1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
4 @settitle Red Gnus 0.41 Manual
11 @setchapternewpage odd
15 \documentclass[twoside,a4paper,openright]{book}
16 \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
17 \usepackage{pagestyle}
19 \fontfamily{bembo}\selectfont
24 \newcommand{\gnuschaptername}{}
25 \newcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
27 \newcommand{\gnusbackslash}{/}
29 \newcommand{\gnusxref}[1]{See ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
30 \newcommand{\gnuspxref}[1]{see ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
32 \newcommand{\gnuskindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
33 \newcommand{\gnusindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
35 \newcommand{\gnustt}[1]{{\textbf{\textsf{#1}}}}
36 \newcommand{\gnuscode}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
37 \newcommand{\gnussamp}[1]{``\gnustt{#1}''}
38 \newcommand{\gnuslisp}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
39 \newcommand{\gnuskbd}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
40 \newcommand{\gnusfile}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
41 \newcommand{\gnusdfn}[1]{\textit{#1}}
42 \newcommand{\gnusi}[1]{\textit{#1}}
43 \newcommand{\gnusstrong}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
44 \newcommand{\gnusemph}[1]{\textit{#1}}
45 \newcommand{\gnusvar}[1]{\textsl{\textsf{#1}}}
46 \newcommand{\gnussc}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
47 \newcommand{\gnustitle}[1]{{\huge\textbf{#1}}}
48 \newcommand{\gnusauthor}[1]{{\large\textbf{#1}}}
50 \newcommand{\gnusbullet}{{${\bullet}$}}
51 \newcommand{\gnusdollar}{\$}
52 \newcommand{\gnusampersand}{\&}
53 \newcommand{\gnuspercent}{\%}
54 \newcommand{\gnushash}{\#}
55 \newcommand{\gnushat}{\symbol{"5E}}
56 \newcommand{\gnusunderline}{\symbol{"5F}}
57 \newcommand{\gnusnot}{$\neg$}
58 \newcommand{\gnustilde}{\symbol{"7E}}
59 \newcommand{\gnusless}{{$<$}}
60 \newcommand{\gnusgreater}{{$>$}}
62 \newcommand{\gnushead}{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=gnus-head.eps,height=1cm}}}
63 \newcommand{\gnusinteresting}{
64 \marginpar[\hspace{2.5cm}\gnushead]{\gnushead}
67 \newcommand{\gnuscleardoublepage}{\ifodd\count0\clearpage\thispagestyle{empty}\mbox{}\clearpage\else\clearpage\fi}
69 \newcommand{\gnuspagechapter}[1]{
76 \newcommand{\gnuschapter}[2]{
78 \ifdim \gnusdimen = 0pt\setcounter{page}{1}\pagestyle{gnus}\pagenumbering{arabic} \gnusdimen 1pt\fi
80 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
81 \renewcommand{\gnuschaptername}{#2}
84 \begin{picture}(500,500)(0,0)
85 \put(0,0){\makebox(480,350)[tr]{#1}}
86 \put(40,300){\makebox(500,50)[bl]{{\Huge\bf{#2}}}}
91 \newcommand{\gnusitemx}[1]{\mbox{}\vspace*{-\itemsep}\vspace*{-\parsep}\item#1}
93 \newcommand{\gnussection}[1]{
94 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{#1}
98 \newenvironment{codelist}%
103 \newenvironment{kbdlist}%
109 \newenvironment{dfnlist}%
114 \newenvironment{stronglist}%
119 \newenvironment{samplist}%
124 \newenvironment{varlist}%
129 \newenvironment{emphlist}%
134 \newlength\gnusheadtextwidth
135 \setlength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{\headtextwidth}
136 \addtolength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{1cm}
138 \newpagestyle{gnuspreamble}%
143 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\mbox{}}\textbf{\hfill\roman{page}}}
147 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\roman{page}\hfill\mbox{}}}
156 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
158 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
163 \newpagestyle{gnusindex}%
168 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\gnuschaptername\hfill\arabic{page}}}}
172 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}
180 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
182 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
192 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{chapter}.\arabic{section}} \textbf{\gnussectionname\hfill\arabic{page}}}}
196 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}
204 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
206 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=gnus-big-logo.eps,height=1cm}}
211 \pagenumbering{roman}
212 \pagestyle{gnuspreamble}
222 %\addtolength{\oddsidemargin}{-5cm}
223 %\addtolength{\evensidemargin}{-5cm}
225 \addtolength{\textheight}{2cm}
227 \gnustitle{\gnustitlename}\\
230 \hspace*{-1cm}\epsfig{figure=gnus-big-logo.eps,height=15cm}
233 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
240 \thispagestyle{empty}
242 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
244 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
245 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
246 are preserved on all copies.
248 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
249 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
250 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
251 permission notice identical to this one.
253 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
254 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
263 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
265 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
267 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
268 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
269 are preserved on all copies.
272 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
273 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
274 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
275 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
278 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
279 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
280 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
281 permission notice identical to this one.
283 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
284 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
290 @title Red Gnus 0.41 Manual
292 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
295 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
296 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
299 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
300 are preserved on all copies.
302 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
303 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
304 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
305 permission notice identical to this one.
307 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
308 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
317 @top The Red Gnus Newsreader
321 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
322 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
323 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
335 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
336 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
338 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
339 being accused of plagiarism:
341 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
342 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
343 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
344 even read news with it!
346 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
347 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
348 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
349 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
350 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
357 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
358 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
359 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
360 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
361 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
362 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
363 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
364 * Various:: General purpose settings.
365 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
366 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
367 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
368 * Key Index:: Key Index.
372 @chapter Starting Gnus
377 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
378 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
381 @findex gnus-other-frame
382 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
383 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
384 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
386 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
390 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
391 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
392 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
393 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
394 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
395 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
396 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
397 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
398 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
399 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
400 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
404 @node Finding the News
405 @section Finding the News
408 @vindex gnus-select-method
410 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
411 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
412 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
413 native method. All groups that are not fetched with this method are
416 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
417 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
420 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
423 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
426 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
429 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
430 certainly be much faster.
432 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
434 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
435 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
436 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
437 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
438 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
439 that fails as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is
440 running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
442 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
443 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
444 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
445 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
447 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
448 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
449 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
450 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
451 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
452 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
454 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
456 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
457 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
458 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
459 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
460 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
461 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
463 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
465 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
466 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
467 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
468 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
469 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
470 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
473 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
474 would typically set this variable to
477 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
482 @section The First Time
483 @cindex first time usage
485 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
486 be subscribed by default.
488 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
489 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
490 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
491 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
494 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
495 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is here
496 defined as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
498 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
499 help you with most common problems.
501 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
502 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
506 @node The Server is Down
507 @section The Server is Down
508 @cindex server errors
510 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
511 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
512 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
514 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
515 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
516 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
517 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
518 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
519 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
520 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
522 @findex gnus-no-server
523 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
525 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
526 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
527 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
528 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
529 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
530 @code{1} and @code{2}. (You should preferably keep no native groups on
535 @section Slave Gnusae
538 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
539 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
540 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
541 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
543 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
546 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
547 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
548 @dfn{servants}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
549 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
550 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
551 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
552 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
554 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
555 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
556 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
557 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
558 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
559 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
560 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
561 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
563 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
564 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
567 @node Fetching a Group
568 @section Fetching a Group
569 @cindex fetching a group
571 @findex gnus-fetch-group
572 It it sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
573 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
574 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
575 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
576 It takes the group name as a parameter.
584 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
585 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
586 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
587 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
588 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
589 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
590 is @code{t} by default.
593 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
594 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
595 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
599 @node Checking New Groups
600 @subsection Checking New Groups
602 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
603 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
604 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
605 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
606 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
607 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
608 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
609 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
610 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
611 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
613 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
614 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
615 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
616 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
617 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
618 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
619 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
620 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
621 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
622 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
623 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
625 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
626 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
627 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
628 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
629 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
630 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
633 @node Subscription Methods
634 @subsection Subscription Methods
636 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
637 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
638 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
640 This variable should contain a function. Some handy pre-fab values
645 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
646 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
647 Make all new groups zombies. You can browse the zombies later (with
648 @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly, or subscribe to them.
651 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
652 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
653 Subscribe all new groups randomly.
655 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
656 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
657 Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.
659 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
660 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
661 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
662 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
663 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
664 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
665 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
666 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
667 up. Or something like that.
669 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
670 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
671 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
672 you about @strong{all} new groups.
674 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
675 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
680 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
681 A closely related variable is
682 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
683 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
684 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
685 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
688 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
689 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
690 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
693 @node Filtering New Groups
694 @subsection Filtering New Groups
696 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
697 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
698 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
701 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
704 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
705 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
706 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
707 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
708 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
709 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
710 subscribing these groups.
711 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
712 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
714 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
715 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
716 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
717 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
718 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
719 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
720 and if the the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
721 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
723 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
724 Yet another variable that meddles here is
725 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
726 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
727 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
728 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
729 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
730 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
731 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
732 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
735 @node Changing Servers
736 @section Changing Servers
737 @cindex changing servers
739 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
740 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
741 very flaky and you want to use another.
743 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
744 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
748 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
749 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
750 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
751 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
754 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
755 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
756 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
757 functions more than absolutely necessary.
759 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
760 @findex gnus-change-server
761 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
762 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
763 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
764 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
765 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
767 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
768 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
769 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
770 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
771 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
773 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
774 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
775 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
776 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
777 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
778 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
782 @section Startup Files
783 @cindex startup files
788 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
789 information is traditionally stored in this file.
791 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
792 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
793 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
794 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
795 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
796 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
797 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
799 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
800 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
801 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
802 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
804 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
805 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
806 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
807 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
808 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
809 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
811 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
812 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
813 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
814 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
815 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
816 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
817 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
818 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
819 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
820 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
821 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
822 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
824 @vindex gnus-startup-file
825 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
826 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
827 file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
829 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
830 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
831 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
832 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
833 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
834 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
835 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
836 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
837 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
838 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
841 (defun turn-off-backup ()
842 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
844 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
845 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
848 @vindex gnus-init-file
849 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
850 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus.el} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
851 (@file{~/.gnus.el} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
852 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{.emacs} and
853 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff.
861 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
862 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
863 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
864 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
865 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
868 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
869 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
872 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
873 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
874 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
876 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
877 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
878 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
879 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
880 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
881 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
884 @node The Active File
885 @section The Active File
887 @cindex ignored groups
889 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
890 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
891 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
893 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
894 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
895 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
896 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
897 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
898 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
899 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
902 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
903 @c if you set it to anything else.
905 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
907 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
908 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
909 reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
911 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
912 you actually subscribe to.
914 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
915 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
916 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
917 considerably, unless you read news over a @code{2400} baud modem.
919 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
920 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
921 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
922 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
923 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
924 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
926 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
927 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
928 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
929 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
930 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
931 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
933 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
934 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
937 @node Startup Variables
938 @section Startup Variables
943 @vindex gnus-load-hook
944 A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
945 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
946 times you start Gnus.
948 @item gnus-startup-hook
949 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
950 A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.
952 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
953 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
954 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
955 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
956 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
957 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
958 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
959 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
961 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
962 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
963 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
964 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead of doing
967 @item gnus-no-groups-message
968 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
969 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
973 @node The Group Buffer
974 @chapter The Group Buffer
977 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
978 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
979 long as Gnus is active.
982 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
983 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
984 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
985 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
986 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
987 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
988 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
989 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
990 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
991 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
992 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
993 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
994 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
995 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
996 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
997 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
998 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1002 @node Group Buffer Format
1003 @section Group Buffer Format
1006 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1007 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1008 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1012 @node Group Line Specification
1013 @subsection Group Line Specification
1014 @cindex group buffer format
1016 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1017 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1019 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1022 25: news.announce.newusers
1023 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1028 You can see that there are @code{25} unread articles in
1029 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1030 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1031 asterisk at the beginning of the line?)
1033 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1034 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1035 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1036 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1037 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1038 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1040 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1042 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1043 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1044 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1045 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1048 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1049 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1050 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1052 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1057 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1060 Whether the group is subscribed.
1063 Level of subscribedness.
1066 Number of unread articles.
1069 Number of dormant articles.
1072 Number of ticked articles.
1075 Number of read articles.
1078 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1079 minus @var{min-number} plus @code{1}.)
1082 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1085 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1094 Newsgroup description.
1097 @samp{m} if moderated.
1100 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1109 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1113 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1116 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1117 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1118 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1119 The default is @code{1}---this will mean that group names like
1120 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1123 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1124 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
1125 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1126 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1127 paratere as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1128 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1133 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1134 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1135 group, or a bogus native group.
1138 @node Group Modeline Specification
1139 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1140 @cindex group modeline
1142 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1143 The mode line can be changed by setting
1144 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). It
1145 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1149 The native news server.
1151 The native select method.
1155 @node Group Highlighting
1156 @subsection Group Highlighting
1157 @cindex highlighting
1158 @cindex group highlighting
1160 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1161 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1162 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1163 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1164 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1166 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1170 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1172 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1173 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1174 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1176 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1178 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1180 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1184 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1191 The number of unread articles in the group.
1195 Whether the group is a mail group.
1197 The level of the group.
1199 The score of the group.
1201 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1203 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1206 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1207 topic being inserted.
1210 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1211 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1212 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1214 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1215 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1216 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1217 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1218 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1221 @node Group Maneuvering
1222 @section Group Maneuvering
1223 @cindex group movement
1225 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1226 expected, hopefully.
1232 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1233 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1234 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1240 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1241 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1242 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1246 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1247 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1251 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1252 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1256 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1257 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1258 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1262 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1263 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1264 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1267 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1273 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1274 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1275 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1280 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1281 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1282 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1286 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1287 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1288 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1291 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1292 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1293 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1294 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1298 @node Selecting a Group
1299 @section Selecting a Group
1300 @cindex group selection
1305 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1306 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1307 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1308 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1309 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1310 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1311 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1312 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1313 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1314 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1318 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1319 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1320 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1321 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1322 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1326 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1327 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1328 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1329 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1330 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1331 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1332 enter some humongous group. If you give a @code{0} prefix to this command
1333 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer.
