 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
20930 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
20932 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
20933 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20934 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
20935 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
20936 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
20940 nnmh-status-message
20942 nnmh-request-newgroups))
20948 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
20949 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
20951 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
20952 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
20953 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
20954 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
20956 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
20957 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
20962 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
20965 The abilities can be:
20969 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
20971 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
20973 This backend supports both mail and news.
20975 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
20978 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
20979 articles and groups.
20981 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
20982 true for almost all backends.
20983 @item prompt-address
20984 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
20985 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
20986 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
20990 @node Mail-like Backends
20991 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
20993 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
20994 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
20995 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
20996 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
20999 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
21000 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
21001 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
21004 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
21005 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
21008 This function takes four parameters.
21012 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
21015 @item exit-function
21016 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
21018 @item temp-directory
21019 Where the temporary files should be stored.
21022 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
21023 performed for one group only.
21026 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
21027 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
21028 find the article number assigned to this article.
21030 The function also uses the following variables:
21031 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
21032 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
21033 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
21034 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
21038 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
21039 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
21043 @node Score File Syntax
21044 @subsection Score File Syntax
21046 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
21047 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
21048 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
21050 Here's a typical score file:
21054 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
21061 BNF definition of a score file:
21064 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
21065 element = rule / atom
21066 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
21067 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
21068 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
21069 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
21071 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
21072 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
21073 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
21074 date-header = "date"
21075 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21076 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21077 score = "nil" / <integer>
21078 date = "nil" / <natural number>
21079 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
21080 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
21081 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
21082 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
21083 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21084 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21085 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
21086 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21087 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
21088 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
21089 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
21090 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
21091 exclude-files / read-only / touched
21092 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
21093 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
21094 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
21095 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
21096 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
21097 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
21098 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
21099 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
21100 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
21101 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
21102 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
21103 eval = "eval" space <form>
21104 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
21107 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
21110 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
21111 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
21112 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
21113 one looong line, then that's ok.
21115 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
21116 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21120 @subsection Headers
21122 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
21123 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
21124 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
21125 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
21127 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
21128 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
21129 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
21130 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
21131 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
21132 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
21133 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
21135 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
21136 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
21137 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
21138 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
21139 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
21141 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
21142 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
21148 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
21149 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
21151 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
21152 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
21153 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
21154 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
21156 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
21160 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
21163 is transformed into
21166 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
21169 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
21170 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
21173 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
21176 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
21177 is slightly tricky:
21180 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
21186 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
21189 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
21195 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
21202 and is equal to the previous range.
21204 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
21205 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
21206 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
21210 range = simple-range / normal-range
21211 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
21212 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
21213 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
21214 number *[ " " contents ]
21217 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
21218 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
21219 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
21220 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
21221 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
21226 @subsection Group Info
21228 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
21229 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
21230 describes the group.
21232 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
21233 second is a more complex one:
21236 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
21238 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
21239 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
21241 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
21244 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
21245 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
21246 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
21247 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
21248 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
21249 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
21250 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
21251 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
21252 this section is about.
21254 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
21255 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
21256 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
21258 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
21261 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
21262 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
21263 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21264 group = quote <string> quote
21265 ralevel = rank / level
21266 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21267 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
21268 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21270 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
21271 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
21272 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
21273 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
21276 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
21277 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
21280 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
21281 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
21284 @item gnus-info-group
21285 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
21286 @findex gnus-info-group
21287 @findex gnus-info-set-group
21288 Get/set the group name.
21290 @item gnus-info-rank
21291 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
21292 @findex gnus-info-rank
21293 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
21294 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
21296 @item gnus-info-level
21297 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
21298 @findex gnus-info-level
21299 @findex gnus-info-set-level
21300 Get/set the group level.
21302 @item gnus-info-score
21303 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
21304 @findex gnus-info-score
21305 @findex gnus-info-set-score
21306 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
21308 @item gnus-info-read
21309 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
21310 @findex gnus-info-read
21311 @findex gnus-info-set-read
21312 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
21314 @item gnus-info-marks
21315 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
21316 @findex gnus-info-marks
21317 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
21318 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
21320 @item gnus-info-method
21321 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
21322 @findex gnus-info-method
21323 @findex gnus-info-set-method
21324 Get/set the group select method.
21326 @item gnus-info-params
21327 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
21328 @findex gnus-info-params
21329 @findex gnus-info-set-params
21330 Get/set the group parameters.
21333 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
21334 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
21336 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
21337 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
21338 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
21339 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
21342 @node Extended Interactive
21343 @subsection Extended Interactive
21344 @cindex interactive
21345 @findex gnus-interactive
21347 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
21348 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
21349 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
21352 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
21353 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
21358 The best thing to do would have been to implement
21359 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
21360 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
21361 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
21362 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
21363 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
21364 @code{interactive}.
21366 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
21371 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
21372 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
21376 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
21377 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
21378 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
21381 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
21385 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
21389 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
21395 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
21396 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
21400 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
21401 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
21402 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
21404 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
21405 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
21406 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
21407 Gnus, that's very useful.
21409 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
21410 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
21411 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
21412 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
21413 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
21414 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
21415 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
21416 following function:
21419 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
21423 (,function ,@@args))
21427 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
21428 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
21429 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
21432 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
21433 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
21434 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
21436 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
21437 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
21438 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
21441 @node Various File Formats
21442 @subsection Various File Formats
21445 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
21446 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
21450 @node Active File Format
21451 @subsubsection Active File Format
21453 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
21454 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
21457 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
21460 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
21461 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
21462 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
21463 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
21464 no.general 1000 900 y
21467 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
21470 active = *group-line
21471 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
21472 group = <non-white-space string>
21474 high-number = <non-negative integer>
21475 low-number = <positive integer>
21476 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
21479 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
21480 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
21483 @node Newsgroups File Format
21484 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
21486 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
21487 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
21488 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
21491 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
21492 Here's the definition:
21496 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
21497 group = <non-white-space string>
21499 description = <string>
21504 @node Emacs for Heathens
21505 @section Emacs for Heathens
21507 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
21508 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
21509 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
21510 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
21511 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
21512 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
21513 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
21517 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
21518 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
21523 @subsection Keystrokes
21527 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
21530 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
21533 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
21534 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
21535 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
21536 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
21537 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
21538 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
21540 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
21541 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
21542 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
21543 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
21544 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
21545 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
21546 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
21548 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
21549 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
21550 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
21551 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
21552 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
21553 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
21554 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
21556 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
21557 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
21558 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
21559 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
21560 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
21566 @subsection Emacs Lisp
21568 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
21569 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
21570 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
21571 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
21573 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
21574 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
21575 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
21576 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
21577 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
21578 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
21579 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
21582 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
21583 write the following:
21586 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
21589 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
21590 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
21591 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
21594 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
21595 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
21596 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
21597 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
21598 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
21600 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
21601 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
21602 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
21606 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
21610 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
21613 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
21614 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
21617 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
21620 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
21621 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
21624 @include gnus-faq.texi