1334 This might be useful if you want to toggle threading before entering the
1338 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1339 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1340 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1341 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1342 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1346 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1347 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1348 to be a big group. This is @code{200} by default. If the group has
1349 more (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1350 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1351 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1352 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1353 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1356 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1357 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1358 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1359 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1364 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1365 full summary buffer.
1368 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1371 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1375 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1376 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1377 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1381 @node Subscription Commands
1382 @section Subscription Commands
1383 @cindex subscription
1391 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1392 Toggle subscription to the current group
1393 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1399 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1400 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1401 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1402 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1408 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1409 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1415 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1416 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1419 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1420 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1421 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1422 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1423 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1429 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1430 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1434 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1435 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1438 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1439 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1440 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1441 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1442 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1443 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1444 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level @code{7} will
1445 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1446 @file{.newsrc} file.
1450 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1460 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1461 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1462 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1463 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1464 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1469 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1470 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1471 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1475 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1476 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1477 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1479 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1480 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1481 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1482 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1483 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1484 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1491 @section Group Levels
1495 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1496 group is on level @code{2}, it is more subscribed than a group on level @code{5}. You
1497 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1498 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1499 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1501 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1507 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1508 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1509 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1510 prompted for a level.
1513 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1514 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1515 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1516 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1517 Gnus considers groups on between levels @code{1} and
1518 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default @code{5}) to be subscribed,
1519 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1520 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default @code{7}) to be
1521 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1522 (default @code{8}) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default @code{9}),
1523 completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
1524 the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
1525 articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
1526 living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
1527 for reasons of efficiency.
1529 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1530 low levels (e.g. @code{1} or @code{2}).
1532 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1533 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1534 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1536 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1537 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1538 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1539 (default @code{3}) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default @code{6}),
1540 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1541 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1542 relevant legal ranges.
1544 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1545 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1546 will only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower). In
1547 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1548 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1549 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1552 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1553 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1554 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1557 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1558 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1559 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1560 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1563 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1564 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1565 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1566 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1568 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1569 Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
1570 @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to activate
1571 unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to
1572 @code{5}. The default is @code{6}.
1576 @section Group Score
1579 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1580 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1581 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1584 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1585 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1586 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1587 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1588 that is on level @code{4} and has a score of @code{1} has a higher rank than a group
1589 on level @code{5} that has a score of @code{300}. (The level is the most significant
1590 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1592 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1593 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1594 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1595 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1596 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1597 action after each summary exit, you can add
1598 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1599 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1600 slow things down somewhat.
1603 @node Marking Groups
1604 @section Marking Groups
1605 @cindex marking groups
1607 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1608 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1609 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1610 bidding on those groups.
1612 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1613 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1614 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1622 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1623 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1629 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1630 Remove the mark from the current group
1631 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1635 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1636 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1640 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1641 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1645 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1646 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1650 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1651 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1652 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1655 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1657 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1658 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1659 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1660 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1661 the command to be executed.
1664 @node Foreign Groups
1665 @section Foreign Groups
1666 @cindex foreign groups
1668 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1669 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1670 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1671 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1678 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1679 @cindex making groups
1680 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1681 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1682 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1686 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1687 @cindex renaming groups
1688 Rename the current group to something else
1689 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some
1690 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1695 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1696 @cindex renaming groups
1697 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1698 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1702 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1703 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1704 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1708 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1709 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1710 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1714 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1716 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1717 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1722 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1723 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1727 @cindex (ding) archive
1728 @cindex archive group
1729 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1730 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1731 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1732 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1733 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1734 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1735 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1739 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1741 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1742 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1743 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1744 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1748 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1750 Read an arbitrary directory as if with were a newsgroup with the
1751 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1752 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1756 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1757 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1759 Make a group based on some file or other
1760 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1761 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1762 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1763 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs}, and
1764 @code{forward}. If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will
1765 guess at the file type. @xref{Document Groups}.
1769 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1774 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1775 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1776 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1777 search engine type and the search string. Legal search engine types
1778 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1779 @xref{Web Searches}.
1782 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1783 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1784 This function will delete the current group
1785 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1786 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1787 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1788 absolutely sure of what you are doing.
1792 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1793 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1794 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1798 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1799 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1800 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1803 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1806 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1807 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1808 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1809 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1810 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1813 @node Group Parameters
1814 @section Group Parameters
1815 @cindex group parameters
1817 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1822 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1823 @code{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1824 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1825 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1826 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1827 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1828 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1829 copies of your followups.
1831 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1832 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1833 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1834 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1835 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1836 list address instead.
1840 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1841 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1842 doing a @kbd{a} in any group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1843 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1844 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1846 @item broken-reply-to
1847 @cindex broken-reply-to
1848 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1849 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1850 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1851 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1852 broken behavior. So there!
1856 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
1857 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
1861 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list and set to
1862 @code{t}, new composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current
1863 group. If it is present and set to @code{none}, no @code{Gcc:} header
1864 will be generated, if it is present and a string, this string will be
1865 inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header (this symbol takes precedence over
1866 any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later).
1870 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, all articles that
1871 are read will be marked as expirable. For an alternative approach,
1872 @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
1875 @cindex total-expire
1876 If this symbol is present, all read articles will be put through the
1877 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
1882 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
1883 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
1884 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
1885 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
1886 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
1887 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
1890 @cindex score file group parameter
1891 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
1892 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. This
1893 means that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.
1896 @cindex adapt file group parameter
1897 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
1898 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
1899 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
1902 When unsubscribing to a mailing list you should never send the
1903 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
1904 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
1905 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
1908 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} says which articles to
1909 display on entering the group. Legal values are:
1913 Display all articles, both read and unread.
1916 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
1921 This parameter allows you to enter an arbitrary comment on the group.
1923 @item @var{(variable form)}
1924 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
1925 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
1926 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
1927 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
1928 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
1929 @code{eval}ed there.
1931 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
1932 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
1933 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
1934 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
1935 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
1939 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group.
1941 Also @pxref{Topic Parameters}.
1944 @node Listing Groups
1945 @section Listing Groups
1946 @cindex group listing
1948 These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
1956 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
1957 List all groups that have unread articles
1958 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
1959 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
1960 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
1961 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
1968 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
1969 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
1970 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
1971 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
1972 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
1973 unsubscribed groups).
1977 @findex gnus-group-list-level
1978 List all unread groups on a specific level
1979 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
1980 with no unread articles.
1984 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
1985 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
1986 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
1987 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
1992 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
1993 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
1997 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
1998 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
1999 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2003 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2004 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2008 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2009 List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
2010 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2011 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2012 to do a @kbd{A m} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2013 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list group that
2014 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they are killed groups.
2015 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2019 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2020 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2021 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2025 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2026 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2027 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2031 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2032 @cindex visible group parameter
2033 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2034 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2035 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2036 get the same effect.
2038 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2039 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2040 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2041 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2042 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2045 @node Sorting Groups
2046 @section Sorting Groups
2047 @cindex sorting groups
2049 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2050 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2051 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2052 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2053 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2054 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2059 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2060 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2061 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2063 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2064 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2065 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2067 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2068 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2069 Sort by group level.
2071 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2072 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2073 Sort by group score.
2075 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2076 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2077 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2078 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
2080 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2081 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2082 Sort by number of unread articles.
2084 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2085 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2086 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2091 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2092 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2096 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2097 some sorting criteria:
2101 @kindex G S a (Group)
2102 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2103 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2104 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2107 @kindex G S u (Group)
2108 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2109 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2110 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2113 @kindex G S l (Group)
2114 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2115 Sort the group buffer by group level
2116 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2119 @kindex G S v (Group)
2120 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2121 Sort the group buffer by group score
2122 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
2125 @kindex G S r (Group)
2126 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2127 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2128 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
2131 @kindex G S m (Group)
2132 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2133 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2134 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2138 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
2140 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2144 @kindex G P a (Group)
2145 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2146 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2147 group name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2150 @kindex G P u (Group)
2151 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2152 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by the number of
2153 unread articles (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2156 @kindex G P l (Group)
2157 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2158 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group level
2159 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2162 @kindex G P v (Group)
2163 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2164 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group score
2165 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}).
2168 @kindex G P r (Group)
2169 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2170 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group rank
2171 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}).
2174 @kindex G P m (Group)
2175 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2176 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2177 backend name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2183 @node Group Maintenance
2184 @section Group Maintenance
2185 @cindex bogus groups
2190 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2191 Find bogus groups and delete them
2192 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2196 @findex gnus-find-new-newsgroups
2197 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-find-new-newsgroups}). If
2198 given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server for
2202 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2203 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2204 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2205 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2208 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2209 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2210 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2211 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2216 @node Browse Foreign Server
2217 @section Browse Foreign Server
2218 @cindex foreign servers
2219 @cindex browsing servers
2224 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2225 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2226 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2227 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2230 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2231 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2232 will be use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2233 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2235 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2240 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2241 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2245 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2246 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2249 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2250 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2251 Enter the current group and display the first article
2252 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2255 @kindex RET (Browse)
2256 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2257 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2261 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2262 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2263 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2269 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2270 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2274 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2275 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2276 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2281 @section Exiting Gnus
2282 @cindex exiting Gnus
2284 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2289 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2290 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2291 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2292 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2296 @findex gnus-group-exit
2297 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2301 @findex gnus-group-quit
2302 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2303 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2306 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2307 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2308 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2309 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2310 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2315 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2316 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2317 trying to customize meta-variables.
2322 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, feels her feet go
2323 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2324 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2330 @section Group Topics
2333 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2334 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2335 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2336 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2337 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2338 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2346 2: alt.religion.emacs
2349 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2351 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2352 13: comp.sources.unix
2355 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2357 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2358 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2359 is a toggling command.)
2361 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2362 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2363 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2364 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2367 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2368 the hook for the group mode:
2371 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2375 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2376 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2377 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2378 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2379 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2383 @node Topic Variables
2384 @subsection Topic Variables
2385 @cindex topic variables
2387 Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2388 really neat, I think.
2390 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2391 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2392 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2405 Number of groups in the topic.
2407 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2409 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2412 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2413 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2414 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2415 The default is @code{2}.
2417 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2418 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2420 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2421 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2422 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2425 @node Topic Commands
2426 @subsection Topic Commands
2427 @cindex topic commands
2429 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2430 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2431 definitions slightly.
2437 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2438 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2439 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2443 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2444 Move the current group to some other topic
2445 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2446 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2450 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2451 Copy the current group to some other topic
2452 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2453 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2457 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2458 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2459 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2460 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2464 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2465 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2466 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2470 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2471 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2472 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2476 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2477 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2478 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2481 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2482 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2483 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2484 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2488 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2490 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2491 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2492 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2493 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2494 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2495 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2498 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2499 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2500 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2501 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2502 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2506 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2507 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}).
2511 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2512 Yank the previously killed group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}).
2513 Note that all topics will be yanked before all groups.
2517 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2518 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2521 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2522 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2523 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2527 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2528 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2529 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2533 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2534 @cindex group parameters
2535 @cindex topic parameters
2537 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2538 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2544 @subsection Topic Sorting
2545 @cindex topic sorting
2547 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2553 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2554 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2555 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2556 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2559 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2560 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2561 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2562 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2565 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2566 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2567 Sort the current topic by group level
2568 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2571 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2572 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2573 Sort the current topic by group score
2574 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}).
2577 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2578 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2579 Sort the current topic by group rank
2580 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}).
2583 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2584 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2585 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2586 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2590 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2593 @node Topic Topology
2594 @subsection Topic Topology
2595 @cindex topic topology
2598 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2604 2: alt.religion.emacs
2607 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2609 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2610 13: comp.sources.unix
2613 So, here we have one top-level topic, two topics under that, and one
2614 sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always just one (@code{1})
2615 top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as follows:
2619 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2620 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2624 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2625 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2626 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2627 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2628 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2629 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2631 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2632 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2633 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2636 @node Topic Parameters
2637 @subsection Topic Parameters
2638 @cindex topic parameters
2640 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2641 ancestor) topic parameters. All legal group parameters are legal topic
2642 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2644 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2645 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2646 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2647 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2653 2: alt.religion.emacs
2657 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2659 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2660 13: comp.sources.unix
2664 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2665 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2666 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2667 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2668 @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2669 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2671 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2672 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2673 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2674 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2675 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2677 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2678 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2679 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2680 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2681 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2682 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2683 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2684 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2687 @node Misc Group Stuff
2688 @section Misc Group Stuff
2691 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2692 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2693 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2700 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2701 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2702 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2706 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2707 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). The current
2708 group name will be used as the default.
2712 @findex gnus-group-mail
2713 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2717 Variables for the group buffer:
2721 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2722 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2723 @code{gnus-group-mode-hook} is called after the group buffer has been
2726 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2727 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2728 @code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} is called after the group buffer is
2729 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2732 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2733 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2734 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2735 whether they are empty or not.
2740 @node Scanning New Messages
2741 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2742 @cindex new messages
2743 @cindex scanning new news
2749 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2750 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2751 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2752 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2753 command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
2758 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2759 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2760 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2761 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
2762 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
2763 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
2765 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2766 @cindex activating groups
2768 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2769 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2774 @findex gnus-group-restart
2775 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}).
2779 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2780 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2782 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2783 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2787 @node Group Information
2788 @subsection Group Information
2789 @cindex group information
2790 @cindex information on groups
2798 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2799 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
2802 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2803 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2804 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2805 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
2806 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
2807 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
2808 for fetching the file.
2810 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
2811 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
2816 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
2817 @cindex describing groups
2818 @cindex group description
2819 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2820 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2821 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2825 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2826 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2827 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2832 @findex gnus-version
2833 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
2837 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
2838 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
2841 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
2844 @findex gnus-info-find-node
2845 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
2850 @subsection File Commands
2851 @cindex file commands
2857 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
2858 @vindex gnus-init-file
2859 @cindex reading init file
2860 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
2861 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
2865 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
2866 @cindex saving .newsrc
2867 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
2868 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
2869 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
2872 @c @kindex Z (Group)
2873 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
2874 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
2879 @node The Summary Buffer
2880 @chapter The Summary Buffer
2881 @cindex summary buffer
2883 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
2884 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
2887 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
2888 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
2889 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
2890 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
2891 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
2892 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
2893 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
2894 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
2895 * Threading:: How threads are made.
2896 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
2897 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
2898 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
2899 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
2900 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
2901 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
2902 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
2903 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
2904 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
2905 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
2906 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
2907 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
2908 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
2909 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
2910 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
2911 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
2912 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
2916 @node Summary Buffer Format
2917 @section Summary Buffer Format
2918 @cindex summary buffer format
2921 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
2922 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
2923 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
2926 @findex mail-extract-address-components
2927 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
2928 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
2929 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
2930 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
2931 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
2932 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
2933 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
2934 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
2935 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
2936 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
2938 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
2939 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
2940 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
2941 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{}.
2944 @node Summary Buffer Lines
2945 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
2947 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
2948 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
2949 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
2950 lines a a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
2951 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2953 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
2955 The following format specification characters are understood:
2963 Subject if the article is the root or the previous article had a
2964 different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
2965 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @samp{}.)
2967 Full @code{From} header.
2969 The name (from the @code{From} header).
2971 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
2972 spec in that it uses @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is
2973 slower, but may be more thorough.
2975 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
2978 Number of lines in the article.
2980 Number of characters in the article.
2982 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
2984 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
2985 pushes everything after it off the screen).
2987 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
2988 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
2990 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
2991 for adopted articles.
2993 One space for each thread level.
2995 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3003 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3004 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3005 default level. If the difference between
3006 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
3007 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3015 The @code{Date} in @code{YY-MMM} format.
3017 The @code{Date} in @code{YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS} format.
3023 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3024 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3026 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3027 article has any children.
3031 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3032 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
3033 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3034 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3035 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3036 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3039 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3040 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3041 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3042 that. This means that it is illegal to have these specs after a
3043 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3044 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3046 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3047 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3049 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3052 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3053 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3055 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3056 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
3057 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. The default
3058 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3060 Here are the elements you can play with:
3066 Unprefixed group name.
3068 Current article number.
3072 Number of unread articles in this group.
3074 Number of unselected articles in this group.
3076 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3077 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3078 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3079 and no unselected ones.
3081 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3082 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3084 Subject of the current article.
3088 Name of the current score file.
3090 Number of dormant articles.
3092 Number of ticked articles.
3094 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3096 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3100 @node Summary Highlighting
3101 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3105 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3106 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3107 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3108 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3109 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3111 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3112 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3113 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3114 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3116 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3117 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3118 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) that is used to
3119 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3121 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3122 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3123 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3124 list where the elements are on the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3125 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3126 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3128 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3129 ((> score default) . bold))
3131 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3132 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3136 @node Summary Maneuvering
3137 @section Summary Maneuvering
3138 @cindex summary movement
3140 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3141 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3143 None of these commands select articles.
3148 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3149 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3150 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3151 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3152 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3156 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3157 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3158 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3159 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3160 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3165 @kindex G j (Summary)
3166 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3167 Ask for an article number and then go to that article
3168 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3171 @kindex G g (Summary)
3172 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3173 Ask for an article number and then go the summary line of that article
3174 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3177 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3178 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3179 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3180 to the group buffer.
3182 Variables related to summary movement:
3186 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3187 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3188 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3189 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3190 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3191 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3192 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3193 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3194 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3195 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3196 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3197 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3198 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3199 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3201 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3202 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3203 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3204 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3205 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3206 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) This variable is not
3207 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3209 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3210 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3211 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3212 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3213 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3215 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3216 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3217 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3218 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3219 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3220 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3221 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3222 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3228 @node Choosing Articles
3229 @section Choosing Articles
3230 @cindex selecting articles
3233 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3234 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3238 @node Choosing Commands
3239 @subsection Choosing Commands
3241 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3242 and they all select and display an article.
3246 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3247 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3248 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3249 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3254 @kindex G n (Summary)
3255 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3256 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3261 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3262 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3267 @kindex G N (Summary)
3268 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3269 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3274 @kindex G P (Summary)
3275 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3276 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3279 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3280 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3281 Go to the next article with the same subject
3282 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3285 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3286 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3287 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3288 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3292 @kindex G f (Summary)
3294 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3295 Go to the first unread article
3296 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3300 @kindex G b (Summary)
3302 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3303 Go to the article with the highest score
3304 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3309 @kindex G l (Summary)
3310 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3311 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3314 @kindex G p (Summary)
3315 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3316 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3317 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3318 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3319 history as you like.
3323 @node Choosing Variables
3324 @subsection Choosing Variables
3326 Some variables that are relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3329 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3330 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3331 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3332 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3333 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3334 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3336 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3337 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3338 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3339 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3341 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3342 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3343 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3344 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3345 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3346 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3347 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3348 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3349 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3350 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3351 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3352 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3353 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3354 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3359 @node Paging the Article
3360 @section Scrolling the Article
3361 @cindex article scrolling
3366 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3367 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3368 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3369 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3370 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3373 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3374 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3375 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3378 @kindex RET (Summary)
3379 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3380 Scroll the current article one line forward
3381 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3385 @kindex A g (Summary)
3387 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3388 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3389 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3390 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3391 the way it came from the server.
3396 @kindex A < (Summary)
3397 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3398 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3399 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3404 @kindex A > (Summary)
3405 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3406 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3410 @kindex A s (Summary)
3412 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3413 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3414 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3419 @node Reply Followup and Post
3420 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3423 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3424 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3428 @node Summary Mail Commands
3429 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3431 @cindex composing mail
3433 Commands for composing a mail message:
3439 @kindex S r (Summary)
3441 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3442 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3443 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3448 @kindex S R (Summary)
3449 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3450 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3451 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3452 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3455 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3456 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3457 Forward the current article to some other person
3458 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}).
3463 @kindex S m (Summary)
3464 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3465 Send a mail to some other person
3466 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3469 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3470 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3471 @cindex bouncing mail
3472 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3473 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3474 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3475 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3476 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3477 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3478 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3479 very well fail, though.
3482 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3483 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3484 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3485 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3486 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3487 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3488 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3489 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3490 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3491 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3493 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3494 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3495 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3496 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3497 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
3500 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3501 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3502 Digest the current series and forward the result using mail
3503 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3504 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3507 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3508 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3509 @cindex crossposting
3510 @cindex excessive crossposting
3511 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3512 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3514 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3515 This command is provided as a way to fight back agains the current
3516 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3517 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3518 command understands the process/prefix convention
3519 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3524 @node Summary Post Commands
3525 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3527 @cindex composing news
3529 Commands for posting an article:
3535 @kindex S p (Summary)
3536 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3537 Post an article to the current group
3538 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3543 @kindex S f (Summary)
3544 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3545 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3549 @kindex S F (Summary)
3551 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3552 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3553 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3554 process/prefix convention.
3557 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3558 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3559 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3560 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
3563 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3564 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3565 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3566 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}).
3569 @kindex S u (Summary)
3570 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3571 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3572 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3576 @node Canceling and Superseding
3577 @section Canceling Articles
3578 @cindex canceling articles
3579 @cindex superseding articles
3581 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3582 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3584 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3586 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3588 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3589 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3590 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3591 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3593 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3594 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3597 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3598 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3599 your original article.
3601 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3603 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3604 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3605 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3608 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3609 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3610 have posted almost the same article twice.
3612 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3613 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3614 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3615 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*post-buf*}). There you will
3616 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3617 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3618 header by substituting one of those words for the word
3619 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
3620 you would do normally. The previous article will be
3621 canceled/superseded.
3623 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3626 @node Marking Articles
3627 @section Marking Articles
3628 @cindex article marking
3629 @cindex article ticking
3632 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3634 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3635 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3636 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3638 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3641 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3642 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3643 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3647 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3651 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3652 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3656 @node Unread Articles
3657 @subsection Unread Articles
3659 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
3664 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3665 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
3667 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3668 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3669 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3670 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3671 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
3675 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3676 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
3678 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
3679 are followups to it.
3682 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3683 Markes as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
3685 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
3690 @subsection Read Articles
3691 @cindex expirable mark
3693 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3698 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3699 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
3700 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
3703 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3704 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3707 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3708 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
3709 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3712 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3713 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3716 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3717 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3720 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3721 Marked as read by having a too low score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
3724 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
3725 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
3728 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
3729 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
3732 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
3733 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
3736 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
3737 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
3741 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
3742 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
3743 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
3747 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
3748 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
3750 One more special mark, though:
3754 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
3755 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
3757 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
3758 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
3759 control the expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
3760 articles that are marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
3766 @subsection Other Marks
3767 @cindex process mark
3770 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
3776 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
3777 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
3778 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
3779 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
3780 encounters the article.
3783 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
3784 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
3785 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
3786 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
3789 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
3790 Articles that are stored in the article cache will be marked with an
3791 @samp{*} in the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}).
3794 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
3795 Articles that are ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
3796 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
3797 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}.
3800 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
3801 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
3802 It the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
3803 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
3804 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
3807 @vindex gnus-process-mark
3808 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}. A
3809 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
3810 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
3811 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
3812 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
3816 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
3817 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
3818 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
3820 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
3821 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
3822 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
3826 @subsection Setting Marks
3827 @cindex setting marks
3829 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
3835 @kindex M t (Summary)
3836 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
3837 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
3842 @kindex M ? (Summary)
3843 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
3844 Mark the current article as dormant
3845 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}).
3849 @kindex M d (Summary)
3851 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
3852 Mark the current article as read
3853 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
3857 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
3858 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
3859 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
3864 @kindex M k (Summary)
3865 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
3866 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
3867 and then select the next unread article
3868 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
3872 @kindex M K (Summary)
3873 @kindex C-k (Summary)
3874 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
3875 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
3876 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
3879 @kindex M C (Summary)
3880 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
3881 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
3884 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
3885 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
3886 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
3887 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
3890 @kindex M H (Summary)
3891 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
3892 Catchup the current group to point
3893 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
3896 @kindex C-w (Summary)
3897 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
3898 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
3899 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
3902 @kindex M V k (Summary)
3903 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
3904 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
3905 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
3909 @kindex M c (Summary)
3910 @kindex M-u (Summary)
3911 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
3912 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
3913 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}).
3917 @kindex M e (Summary)
3919 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
3920 Mark the current article as expirable
3921 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
3924 @kindex M b (Summary)
3925 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
3926 Set a bookmark in the current article
3927 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
3930 @kindex M B (Summary)
3931 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
3932 Remove the bookmark from the current article
3933 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
3936 @kindex M V c (Summary)
3937 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
3938 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
3939 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3942 @kindex M V u (Summary)
3943 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
3944 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
3945 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
3948 @kindex M V m (Summary)
3949 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
3950 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
3951 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
3952 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3955 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
3956 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
3957 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
3958 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
3959 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
3960 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
3961 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
3962 The default is @code{t}.
3965 @node Setting Process Marks
3966 @subsection Setting Process Marks
3967 @cindex setting process marks
3974 @kindex M P p (Summary)
3975 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
3976 Mark the current article with the process mark
3977 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
3978 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
3982 @kindex M P u (Summary)
3983 @kindex M-# (Summary)
3984 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
3985 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
3988 @kindex M P U (Summary)
3989 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
3990 Remove the process mark from all articles
3991 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
3994 @kindex M P i (Summary)
3995 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
3996 Invert the list of process marked articles
3997 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4000 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4001 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4002 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4005 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4006 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4007 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4010 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4011 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4012 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4013 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4016 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4017 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4018 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4019 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4022 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4023 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4024 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4025 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4028 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4029 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4030 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4033 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4034 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4035 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4036 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4039 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4040 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4041 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4044 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4045 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4046 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4047 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4050 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4051 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4052 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4053 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4056 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4057 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4058 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4059 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4062 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4063 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4064 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4065 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4074 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4075 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4076 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4083 @kindex / / (Summary)
4084 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4085 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4086 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4089 @kindex / a (Summary)
4090 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4091 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4092 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4096 @kindex / u (Summary)
4098 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4099 Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
4100 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4101 buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4102 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4105 @kindex / m (Summary)
4106 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4107 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
4108 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4111 @kindex / n (Summary)
4112 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4113 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4114 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4115 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4118 @kindex / w (Summary)
4119 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4120 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4121 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4125 @kindex / v (Summary)
4126 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4127 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4128 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4132 @kindex M S (Summary)
4133 @kindex / E (Summary)
4134 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4135 Display all expunged articles
4136 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4139 @kindex / D (Summary)
4140 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4141 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4144 @kindex / d (Summary)
4145 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4146 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4149 @kindex / c (Summary)
4150 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4151 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
4152 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4155 @kindex / C (Summary)
4156 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4157 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4158 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4159 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4167 @cindex article threading
4169 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put replies to
4170 articles directly after the articles they reply to---in a hierarchical
4174 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4175 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4179 @node Customizing Threading
4180 @subsection Customizing Threading
4181 @cindex customizing threading
4187 @item gnus-show-threads
4188 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4189 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4190 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4191 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4192 slower and more awkward.
4194 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4195 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4196 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4197 more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
4198 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4199 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4200 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4201 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4202 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4203 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4204 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4205 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4207 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4208 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4209 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4210 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4211 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4212 articles that belong in the same thread together. This will leave
4213 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
4214 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4215 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
4216 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
4217 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4218 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
4219 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4220 @code{nil} by default.
4222 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4223 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4224 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4225 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4226 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4227 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4228 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subjects lines. If
4229 you think so, set this variable to, say, @code{20} to require that only the
4230 first @code{20} characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4231 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4232 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4234 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4235 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4236 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects.
4238 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4239 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4240 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4241 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4242 simplification is used.
4244 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4245 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4246 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4247 as @code{10}, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4249 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4251 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4257 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4258 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4259 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4260 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4265 (mapconcat 'identity
4266 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4268 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4271 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4274 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4275 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4276 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4277 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4278 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4279 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4280 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
4281 default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4283 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4284 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4285 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4286 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4287 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4288 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4289 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever includes unrelated
4290 articles, but it's also means that people who have posted with broken
4291 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4295 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4296 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4297 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4298 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4300 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4301 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4302 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4305 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4309 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4310 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4313 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4314 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4315 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4316 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4317 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4318 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4320 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4321 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4322 There are four possible values:
4324 @cindex adopting articles
4329 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4330 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4331 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4332 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4335 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4336 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4337 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4338 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4339 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4340 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4341 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4344 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4345 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4346 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4350 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4351 display them after one another.
4354 Don't gather loose threads.
4357 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4358 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4359 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4362 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4363 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4364 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4367 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4368 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4369 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4370 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4371 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4374 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4375 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4376 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4377 The default is @code{4}.
4381 @node Thread Commands
4382 @subsection Thread Commands
4383 @cindex thread commands
4389 @kindex T k (Summary)
4390 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4391 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4392 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
4393 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4394 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4399 @kindex T l (Summary)
4400 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4401 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4402 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
4403 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4406 @kindex T i (Summary)
4407 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4408 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
4409 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4412 @kindex T # (Summary)
4413 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4414 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
4415 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4418 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4419 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4420 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
4421 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4424 @kindex T T (Summary)
4425 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4426 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4429 @kindex T s (Summary)
4430 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4431 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
4432 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4435 @kindex T h (Summary)
4436 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4437 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4440 @kindex T S (Summary)
4441 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4442 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4445 @kindex T H (Summary)
4446 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4447 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4450 @kindex T t (Summary)
4451 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4452 Re-thread the thread the current article is part of
4453 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4454 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4457 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4458 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4459 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4460 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}.
4464 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4465 understand the numeric prefix.
4470 @kindex T n (Summary)
4471 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4472 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
4475 @kindex T p (Summary)
4476 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
4477 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
4480 @kindex T d (Summary)
4481 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
4482 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
4485 @kindex T u (Summary)
4486 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
4487 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
4490 @kindex T o (Summary)
4491 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
4492 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
4495 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
4496 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
4497 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
4498 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
4499 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
4500 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
4501 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If is
4502 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
4503 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
4504 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
4505 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
4506 that have subjects that are fuzzily equal will be included.
4512 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
4513 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
4514 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
4515 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4516 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
4517 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4518 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
4519 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
4520 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
4521 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
4522 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
4523 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
4524 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
4525 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
4527 Each function takes two threads and return non-@code{nil} if the first
4528 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
4529 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
4530 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
4531 in the list. You should probably always include
4532 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
4533 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
4534 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
4535 ascending article order.
4537 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
4538 number, you could do something like:
4541 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4542 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4543 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4544 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4547 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
4548 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
4549 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
4550 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
4551 which the articles arrived.
4553 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
4557 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4559 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
4560 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4563 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
4564 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
4565 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
4566 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
4569 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
4570 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
4571 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
4572 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
4573 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
4574 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
4575 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
4576 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
4577 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
4578 is uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
4579 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
4580 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
4581 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
4583 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
4587 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
4588 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
4589 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
4594 @node Asynchronous Fetching
4595 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
4596 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
4597 @cindex article pre-fetch
4600 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
4601 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
4602 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
4603 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
4604 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
4606 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
4607 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
4609 Let's say you are reading article @code{1}, which is short, and article @code{2} is
4610 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
4611 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article @code{2}. You decide to read
4612 article @code{3}, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article @code{2}, the
4613 connection is blocked.
4615 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
4616 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
4617 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
4618 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
4620 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
4621 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
4622 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
4623 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
4626 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
4629 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
4630 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
4631 happen automatically.
4633 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
4634 You can control how many articles that are to be pre-fetched by setting
4635 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is @code{30} by default, which means
4636 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
4637 the next @code{30} articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
4638 pre-fetch all the articles that it can without bound. If it is
4639 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be made.
4641 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
4642 @findex gnus-async-read-p
4643 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
4644 articles, for instance. Which articles to pre-fetch is controlled by
4645 the @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable. This function should
4646 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
4647 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
4648 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
4649 data structure as the only parameter.
4651 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles that are
4652 shorter than @code{100} lines, you could say something like:
4655 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
4656 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
4657 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
4658 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
4661 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
4664 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
4665 preferrably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
4666 It's also probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
4668 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
4669 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
4670 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
4671 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
4675 Remove articles when they are read.
4678 Remove articles when exiting the group.
4681 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
4683 @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
4684 If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
4685 from the next group.
4688 @node Article Caching
4689 @section Article Caching
4690 @cindex article caching
4693 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
4694 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
4695 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
4696 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
4697 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
4699 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
4701 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4702 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
4703 @vindex gnus-use-cache
4704 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
4705 all articles that are ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
4706 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
4707 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
4708 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
4710 When re-select a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
4711 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
4712 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
4713 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
4714 as dormant, and don't worry.
4716 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
4718 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
4719 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
4720 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
4721 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
4722 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
4723 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
4724 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
4725 articles that are marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
4726 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
4727 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
4729 @findex gnus-jog-cache
4730 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
4731 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
4732 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, and store them in
4733 the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this command if @code{1})
4734 your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really, really slow
4735 and @code{2}) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously.
4737 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
4738 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
4739 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
4740 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
4741 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
4742 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
4743 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
4746 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
4747 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
4748 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
4749 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
4750 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
4751 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
4752 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
4753 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
4754 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
4758 @node Persistent Articles
4759 @section Persistent Articles
4760 @cindex persistent articles
4762 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
4763 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
4764 useful in my opinion.
4766 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
4767 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
4768 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
4769 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
4770 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
4771 the expiry going on at the news server.
4773 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
4774 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
4775 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
4781 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
4782 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
4785 @kindex M-* (Summary)
4786 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
4787 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
4788 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
4792 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
4794 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
4795 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
4796 interested in persistent articles:
4799 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
4803 @node Article Backlog
4804 @section Article Backlog
4806 @cindex article backlog
4808 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
4809 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
4810 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
4811 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
4812 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
4813 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
4814 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
4815 increase memory usage some.
4817 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
4818 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
4819 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
4820 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
4821 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
4822 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
4823 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
4825 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
4828 @node Saving Articles
4829 @section Saving Articles
4830 @cindex saving articles
4832 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
4833 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
4834 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
4835 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
4836 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
4838 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
4839 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
4840 unwanted headers before saving the article.
4842 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
4843 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
4844 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
4845 deleted before saving.
4851 @kindex O o (Summary)
4853 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
4854 Save the current article using the default article saver
4855 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
4858 @kindex O m (Summary)
4859 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
4860 Save the current article in mail format
4861 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
4864 @kindex O r (Summary)
4865 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
4866 Save the current article in rmail format
4867 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
4870 @kindex O f (Summary)
4871 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
4872 Save the current article in plain file format
4873 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
4876 @kindex O b (Summary)
4877 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
4878 Save the current article body in plain file format
4879 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
4882 @kindex O h (Summary)
4883 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
4884 Save the current article in mh folder format
4885 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
4888 @kindex O v (Summary)
4889 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
4890 Save the current article in a VM folder
4891 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
4894 @kindex O p (Summary)
4895 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
4896 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
4897 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
4900 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
4901 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
4902 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
4903 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
4904 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
4905 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
4906 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
4907 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
4908 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
4909 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
4910 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
4911 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
4915 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
4916 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
4917 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
4918 functions below, or you can create your own.
4922 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4923 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4924 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
4925 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4926 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
4927 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4928 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4930 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4931 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4932 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
4933 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
4934 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4935 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4937 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
4938 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
4939 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
4940 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4941 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
4942 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4943 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4945 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4946 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4947 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
4948 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4949 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4951 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4952 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4953 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
4954 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
4955 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
4958 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
4959 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
4960 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
4961 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
4962 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}. The former creates capitalized names, and
4963 the latter does not.
4965 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4966 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4967 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
4968 reader to use this setting.
4971 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
4972 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
4973 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
4974 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
4977 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
4978 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
4979 available functions that generate names:
4983 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
4984 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
4985 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4987 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
4988 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4989 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4991 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
4992 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
4993 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4995 @item gnus-plain-save-name
4996 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4997 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5000 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5001 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5002 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5003 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5004 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5008 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5009 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5010 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5011 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5014 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5015 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5016 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5017 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5018 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5019 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5020 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5021 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5022 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5024 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5025 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5026 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5027 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5029 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5030 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5031 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5034 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5035 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5036 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5037 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5038 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5039 all the files in the toplevel directory
5040 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5041 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5042 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5043 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5045 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5046 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5047 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5048 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5049 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5052 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5056 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5057 (setq gnus-default-article-save 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5060 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5061 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5062 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5063 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5066 @node Decoding Articles
5067 @section Decoding Articles
5068 @cindex decoding articles
5070 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5071 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5074 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5075 * Shared Articles:: Unshar articles.
5076 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5077 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5078 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5081 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5082 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5083 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5084 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5085 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5087 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5088 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5089 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5091 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5092 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5093 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5095 Subjects that are nonstandard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5096 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5097 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5100 @node Uuencoded Articles
5101 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5103 @cindex uuencoded articles
5108 @kindex X u (Summary)
5109 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5110 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5113 @kindex X U (Summary)
5114 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5115 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5116 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5119 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5120 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5121 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5124 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5125 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5126 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5127 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5130 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5131 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5132 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5133 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5134 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5136 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5137 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5138 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5139 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5142 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5143 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5144 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5145 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5146 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5147 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5151 @node Shared Articles
5152 @subsection Shared Articles
5154 @cindex shared articles
5159 @kindex X s (Summary)
5160 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5161 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5164 @kindex X S (Summary)
5165 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5166 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5169 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5170 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5171 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5174 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5175 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5176 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5177 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5181 @node PostScript Files
5182 @subsection PostScript Files
5188 @kindex X p (Summary)
5189 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5190 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5193 @kindex X P (Summary)
5194 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5195 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5196 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5199 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5200 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5201 View the current PostScript series
5202 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5205 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5206 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5207 View and save the current PostScript series
5208 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5212 @node Decoding Variables
5213 @subsection Decoding Variables
5215 Adjective, not verb.
5218 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5219 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5220 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5224 @node Rule Variables
5225 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5226 @cindex rule variables
5228 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5229 variables are on the form
5232 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5239 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5240 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5242 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5243 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5246 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5247 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5250 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5251 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5252 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5253 user and default view rules.
5255 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5256 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5257 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5262 @node Other Decode Variables
5263 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5266 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5268 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5269 All functions in this list will be called right each file has been
5270 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5271 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5272 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5276 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5277 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5280 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5281 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5282 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5285 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5286 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5287 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5289 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5290 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5291 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5292 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5293 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5296 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5297 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5298 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5300 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5301 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5302 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5303 looking for files to display.
5305 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5306 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5307 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5310 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5311 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5312 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5315 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5316 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5317 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5320 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5321 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5322 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5325 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5326 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5327 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark articles that were
5328 unsuccessfully decoded as unread.
5330 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5331 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5332 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5333 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5335 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5336 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5338 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5339 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5340 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5341 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5343 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5344 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5345 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
5346 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
5347 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
5348 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
5349 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
5350 simply dropped them.
5355 @node Uuencoding and Posting
5356 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
5360 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5361 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5362 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
5363 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
5364 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
5365 for you when you post the article.
5367 @item gnus-uu-post-length
5368 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
5369 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
5370 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
5372 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
5373 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
5374 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
5375 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen are able
5376 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
5377 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
5378 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
5380 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5381 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5382 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
5383 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
5384 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
5385 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
5386 Default is @code{t}.
5392 @subsection Viewing Files
5393 @cindex viewing files
5394 @cindex pseudo-articles
5396 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
5397 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
5398 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
5399 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
5400 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
5401 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
5402 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
5404 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
5405 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
5406 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
5407 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
5409 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
5410 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
5411 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
5413 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
5414 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
5415 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
5416 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
5417 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
5419 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
5420 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
5421 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
5422 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
5423 a list of parameters to that command.
5425 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
5426 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
5427 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
5429 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
5430 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
5431 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
5434 @node Article Treatment
5435 @section Article Treatment
5437 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
5438 object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
5439 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
5440 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
5441 these articles easier.
5444 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
5445 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
5446 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
5447 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
5448 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
5449 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
5453 @node Article Highlighting
5454 @subsection Article Highlighting
5457 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
5458 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
5463 @kindex W H a (Summary)
5464 @findex gnus-article-highlight
5465 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
5468 @kindex W H h (Summary)
5469 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
5470 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
5471 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
5472 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
5473 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
5474 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
5475 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name and
5476 @var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
5477 match made will be used. Note that @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^}
5478 prepended---Gnus will add one.
5481 @kindex W H c (Summary)
5482 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
5483 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
5485 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
5488 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5490 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5491 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
5492 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
5494 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5495 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5496 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
5498 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
5499 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
5500 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
5502 @item gnus-cite-face-list
5503 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
5504 List of faces used for highlighting citations. When there are citations
5505 from multiple articles in the same message, Gnus will try to give each
5506 citation from each article its own face. This should make it easier to
5509 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
5510 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
5511 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
5513 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5514 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5515 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
5517 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5518 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5519 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
5520 that it's a citation.
5522 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5523 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5524 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
5526 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5527 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5528 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
5530 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
5531 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
5532 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
5533 cited text belonging to the attribution.
5539 @kindex W H s (Summary)
5540 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
5541 @vindex gnus-signature-face
5542 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
5543 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
5544 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
5545 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
5546 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
5552 @node Article Hiding
5553 @subsection Article Hiding
5554 @cindex article hiding
5556 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
5557 too much cruft in most articles.
5562 @kindex W W a (Summary)
5563 @findex gnus-article-hide
5564 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
5567 @kindex W W h (Summary)
5568 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
5569 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
5573 @kindex W W b (Summary)
5574 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
5575 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
5576 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
5579 @kindex W W s (Summary)
5580 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
5581 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
5585 @kindex W W p (Summary)
5586 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
5587 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}).
5590 @kindex W W P (Summary)
5591 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
5592 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) gruft
5593 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
5596 @kindex W W c (Summary)
5597 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
5598 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
5599 customizing the hiding:
5603 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5604 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5605 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
5606 50), hide the cited text.
5608 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5609 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5610 The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10) before it
5613 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5614 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5615 Gnus adds buttons show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
5616 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
5617 by this format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
5622 Start point of the hidden text.
5624 End point of the hidden text.
5626 Length of the hidden text.
5629 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
5630 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
5631 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
5636 @kindex W W C (Summary)
5637 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
5638 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
5639 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
5640 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
5641 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
5645 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
5646 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
5647 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
5649 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
5650 citation customization.
5653 @node Article Washing
5654 @subsection Article Washing
5656 @cindex article washing
5658 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
5659 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
5661 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
5662 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
5668 @kindex W l (Summary)
5669 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
5670 Remove page breaks from the current article
5671 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
5674 @kindex W r (Summary)
5675 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
5676 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
5677 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
5680 @kindex W t (Summary)
5681 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
5682 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
5683 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
5686 @kindex W v (Summary)
5687 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
5688 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
5689 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
5692 @kindex W m (Summary)
5693 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
5694 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
5695 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
5698 @kindex W o (Summary)
5699 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
5700 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
5703 @kindex W w (Summary)
5704 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
5705 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
5706 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
5707 late and certainly after any highlighting.
5710 @kindex W c (Summary)
5711 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
5712 Remove CR (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
5715 @kindex W q (Summary)
5716 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
5717 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
5720 @kindex W f (Summary)
5722 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
5723 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
5724 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
5725 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
5726 Look for and display any X-Face headers
5727 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
5728 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
5729 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
5730 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
5731 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
5732 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
5733 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
5734 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
5735 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
5736 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
5737 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
5738 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
5739 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
5743 @kindex W b (Summary)
5744 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
5745 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
5748 @kindex W B (Summary)
5749 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
5750 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
5751 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
5754 @kindex W E l (Summary)
5755 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
5756 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
5757 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
5760 @kindex W E m (Summary)
5761 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
5762 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
5763 lines with a single empty line.
5764 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
5767 @kindex W E t (Summary)
5768 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
5769 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
5770 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
5773 @kindex W E a (Summary)
5774 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
5775 Do all the three commands above
5776 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
5781 @node Article Buttons
5782 @subsection Article Buttons
5785 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
5786 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
5787 with the minimum of fuzz.
5789 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
5790 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
5791 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
5796 @item gnus-button-alist
5797 @vindex gnus-button-alist
5798 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
5801 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5807 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
5808 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that match embedded URLs:
5809 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
5812 Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be highlighted. This is
5813 a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp that is to be
5814 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use @code{0} here.
5817 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
5818 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
5819 avoid false matches.
5822 This function will be called when you click on this button.
5825 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
5826 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
5830 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
5833 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
5836 @item gnus-header-button-alist
5837 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
5838 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
5839 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
5840 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
5843 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5846 @var{header} is a regular expression.
5848 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
5849 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
5850 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
5851 default values of the variables above.
5853 @item gnus-article-button-face
5854 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
5855 Face used on buttons.
5857 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
5858 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
5859 Face is used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
5865 @subsection Article Date
5867 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
5868 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
5869 when the article was sent.
5874 @kindex W T u (Summary)
5875 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
5876 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
5877 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
5880 @kindex W T l (Summary)
5881 @findex gnus-article-date-local
5882 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
5885 @kindex W T e (Summary)
5886 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
5887 Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and now
5888 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
5891 @kindex W T o (Summary)
5892 @findex gnus-article-date-original
5893 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
5894 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
5895 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
5896 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
5897 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
5902 @node Article Signature
5903 @subsection Article Signature
5905 @cindex article signature
5907 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
5908 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
5909 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
5910 that says what is to be considered a signature is
5911 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
5912 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
5913 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
5914 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
5915 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
5918 (setq gnus-signature-separator
5919 '("^-- $" ; The standard
5920 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
5921 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
5922 ; line of dashes. Shame!
5923 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
5924 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
5925 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
5928 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
5931 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
5932 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
5937 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
5940 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
5943 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
5944 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
5946 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
5947 in question is not a signature.
5950 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
5954 @node Summary Sorting
5955 @section Summary Sorting
5956 @cindex summary sorting
5958 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
5959 can't really see why you'd want that.
5964 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
5965 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
5966 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
5969 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
5970 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
5971 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
5974 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
5975 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
5976 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
5979 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
5980 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
5981 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
5984 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
5985 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
5986 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
5989 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
5990 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
5991 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
5992 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
5993 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
5997 @node Finding the Parent
5998 @section Finding the Parent
5999 @cindex parent articles
6000 @cindex referring articles
6002 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
6004 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
6005 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
6006 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
6007 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
6008 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
6009 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
6010 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
6011 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
6013 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
6014 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
6015 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
6016 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
6017 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
6020 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
6021 @kindex A R (Summary)
6022 You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
6023 header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
6024 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
6026 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
6027 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
6028 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
6029 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
6030 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
6031 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
6032 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
6033 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
6035 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
6036 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
6037 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
6038 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
6039 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the same
6040 as the one that keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's
6041 not really necessary.
6043 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
6044 not do a particularly excellent job of it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
6045 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
6046 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
6047 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
6048 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
6051 @node Alternative Approaches
6052 @section Alternative Approaches
6054 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
6055 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
6058 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
6059 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
6064 @subsection Pick and Read
6065 @cindex pick and read
6067 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{nn}) use a two-phased
6068 reading interface. The user first marks the articles she wants to read
6069 from a summary buffer. Then she starts reading the articles with just
6070 an article buffer displayed.
6072 @findex gnus-pick-mode
6073 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
6074 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
6075 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
6076 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
6077 it makes one additional command for switching to the summary buffer
6080 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
6085 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6086 Pick the article on the current line
6087 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}). If given a numerical prefix,
6088 go to the article on that line and pick that article. (The line number
6089 is normally displayed on the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
6092 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
6093 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
6094 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
6095 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
6099 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6100 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6104 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6105 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6109 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6110 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6114 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6115 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6119 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6120 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6124 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6125 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6129 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6130 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6134 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6135 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6139 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6140 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6144 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
6145 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
6149 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
6150 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
6151 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
6152 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
6153 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
6154 will still be visible when you are reading.
6158 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
6161 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
6164 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
6165 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
6167 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
6168 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
6169 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
6171 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
6172 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different than the
6173 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
6174 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
6175 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
6176 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
6177 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
6181 @subsection Binary Groups
6182 @cindex binary groups
6184 @findex gnus-binary-mode
6185 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
6186 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
6187 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
6188 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
6189 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
6190 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
6193 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
6194 In fact, the only way to see the actual articles if you have turned this
6195 mode on is the @kbd{g} command (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
6197 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
6198 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
6202 @section Tree Display
6205 @vindex gnus-use-trees
6206 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
6207 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
6208 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
6211 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
6214 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
6215 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
6216 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
6218 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6219 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6220 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
6221 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}. For a list of legal specs, @pxref{Summary
6224 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
6225 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
6226 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
6227 default is @code{modeline}.
6229 @item gnus-tree-line-format
6230 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
6231 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
6232 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
6233 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
6234 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
6235 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
6241 The name of the poster.
6243 The @code{From} header.
6245 The number of the article.
6247 The opening bracket.
6249 The closing bracket.
6254 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6256 Variables related to the display are:
6259 @item gnus-tree-brackets
6260 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
6261 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
6262 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
6263 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
6264 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}))}.
6266 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6267 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6268 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
6269 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
6273 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
6274 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
6275 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
6276 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
6277 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
6278 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}.
6280 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
6281 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
6282 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
6283 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
6284 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
6285 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
6286 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
6290 Here's and example from a horizontal tree buffer:
6293 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
6303 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
6307 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
6308 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
6310 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
6312 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
6318 @node Mail Group Commands
6319 @section Mail Group Commands
6320 @cindex mail group commands
6322 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
6323 illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
6325 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
6326 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6331 @kindex B e (Summary)
6332 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
6333 Expire all expirable articles in the group
6334 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
6337 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
6338 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
6339 Expunge all the expirable articles in the group
6340 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
6341 articles that are eligible for expiry in the current group will
6342 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
6345 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
6346 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
6347 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
6348 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
6349 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
6352 @kindex B m (Summary)
6354 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
6355 Move the article from one mail group to another
6356 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
6359 @kindex B c (Summary)
6361 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
6362 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
6363 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
6366 @kindex B C (Summary)
6367 @cindex crosspost mail
6368 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
6369 Crosspost the current article to some other group
6370 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
6371 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
6372 be properly updated.
6375 @kindex B i (Summary)
6376 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
6377 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
6378 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
6379 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
6382 @kindex B r (Summary)
6383 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
6384 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
6388 @kindex B w (Summary)
6390 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
6391 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
6392 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
6393 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
6394 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
6397 @kindex B q (Summary)
6398 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
6399 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
6400 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
6401 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
6404 @kindex B p (Summary)
6405 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
6406 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
6407 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
6408 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
6409 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
6410 article from your news server (or rather, from
6411 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
6412 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
6413 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
6414 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
6415 just not have arrived yet.
6419 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
6420 @cindex moving articles
6421 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
6422 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
6423 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
6424 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
6425 suggestions you find reasonable.
6428 @node Various Summary Stuff
6429 @section Various Summary Stuff
6432 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
6433 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
6434 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
6435 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
6439 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
6440 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
6441 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
6443 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
6444 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
6445 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
6446 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
6447 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
6448 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
6451 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
6452 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
6453 Is is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
6454 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
6455 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
6460 @node Summary Group Information
6461 @subsection Summary Group Information
6466 @kindex H f (Summary)
6467 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
6468 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
6469 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
6470 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
6471 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
6472 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
6473 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
6474 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} probably will be used for
6478 @kindex H d (Summary)
6479 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
6480 Give a brief description of the current group
6481 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
6482 rereading the description from the server.
6485 @kindex H h (Summary)
6486 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
6487 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
6488 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
6491 @kindex H i (Summary)
6492 @findex gnus-info-find-node
6493 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
6497 @node Searching for Articles
6498 @subsection Searching for Articles
6503 @kindex M-s (Summary)
6504 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
6505 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
6506 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
6509 @kindex M-r (Summary)
6510 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
6511 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
6512 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
6516 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
6517 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
6518 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
6519 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
6522 @kindex M-& (Summary)
6523 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
6524 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
6525 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
6528 @node Summary Generation Commands
6529 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
6534 @kindex Y g (Summary)
6535 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
6536 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
6539 @kindex Y c (Summary)
6540 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
6541 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
6542 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
6547 @node Really Various Summary Commands
6548 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
6553 @kindex C-d (Summary)
6554 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
6555 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
6556 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
6557 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
6558 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
6559 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
6560 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages on
6561 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
6565 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
6566 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
6567 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
6568 several documents into one biiig group
6569 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
6570 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
6571 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
6572 command understands the process/prefix convention
6573 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6576 @kindex C-t (Summary)
6577 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
6578 Toggle truncation of summary lines
6579 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
6580 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
6581 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
6585 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
6586 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
6587 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
6592 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
6593 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
6594 @cindex summary exit
6595 @cindex exiting groups
6597 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
6598 group and return you to the group buffer.
6604 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
6606 @findex gnus-summary-exit
6607 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
6608 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
6609 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
6610 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
6611 called before doing much of the exiting, and calls
6612 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
6613 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exiting
6618 @kindex Z E (Summary)
6620 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
6621 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
6622 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
6626 @kindex Z c (Summary)
6628 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
6629 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
6630 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
6633 @kindex Z C (Summary)
6634 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
6635 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
6636 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
6639 @kindex Z n (Summary)
6640 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
6641 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
6642 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
6645 @kindex Z R (Summary)
6646 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
6647 Exit this group, and then enter it again
6648 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
6649 all articles, both read and unread.
6653 @kindex Z G (Summary)
6654 @kindex M-g (Summary)
6655 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
6656 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
6657 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
6658 articles, both read and unread.
6661 @kindex Z N (Summary)
6662 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
6663 Exit the group and go to the next group
6664 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
6667 @kindex Z P (Summary)
6668 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
6669 Exit the group and go to the previous group
6670 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
6673 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
6674 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
6677 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
6678 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
6679 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
6680 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
6681 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
6682 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
6683 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
6684 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
6685 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
6686 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
6687 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
6688 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
6690 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
6692 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
6693 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
6694 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
6695 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
6696 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
6697 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
6698 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
6699 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
6700 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
6703 @node Crosspost Handling
6704 @section Crosspost Handling
6708 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
6709 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
6710 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
6711 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
6712 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
6713 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
6716 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
6717 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
6718 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
6719 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
6720 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
6722 @cindex cross-posting
6725 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
6726 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
6727 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
6728 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
6729 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
6730 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
6731 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
6732 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
6733 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
6734 the cross reference mechanism.
6736 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
6737 @cindex overview.fmt
6738 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
6739 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
6740 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
6741 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
6742 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
6743 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
6746 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
6747 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
6748 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
6753 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6756 @node Duplicate Suppression
6757 @section Duplicate Suppression
6759 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
6760 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
6761 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
6762 approach may not work satisfactorily for some users for various
6767 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
6768 is evil and not very common.
6771 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
6772 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
6775 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
6776 different @sc{nntp} servers.
6779 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
6782 I'm sure there are other situations that @code{Xref} handling fails as
6783 well, but these four are the most common situations.
6785 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
6786 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
6787 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
6788 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
6789 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
6790 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
6791 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
6794 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
6795 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
6796 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
6797 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
6798 article as read the the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
6802 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
6803 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
6804 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
6806 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
6807 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
6808 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
6809 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
6810 However, this means that only duplicate articles that is read in a
6811 single Gnus session are suppressed.
6813 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
6814 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
6815 This variables says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
6816 suppression list. The default is 10000.
6818 @item gnus-duplicate-file
6819 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
6820 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list. The
6821 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
6824 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
6825 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
6826 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
6827 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
6828 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
6829 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
6830 to you to figure out, I think.
6833 @node The Article Buffer
6834 @chapter The Article Buffer
6835 @cindex article buffer
6837 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
6838 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
6839 tell Gnus otherwise.
6842 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
6843 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
6844 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
6845 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
6846 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
6850 @node Hiding Headers
6851 @section Hiding Headers
6852 @cindex hiding headers
6853 @cindex deleting headers
6855 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
6856 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
6858 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
6859 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
6860 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
6861 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
6862 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
6863 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
6864 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
6865 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
6866 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
6868 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
6872 @item gnus-visible-headers
6873 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
6874 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
6875 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
6876 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
6878 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
6879 the article and the subject, you'd say:
6882 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
6885 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6888 @item gnus-ignored-headers
6889 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
6890 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
6891 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
6892 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
6893 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
6895 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
6896 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
6899 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
6902 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6905 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
6906 variable will have no effect.
6910 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
6911 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
6912 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
6913 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
6914 the headers are to be displayed.
6916 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
6917 and then the subject, you might say something like:
6920 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
6923 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
6924 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
6925 are listed in this variable.
6927 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6928 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6929 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
6930 You can hide further boring headers by entering
6931 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
6932 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
6933 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
6934 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
6935 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
6937 These conditions are:
6940 Remove all empty headers.
6942 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
6945 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
6946 @code{Newsgroups} header.
6948 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
6951 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
6955 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
6958 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
6959 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
6962 This is also the default value for this variable.
6966 @section Using @sc{mime}
6969 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
6970 while people stand around yawning.
6972 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
6973 while all newsreaders die of fear.
6975 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
6976 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
6977 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
6979 @vindex gnus-show-mime
6980 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
6981 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
6982 @findex metamail-buffer
6983 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
6984 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
6985 default. Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
6986 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
6987 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
6988 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
6989 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
6990 buffer. These can't be avoided.
6992 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
6993 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
6994 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
6995 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
6996 comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
6997 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
6998 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
6999 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
7000 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
7002 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
7005 @node Customizing Articles
7006 @section Customizing Articles
7007 @cindex article customization
7009 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7010 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
7011 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
7012 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
7014 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7015 By default this hook just contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
7016 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
7017 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
7018 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
7019 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
7020 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
7023 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
7024 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
7025 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
7026 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
7027 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
7030 @node Article Keymap
7031 @section Article Keymap
7033 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
7034 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
7035 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
7036 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
7039 A few additional keystrokes are available:
7044 @kindex SPACE (Article)
7045 @findex gnus-article-next-page
7046 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
7049 @kindex DEL (Article)
7050 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
7051 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
7054 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
7055 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
7056 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
7057 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
7058 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
7061 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
7062 @findex gnus-article-mail
7063 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
7064 given a prefix, include the mail.
7068 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
7069 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
7070 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
7074 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
7075 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
7076 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
7079 @kindex TAB (Article)
7080 @findex gnus-article-next-button
7081 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}. This
7082 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
7085 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
7086 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
7087 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}.
7093 @section Misc Article
7097 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
7098 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
7099 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
7100 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
7103 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
7104 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
7105 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
7106 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
7107 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
7108 the contents of the article buffer.
7110 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7111 @item gnus-article-display-hook
7112 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
7113 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
7114 hiding headers, and the like.
7116 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
7117 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
7118 Hook called in article mode buffers.
7120 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
7121 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
7122 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
7123 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts the same
7124 format specifications as that variable, with one extension:
7128 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
7129 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
7133 @vindex gnus-break-pages
7135 @item gnus-break-pages
7136 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
7137 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
7138 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
7139 paging will not be done.
7141 @item gnus-page-delimiter
7142 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
7143 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
7148 @node Composing Messages
7149 @chapter Composing Messages
7154 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
7155 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
7156 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
7157 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
7158 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
7159 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
7160 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
7163 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
7164 * Post:: Posting and following up.
7165 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
7166 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
7167 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
7168 @c * Posting Styles:: An easier way to configure some key elements.
7169 @c * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
7170 @c * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
7173 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
7174 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
7180 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
7183 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
7184 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
7185 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
7186 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
7194 Variables for composing news articles:
7197 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7198 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7199 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
7200 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
7201 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
7202 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to sent the
7203 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
7204 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
7205 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
7208 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7209 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7210 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
7211 file. It is 1000 by default.
7216 @node Posting Server
7217 @section Posting Server
7219 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
7220 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
7222 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
7224 @vindex gnus-post-method
7226 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
7227 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
7228 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
7229 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
7230 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
7233 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
7236 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
7237 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
7238 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
7239 the ``current'' server for posting.
7241 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
7242 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
7244 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
7245 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
7250 @section Mail and Post
7252 Here's a list of variables that are relevant to both mailing and
7256 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
7257 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
7258 @cindex mailing lists
7260 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists that are
7261 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
7262 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
7263 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
7264 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
7265 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that match the groups that
7266 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
7267 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
7268 still a pain, though.
7272 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
7273 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
7274 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
7277 @findex ispell-message
7279 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
7283 @node Archived Messages
7284 @section Archived Messages
7285 @cindex archived messages
7286 @cindex sent messages
7288 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail you send.
7289 The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to store
7290 the mail. If you want to disable this completely, you should set
7291 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil}.
7293 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
7294 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
7295 use to store sent messages. The default is:
7299 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive/"))
7302 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
7303 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
7304 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
7305 directory chosen, you could say something like:
7308 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
7309 '(nnfolder "archive"
7310 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
7311 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
7312 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
7315 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
7317 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
7318 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
7319 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
7321 This variable can be:
7325 Messages will be saved in that group.
7326 @item a list of strings
7327 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
7328 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
7329 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
7331 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
7336 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
7338 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
7341 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
7343 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
7346 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
7348 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7349 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
7350 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
7351 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
7356 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7357 '((if (message-news-p)
7362 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
7363 messages in one file per month:
7366 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7367 '((if (message-news-p)
7369 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
7370 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
7373 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
7374 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
7375 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
7376 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
7377 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
7378 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
7379 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
7380 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
7381 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
7382 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
7384 That's the default method of archiving sent mail. Gnus also a different
7385 way for the people who don't like the default method. In that case you
7386 should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil}; this will
7389 XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
7390 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.
7393 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
7394 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
7395 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
7396 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
7397 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
7400 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
7401 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
7402 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
7407 @c @node Posting Styles
7408 @c @section Posting Styles
7409 @c @cindex posting styles
7412 @c All them variables, they make my head swim.
7414 @c So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
7415 @c on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
7416 @c and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
7419 @c @vindex gnus-posting-styles
7420 @c One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
7421 @c variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
7422 @c came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
7423 @c a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
7428 @c (signature . "Peace and happiness")
7429 @c (organization . "What me?"))
7431 @c (signature . "Death to everybody"))
7432 @c ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
7433 @c (organization . "Emacs is it")))
7436 @c As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
7437 @c @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
7438 @c ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
7439 @c over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
7440 @c applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
7441 @c the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
7442 @c @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
7443 @c signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
7445 @c The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
7446 @c string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
7447 @c If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
7448 @c arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
7449 @c referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
7450 @c any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
7453 @c Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
7454 @c attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
7455 @c can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
7456 @c attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
7457 @c a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
7460 @c The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
7461 @c return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
7462 @c list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
7464 @c So here's a new example:
7467 @c (setq gnus-posting-styles
7469 @c (signature . "~/.signature")
7470 @c (from . "user@@foo (user)")
7471 @c ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
7472 @c (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
7474 @c (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
7475 @c ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
7476 @c (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
7477 @c (posting-from-work-p
7478 @c (signature . "~/.work-signature")
7479 @c (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
7480 @c (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
7482 @c (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
7489 @c If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
7490 @c you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
7491 @c craazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save the
7492 @c message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some other
7493 @c day, and send it when you feel its finished.
7495 @c Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
7496 @c some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
7497 @c automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
7498 @c If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
7499 @c article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
7503 @c @vindex gnus-draft-group-directory
7504 @c The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
7505 @c @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
7506 @c @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{gnus-draft-group-directory}
7507 @c controls both the name of the group and the location---the leaf element
7508 @c in the path will be used as the name of the group. What makes this
7509 @c group special is that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any
7510 @c articles as read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
7512 @c If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
7515 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
7516 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
7517 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
7518 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
7519 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
7520 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
7521 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
7522 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
7523 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
7524 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
7525 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
7526 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
7527 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
7528 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
7530 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
7531 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
7532 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
7534 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-draft
7535 @c @kindex S D c (Summary)
7536 @c When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
7537 @c draft group and push @kbd{S D c} (@code{gnus-summary-send-draft}) to do
7538 @c that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
7540 @c Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
7543 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-all-drafts
7544 @c If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
7545 @c doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{S D a} command
7546 @c (@code{gnus-summary-send-all-drafts}). This command understands the
7547 @c process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7550 @c @node Rejected Articles
7551 @c @section Rejected Articles
7552 @c @cindex rejected articles
7554 @c Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
7555 @c doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
7556 @c @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
7557 @c Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
7559 @c These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
7560 @c (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
7561 @c fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
7562 @c you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
7563 @c articles until some later time when the server feels better.
7565 @c The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
7566 @c (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
7567 @c typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
7570 @node Select Methods
7571 @chapter Select Methods
7572 @cindex foreign groups
7573 @cindex select methods
7575 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group that is not read by the usual (or
7576 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
7577 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
7578 personal mail group.
7580 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
7581 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
7582 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
7583 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
7584 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
7585 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
7587 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
7588 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
7590 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
7593 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
7594 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
7595 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
7596 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
7597 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
7599 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
7602 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
7603 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
7604 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
7605 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
7606 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
7610 @node The Server Buffer
7611 @section The Server Buffer
7613 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
7614 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
7615 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
7616 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
7617 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
7618 backend represents a virtual server.
7620 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
7621 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
7622 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
7623 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
7625 These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
7626 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
7627 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number @code{13}, which
7628 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
7629 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
7630 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
7631 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
7633 To enter the server buffer, user the @kbd{^}
7634 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
7637 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
7638 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
7639 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
7640 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
7641 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
7642 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
7645 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
7646 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
7649 @node Server Buffer Format
7650 @subsection Server Buffer Format
7651 @cindex server buffer format
7653 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
7654 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
7655 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
7656 variable, with some simple extensions:
7661 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
7664 The name of this server.
7667 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
7670 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
7673 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
7674 The mode line can also be customized by using the
7675 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
7686 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
7689 @node Server Commands
7690 @subsection Server Commands
7691 @cindex server commands
7697 @findex gnus-server-add-server
7698 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
7702 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
7703 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
7706 @kindex SPACE (Server)
7707 @findex gnus-server-read-server
7708 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
7712 @findex gnus-server-exit
7713 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
7717 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
7718 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
7722 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
7723 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
7727 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
7728 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
7732 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
7733 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
7737 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
7738 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
7739 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
7745 @node Example Methods
7746 @subsection Example Methods
7748 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
7751 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
7754 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
7760 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
7761 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
7764 After these two elements, there may be a arbitrary number of
7765 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
7767 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
7768 port @code{15} from that machine. This is what the select method should
7772 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
7775 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
7776 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
7778 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
7779 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
7780 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
7784 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
7787 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
7790 Here's the method for a public spool:
7794 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
7795 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
7799 @node Creating a Virtual Server
7800 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
7802 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
7803 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
7805 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
7806 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
7807 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
7809 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
7811 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
7812 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
7813 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
7814 will contain the following:
7824 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
7825 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
7826 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
7829 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
7830 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
7831 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
7834 @node Servers and Methods
7835 @subsection Servers and Methods
7837 Wherever you would normally use a select method
7838 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
7839 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
7840 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
7844 @node Unavailable Servers
7845 @subsection Unavailable Servers
7847 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
7848 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
7849 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
7850 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
7851 actually the case or not.
7853 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
7854 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to the server
7855 @samp{nepholococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
7856 away from you, the machine is quite, so it takes 1 minute just to find
7857 out that it refuses connection from you today. If Gnus were to attempt
7858 to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't attempt to do
7859 that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'', it will
7860 regard that server as ``down''.
7862 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
7863 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
7865 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
7866 with the following commands:
7872 @findex gnus-server-open-server
7873 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
7874 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
7878 @findex gnus-server-close-server
7879 Close the connection (if any) to the server
7880 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
7884 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
7885 Mark the current server as unreachable
7886 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
7889 @kindex M-o (Server)
7890 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
7891 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
7892 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
7895 @kindex M-c (Server)
7896 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
7897 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
7898 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
7902 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
7903 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from all servers
7904 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
7910 @section Getting News
7911 @cindex reading news
7912 @cindex news backends
7914 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
7915 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
7916 or it can read from a local spool.
7919 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
7920 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
7925 @subsection @sc{nntp}
7928 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
7929 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
7930 server as the, uhm, address.
7932 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
7933 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
7934 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
7935 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
7937 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
7938 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
7939 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
7941 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
7946 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
7947 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
7948 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
7950 @cindex authentification
7951 @cindex nntp authentification
7952 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
7953 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
7954 @code{nntp-server-opened-hook} is run after a connection has been made.
7955 It can be used to send commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has
7956 been contacted. By default is sends the command @code{MODE READER} to
7957 the server with the @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function.
7959 @item nntp-authinfo-function
7960 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
7961 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
7962 server. Available functions include:
7965 @item nntp-send-authinfo
7966 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
7967 This function will used you current login name as the user name and will
7968 prompt you for the password. This is the default.
7970 @item nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
7971 @findex nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
7972 This function will prompt you for both user name and password.
7974 @item nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
7975 @findex nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
7976 This function will use your current login name as the user name and will
7977 read the @sc{nntp} password from @file{~/.nntp-authinfo}.
7980 @item nntp-server-action-alist
7981 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
7982 This is an list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
7983 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
7984 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
7987 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
7991 You probably don't want to do that, though.
7993 The default value is
7996 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
7997 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook nntp-send-mode-reader)))
8000 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
8001 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
8003 @item nntp-maximum-request
8004 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
8005 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
8006 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
8007 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
8008 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
8009 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
8010 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
8012 @item nntp-connection-timeout
8013 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
8014 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
8015 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
8016 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
8017 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
8018 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
8019 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
8020 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
8021 no timeouts are done.
8023 @item nntp-command-timeout
8024 @vindex nntp-command-timeout
8025 @cindex PPP connections
8026 @cindex dynamic IP addresses
8027 If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
8028 address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
8029 changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
8030 waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
8031 unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
8032 then, if it sits waiting longer than that number of seconds for a reply
8033 from the server, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
8034 the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
8035 likely number is 30 seconds.
8037 @item nntp-retry-on-break
8038 @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
8039 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
8040 hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
8043 @item nntp-server-hook
8044 @vindex nntp-server-hook
8045 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
8048 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
8049 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
8050 @item nntp-open-server-function
8051 @vindex nntp-open-server-function
8052 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Two pre-made
8053 functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
8054 simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
8055 is @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an rlogin on the remote system,
8056 and then does a telnet to the @sc{nntp} server available there.
8058 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
8059 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
8060 If you use @code{nntp-open-rlogin} as the
8061 @code{nntp-open-server-function}, this list will be used as the
8062 parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
8064 @item nntp-end-of-line
8065 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
8066 String to use as end-of-line markers when talking to the @sc{nntp}
8067 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
8068 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
8070 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
8071 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
8072 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
8076 @vindex nntp-address
8077 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
8079 @item nntp-port-number
8080 @vindex nntp-port-number
8081 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
8084 @item nntp-buggy-select
8085 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
8086 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
8088 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
8089 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
8090 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
8091 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks whether @sc{nov}
8092 can be used automatically.
8094 @item nntp-xover-commands
8095 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
8098 List of strings that are used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
8099 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
8103 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
8104 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
8105 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
8106 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
8107 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
8108 lines that you do not want, and will not use. This variable says how
8109 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
8110 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
8111 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
8112 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
8113 @code{nntp} will never split requests.
8115 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
8116 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
8117 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
8119 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8120 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8121 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
8122 server closes connection.
8128 @subsection News Spool
8132 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
8133 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
8134 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
8137 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @samp{} (or
8138 anything else) as the address.
8140 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
8141 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
8142 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
8143 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
8147 @item nnspool-inews-program
8148 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
8149 Program used to post an article.
8151 @item nnspool-inews-switches
8152 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
8153 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
8155 @item nnspool-spool-directory
8156 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
8157 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
8158 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
8160 @item nnspool-nov-directory
8161 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
8162 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
8163 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
8165 @item nnspool-lib-dir
8166 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
8167 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
8169 @item nnspool-active-file
8170 @vindex nnspool-active-file
8171 The path of the active file.
8173 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
8174 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
8175 The path of the group descriptions file.
8177 @item nnspool-history-file
8178 @vindex nnspool-history-file
8179 The path of the news history file.
8181 @item nnspool-active-times-file
8182 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
8183 The path of the active date file.
8185 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
8186 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
8187 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
8190 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8191 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8193 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
8194 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
8195 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
8201 @section Getting Mail
8202 @cindex reading mail
8205 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
8209 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
8210 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
8211 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
8212 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
8213 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
8214 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
8215 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
8216 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
8217 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
8218 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
8219 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
8223 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
8224 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
8226 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
8227 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
8228 and things will happen automatically.
8230 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a one file per
8231 mail backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
8234 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
8235 '((nnml "private")))
8238 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
8239 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
8240 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
8241 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
8242 like any other group.
8244 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
8247 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8248 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
8249 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8253 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
8254 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
8255 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
8258 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
8259 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though,
8260 especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
8263 @node Splitting Mail
8264 @subsection Splitting Mail
8265 @cindex splitting mail
8266 @cindex mail splitting
8268 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
8269 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
8270 to be split into groups.
8273 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8274 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
8275 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8279 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
8280 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
8281 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
8282 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
8283 determine if it belongs in this mail group.
8285 If the first element is the special symbol @code{junk}, then messages
8286 that match the regexp will disappear into the aether. Use with
8289 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
8290 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
8291 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
8292 mail belongs in that group.
8294 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
8295 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any
8296 mails that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps.
8298 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
8299 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
8300 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
8301 message. The function should return a list of groups names that it
8302 thinks should carry this mail message.
8304 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent
8305 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
8306 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
8307 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
8309 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
8310 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
8311 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
8312 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
8313 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
8315 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
8318 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
8319 the crossposted articles. However, not all files systems support hard
8320 links. If that's the case for you, set
8321 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
8322 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
8324 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
8325 @kindex nnmail-split-history
8326 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
8327 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
8329 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
8330 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
8331 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
8332 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
8333 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
8334 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
8335 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
8336 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
8340 @node Mail Backend Variables
8341 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
8343 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
8347 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8348 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8349 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
8350 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
8352 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
8353 @item nnmail-spool-file
8357 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
8358 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
8359 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
8360 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
8361 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
8362 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
8363 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
8364 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
8365 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
8366 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
8367 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
8368 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
8369 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
8370 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
8371 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
8373 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
8374 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
8375 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
8376 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
8377 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
8378 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
8380 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
8381 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8382 @item nnmail-use-procmail
8383 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
8384 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
8385 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
8386 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
8389 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
8390 @item nnmail-crash-box
8391 When the mail backends read a spool file, it is first moved to this
8392 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
8393 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
8396 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8397 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8398 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
8399 used for, well, anything, really.
8401 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
8402 @item nnmail-split-hook
8403 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
8404 @findex RFC1522 decoding
8405 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
8406 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
8407 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
8408 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
8409 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{article-decode-rfc1522}
8410 is one likely function to add to this hook.
8412 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8413 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8414 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8415 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8416 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
8417 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
8418 starting to handle the new mail) and
8419 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
8420 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
8421 default file modes the new mail files get:
8424 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8425 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
8427 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
8428 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
8431 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
8432 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
8433 This variable says where to move the incoming mail to while processing
8434 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
8435 inhabits (i.e., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
8436 it will be used instead.
8438 @item nnmail-movemail-program
8439 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
8440 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
8441 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
8443 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
8444 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
8447 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
8448 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
8449 @cindex incoming mail files
8450 @cindex deleting incoming files
8451 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
8452 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{nil} by
8453 default for reasons of security.
8455 Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
8456 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
8457 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point.) By not deleting the
8458 Incoming* files, one can be sure to not lose mail -- if Gnus totally
8459 whacks out, one can always recover what was lost.
8461 Delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
8463 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
8464 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
8465 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
8466 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories like
8467 @file{mail.misc/}. If it is @code{nil}, the same group will end up in
8470 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
8471 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
8473 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
8478 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
8479 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
8480 @cindex mail splitting
8481 @cindex fancy mail splitting
8483 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
8484 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
8485 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
8486 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
8487 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
8488 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
8490 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
8493 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
8494 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
8495 ;; from real errors.
8496 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
8498 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
8499 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
8500 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
8501 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
8502 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
8503 ;; Other mailing lists...
8504 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
8505 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
8507 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen"))
8508 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
8512 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
8513 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
8514 the five possible split syntaxes:
8519 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
8522 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, and the first
8523 element is a string, then that means that if header FIELD (a regexp)
8524 contains VALUE (also a regexp), then store the message as specified by
8528 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
8529 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
8530 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
8531 be stored in one or more groups.
8534 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
8535 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
8538 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
8539 this message anywhere.
8543 In these splits, FIELD must match a complete field name. VALUE must
8544 match a complete word according to the fundamental mode syntax table.
8545 You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial field names or
8548 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
8549 FIELD and VALUE can also be lisp symbols, in that case they are expanded
8550 as specified by the variable @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is
8551 an alist of cons cells, where the car of the cells contains the key, and
8552 the cdr contains a string.
8554 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
8555 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
8556 when all this splitting is performed.
8559 @node Mail and Procmail
8560 @subsection Mail and Procmail
8565 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
8566 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
8567 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
8568 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
8569 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
8571 This also means that you probably don't want to set
8572 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
8575 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
8576 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
8577 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends (except
8578 @code{nnmh}) actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
8579 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
8580 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
8582 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) what groups
8585 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example.
8587 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
8588 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
8590 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
8591 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
8592 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
8593 to include all your mail groups.
8595 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
8596 method will be created automatically.
8598 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8599 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
8600 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
8601 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
8602 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
8603 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
8604 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
8605 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
8607 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
8608 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
8609 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
8610 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
8611 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
8613 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8614 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an @code{nnmh}
8615 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
8616 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
8617 ever expiring the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is quite,
8620 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
8621 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i. e., the incoming
8622 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
8623 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
8624 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
8627 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
8628 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
8629 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
8630 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
8631 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
8635 @node Incorporating Old Mail
8636 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
8638 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
8639 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
8640 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
8643 Doing so can be quite easy.
8645 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
8646 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
8647 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
8648 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
8649 your @code{nnml} groups.
8655 Go to the group buffer.
8658 Type `G f' and give the path of the mbox file when prompted to create an
8659 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8662 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
8665 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group (@pxref{Setting
8669 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
8670 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8673 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
8674 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
8675 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
8676 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
8677 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
8679 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
8680 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
8681 using the new mail backend.
8685 @subsection Expiring Mail
8686 @cindex article expiry
8688 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
8689 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
8690 different approach to mail reading.
8692 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
8693 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
8694 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
8695 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
8696 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
8697 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
8700 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
8701 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
8702 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
8703 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
8704 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
8705 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
8706 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
8707 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
8709 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8710 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
8711 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
8712 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
8713 articles that are marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
8714 column in the summary buffer.
8716 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
8717 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
8720 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
8721 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
8724 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
8725 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
8727 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
8728 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
8729 expirable article has to live. The default is seven days.
8731 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
8732 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
8733 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
8734 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
8737 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8739 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
8741 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
8743 ((string= group "mail.junk")
8745 ((string= group "important")
8751 The group names that this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
8752 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
8754 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
8755 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can be either a number (not
8756 necessarily an integer) or the symbols @code{immediate} or
8759 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
8760 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8762 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8763 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
8764 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
8765 easier for procmail users.
8767 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
8768 By the way, that line up there about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
8769 articles is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
8770 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
8771 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
8772 caution. Even more dangerous is the
8773 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
8774 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
8775 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
8776 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
8777 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
8778 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
8779 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
8784 @subsection Washing Mail
8785 @cindex mail washing
8786 @cindex list server brain damage
8787 @cindex incoming mail treatment
8789 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
8790 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
8791 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
8792 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
8793 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
8794 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
8796 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
8797 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
8798 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
8801 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
8802 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
8803 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
8804 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
8807 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8808 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8809 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
8810 grand, sweeping gestures. Functions to be used include:
8813 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
8814 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
8815 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
8816 Emacs running on MS machines.
8820 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
8821 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
8822 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
8823 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
8826 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
8827 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
8828 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
8829 headers too make them look nice. Aaah.
8831 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
8832 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
8833 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
8834 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
8835 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
8836 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
8837 also be a list of regexp.
8839 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
8840 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
8843 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
8844 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
8847 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
8848 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
8849 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
8853 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
8854 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
8855 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
8859 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
8860 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
8861 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
8868 @subsection Duplicates
8870 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
8871 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
8872 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
8873 @cindex duplicate mails
8874 If you are a member of a couple of mailing list, you will sometime
8875 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
8876 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
8877 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
8878 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
8879 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
8880 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
8881 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
8882 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
8883 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
8884 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
8885 will generate a brand new @code{Message-ID} for the mail and insert a
8886 warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks that this is a
8887 duplicate of a different message.
8889 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
8890 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
8891 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
8892 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
8894 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
8897 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
8898 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
8902 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
8903 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
8904 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
8905 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
8906 (any mail "mail.misc")
8913 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8914 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
8919 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
8920 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
8921 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
8922 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
8923 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
8926 @node Not Reading Mail
8927 @subsection Not Reading Mail
8929 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
8930 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
8931 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
8933 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
8934 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
8936 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8937 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8938 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8939 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8940 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8941 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
8942 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
8943 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
8944 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
8945 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
8946 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
8948 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
8949 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
8953 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
8954 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
8956 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
8957 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
8958 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
8961 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
8962 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
8963 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
8964 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
8965 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
8970 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
8972 @cindex unix mail box
8974 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8975 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8976 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
8977 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
8978 which group it belongs in.
8980 Virtual server settings:
8983 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
8984 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8985 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
8987 @item nnmbox-active-file
8988 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8989 The name of the active file for the mail box.
8991 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
8992 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8993 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
8999 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
9003 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
9004 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
9005 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
9006 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
9007 article to say which group it belongs in.
9009 Virtual server settings:
9012 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
9013 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
9014 The name of the rmail mbox file.
9016 @item nnbabyl-active-file
9017 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
9018 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
9020 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9021 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9022 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
9027 @subsubsection Mail Spool
9029 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
9031 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
9032 format. It should be used with some caution.
9034 @vindex nnml-directory
9035 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files;
9036 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the correct
9037 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
9038 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
9040 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
9043 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
9044 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
9045 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
9046 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
9047 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
9048 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
9049 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
9050 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
9052 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
9053 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
9054 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes is the fastest
9055 backend when it comes to reading mail.
9057 Virtual server settings:
9060 @item nnml-directory
9061 @vindex nnml-directory
9062 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
9064 @item nnml-active-file
9065 @vindex nnml-active-file
9066 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
9068 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
9069 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
9070 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
9073 @item nnml-get-new-mail
9074 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
9075 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
9077 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
9078 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
9079 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
9081 @item nnml-nov-file-name
9082 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
9083 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
9085 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
9086 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
9087 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
9091 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
9092 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
9093 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
9094 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
9095 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
9096 might take a while to complete.
9100 @subsubsection MH Spool
9102 @cindex mh-e mail spool
9104 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
9105 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
9106 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
9107 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
9109 Virtual server settings:
9112 @item nnmh-directory
9113 @vindex nnmh-directory
9114 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
9116 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
9117 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
9118 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
9121 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
9122 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
9123 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
9124 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
9125 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
9126 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
9127 to set this variable to @code{t}.
9132 @subsubsection Mail Folders
9134 @cindex mbox folders
9135 @cindex mail folders
9137 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
9138 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
9139 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
9142 Virtual server settings:
9145 @item nnfolder-directory
9146 @vindex nnfolder-directory
9147 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
9149 @item nnfolder-active-file
9150 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
9151 The name of the active file.
9153 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9154 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9155 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
9157 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
9158 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
9159 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
9162 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
9163 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
9164 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
9165 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
9166 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
9167 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
9171 @section Other Sources
9173 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
9174 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
9178 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
9179 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
9180 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
9181 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
9182 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
9183 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
9187 @node Directory Groups
9188 @subsection Directory Groups
9190 @cindex directory groups
9192 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
9193 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
9196 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp}, that most
9197 wonderful of all wonderful Emacs packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I
9198 didn't think much about it---a backend to read directories. Big deal.
9200 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
9201 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
9202 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the the directory name,
9203 @code{ange-ftp} will actually allow you to read this directory over at
9204 @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
9206 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
9208 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
9209 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
9210 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
9211 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
9214 @node Anything Groups
9215 @subsection Anything Groups
9218 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
9219 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
9220 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
9223 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
9224 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
9225 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
9226 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
9227 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
9228 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
9229 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
9230 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
9231 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
9232 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
9235 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
9236 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
9237 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
9238 in the article buffer, just as usual.
9240 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
9241 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
9242 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
9243 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
9245 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
9246 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
9247 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
9248 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
9249 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
9250 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
9251 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
9252 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
9257 @item nneething-map-file-directory
9258 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
9259 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
9260 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
9262 @item nneething-exclude-files
9263 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
9264 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
9265 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
9267 @item nneething-map-file
9268 @vindex nneething-map-file
9269 Name of the map files.
9273 @node Document Groups
9274 @subsection Document Groups
9276 @cindex documentation group
9279 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
9280 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
9287 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
9292 The standard Unix mbox file.
9294 @cindex MMDF mail box
9296 The MMDF mail box format.
9299 Several news articles appended into a file.
9302 @cindex rnews batch files
9303 The rnews batch transport format.
9304 @cindex forwarded messages
9313 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
9314 @cindex RFC 341 digest
9315 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
9317 @item standard-digest
9318 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
9321 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
9324 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
9325 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
9326 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
9329 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
9330 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
9331 group. And that's it.
9333 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
9334 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
9335 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
9336 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
9337 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
9338 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
9339 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
9340 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
9341 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
9342 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
9344 Virtual server variables:
9347 @item nndoc-article-type
9348 @vindex nndoc-article-type
9349 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
9350 @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{news}, @code{rnews},
9351 @code{mime-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, or @code{guess}.
9353 @item nndoc-post-type
9354 @vindex nndoc-post-type
9355 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
9356 a mail group. There are two legal values: @code{mail} (the default)
9361 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
9365 @node Document Server Internals
9366 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
9368 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
9369 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
9370 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
9371 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
9373 First, here's an example document type definition:
9377 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
9378 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
9381 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
9382 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
9383 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
9384 types can be defined with very few settings:
9388 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
9389 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
9393 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
9394 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
9396 @item head-begin-function
9397 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
9400 @item nndoc-head-begin
9401 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
9404 @item nndoc-head-end
9405 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
9406 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
9408 @item body-begin-function
9409 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
9413 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
9416 @item body-end-function
9417 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
9421 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
9423 @item nndoc-file-end
9424 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
9425 regexp will be totally ignored.
9429 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
9430 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
9431 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
9432 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
9433 something that's palatable for Gnus:
9436 @item prepare-body-function
9437 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
9438 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
9439 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
9441 @item article-transform-function
9442 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
9443 meant to be used how more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
9444 body of the article.
9446 @item generate-head-function
9447 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
9448 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
9449 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
9450 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
9454 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
9459 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
9460 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
9461 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
9462 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
9464 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
9465 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
9466 (subtype digest guess))
9469 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
9470 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
9471 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
9472 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
9473 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
9475 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
9476 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
9477 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
9478 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
9479 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for each
9480 type. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
9481 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
9482 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
9483 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
9484 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
9485 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest legal number.
9493 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
9494 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
9495 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
9497 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
9498 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
9499 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
9502 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
9503 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
9504 that interested in doing things properly.
9506 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
9507 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
9513 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
9514 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie, or you can use Gnus to create the
9515 packet with the @kbd{O s} command.
9518 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
9521 You put the packet in your home directory.
9524 You fire up Gnus using the @code{nnsoup} backend as the native server.
9527 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
9531 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
9535 You transfer this packet to the server.
9538 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
9541 You then repeat until you die.
9545 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
9546 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
9549 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
9550 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
9551 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
9556 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
9560 @kindex G s b (Group)
9561 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
9562 Pack all unread articles in the current group
9563 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
9564 process/prefix convention.
9567 @kindex G s w (Group)
9568 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
9569 Save all data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
9572 @kindex G s s (Group)
9573 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
9574 Send all replies from the replies packet
9575 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
9578 @kindex G s p (Group)
9579 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
9580 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
9583 @kindex G s r (Group)
9584 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
9585 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
9588 @kindex O s (Summary)
9589 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
9590 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
9591 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
9597 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
9602 @item gnus-soup-directory
9603 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
9604 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
9605 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
9607 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
9608 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
9609 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
9610 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
9612 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
9613 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
9614 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
9617 @item gnus-soup-packer
9618 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
9619 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
9620 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
9622 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
9623 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
9624 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
9625 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
9627 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
9628 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
9629 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
9631 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
9632 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
9633 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
9634 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
9640 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
9643 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
9644 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
9645 you can read them at leisure.
9647 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
9651 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
9652 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
9653 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
9654 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
9656 @item nnsoup-directory
9657 @vindex nnsoup-directory
9658 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
9659 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
9661 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
9662 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
9663 All replies will stored in this directory before being packed into a
9664 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
9666 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
9667 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
9668 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
9669 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
9670 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
9672 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
9673 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
9674 The index type of the replies packet. The is @samp{?n}, which means
9675 ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
9677 @item nnsoup-active-file
9678 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
9679 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
9680 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
9681 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
9682 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
9685 @vindex nnsoup-packer
9686 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
9687 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
9689 @item nnsoup-unpacker
9690 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
9691 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
9692 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
9694 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
9695 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
9696 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
9699 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
9700 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
9701 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
9708 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
9710 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
9711 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
9712 more for that to happen.
9714 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
9715 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
9716 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
9719 In specific, this is what it does:
9722 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
9723 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
9726 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
9727 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
9728 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
9732 @subsection Web Searches
9737 @cindex Usenet searches
9738 @cindex searching the Usenet
9740 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
9741 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
9742 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
9743 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
9744 searches without having to use a browser.
9746 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
9747 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
9748 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
9749 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
9750 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
9752 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
9753 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
9754 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
9755 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
9756 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@code{Duplicate
9757 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
9758 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
9759 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
9760 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
9761 header---mark all articles that were posted before the last date you
9762 read the group as read.
9764 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
9765 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
9766 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
9767 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
9768 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
9769 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
9771 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
9772 to use @code{nnweb}.
9774 Virtual server variables:
9779 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
9780 are @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
9783 @vindex nnweb-search
9784 The search string to feed to the search engine.
9786 @item nnweb-max-hits
9787 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
9788 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
9791 @item nnweb-type-definition
9792 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
9793 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
9794 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
9799 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
9803 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
9806 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
9809 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
9813 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
9820 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
9821 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
9822 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
9825 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
9826 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
9827 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
9829 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
9835 @item nngateway-address
9836 @vindex nngateway-address
9837 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
9839 @item nngateway-header-transformation
9840 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
9841 News headers have often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
9842 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
9843 transformation should be called, and defaults to
9844 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
9845 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
9848 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
9849 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address---an article with this
9850 @code{Newsgroups} header:
9853 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
9856 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
9859 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
9864 So, to use this, simply say something like:
9867 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
9871 @node Combined Groups
9872 @section Combined Groups
9874 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
9878 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
9879 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
9883 @node Virtual Groups
9884 @subsection Virtual Groups
9886 @cindex virtual groups
9888 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
9891 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small group, you can
9892 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
9893 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
9895 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
9896 regexp to match component groups.
9898 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
9899 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
9900 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
9901 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
9904 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
9905 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
9908 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
9911 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
9912 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
9914 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
9915 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
9916 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
9917 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
9920 "^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
9923 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
9924 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
9925 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
9926 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
9927 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}.
9929 One limitation, however---all groups that are included in a virtual
9930 group has to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
9931 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
9933 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
9934 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
9935 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
9936 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
9937 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
9938 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
9939 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
9940 effect if you have two virtual groups that contain the same component
9941 group. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
9942 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
9943 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
9946 @node Kibozed Groups
9947 @subsection Kibozed Groups
9951 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
9952 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
9953 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
9954 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
9957 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
9960 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
9961 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
9962 @code{nnkiboze} group. There most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
9963 and @code{nnvirtual} ends.
9965 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
9966 must have a score file to say what articles that are to be included in
9967 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
9969 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
9970 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
9971 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
9972 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
9973 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
9974 all the articles in all the components groups and run them through the
9975 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
9976 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
9978 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
9979 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
9980 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
9981 Stranger things have happened.
9983 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
9984 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
9986 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
9987 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
9988 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
9989 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
9990 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
9991 on what groups that have been searched through to find component
9994 Articles that are marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have their
9995 @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
10002 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
10003 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
10004 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
10007 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
10008 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
10009 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
10010 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
10011 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
10013 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
10014 before generating the summary buffer.
10016 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
10017 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
10018 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
10020 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
10021 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
10022 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
10023 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
10026 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
10027 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
10028 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
10029 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
10030 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
10031 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus @emph{knows} what you read.
10032 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
10033 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
10034 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
10035 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
10036 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
10037 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
10038 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
10039 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
10040 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
10044 @node Summary Score Commands
10045 @section Summary Score Commands
10046 @cindex score commands
10048 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
10049 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
10050 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
10051 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
10052 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
10054 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
10055 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
10056 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
10057 score file the current one.
10059 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
10064 @kindex V s (Summary)
10065 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
10066 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
10069 @kindex V S (Summary)
10070 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
10071 Display the score of the current article
10072 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
10075 @kindex V t (Summary)
10076 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
10077 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
10078 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
10081 @kindex V R (Summary)
10082 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
10083 Run the current summary through the scoring process
10084 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
10085 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
10086 effect you're having.
10089 @kindex V a (Summary)
10090 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
10091 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
10092 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
10095 @kindex V c (Summary)
10096 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
10097 Make a different score file the current
10098 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
10101 @kindex V e (Summary)
10102 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
10103 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
10104 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
10108 @kindex V f (Summary)
10109 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
10110 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
10111 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
10114 @kindex V F (Summary)
10115 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
10116 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
10117 after editing score files.
10120 @kindex V C (Summary)
10121 @findex gnus-score-customize
10122 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
10123 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
10126 @kindex I C-i (Summary)
10127 @findex gnus-summary-raise-score
10128 Increase the score of the current article
10129 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
10132 @kindex L C-l (Summary)
10133 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
10134 Lower the score of the current article
10135 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
10138 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
10143 @kindex V m (Summary)
10144 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
10145 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
10146 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
10149 @kindex V x (Summary)
10150 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
10151 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
10152 expunge all articles below this score
10153 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
10156 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
10157 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
10162 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
10163 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
10165 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
10166 keys are available:
10170 Score on the author name.
10173 Score on the subject line.
10176 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
10179 Score on thread---the References line.
10185 Score on the number of lines.
10188 Score on the Message-ID.
10191 Score on followups.
10201 The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
10202 what headers you are scoring on.
10214 Substring matching.
10246 Greater than number.
10251 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
10252 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
10253 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
10257 Temporary score entry.
10260 Permanent score entry.
10263 Immediately scoring.
10268 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
10269 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
10270 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
10271 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
10273 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
10274 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
10275 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
10276 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
10277 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
10279 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
10280 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
10281 pretend they are keymaps or not.
10284 @node Group Score Commands
10285 @section Group Score Commands
10286 @cindex group score commands
10288 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
10293 @kindex W f (Group)
10294 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
10295 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
10296 all the time. This command will flush the cache
10297 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
10302 @node Score Variables
10303 @section Score Variables
10304 @cindex score variables
10308 @item gnus-use-scoring
10309 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
10310 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
10311 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
10313 @item gnus-kill-killed
10314 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
10315 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
10316 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
10317 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
10318 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
10319 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
10320 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
10322 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
10323 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
10324 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
10325 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
10326 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
10328 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
10329 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
10330 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
10331 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
10333 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
10334 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
10335 @cindex score cache
10336 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
10337 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
10338 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files that are
10339 unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
10340 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
10341 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
10342 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
10345 @item gnus-save-score
10346 @vindex gnus-save-score
10347 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
10348 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
10349 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
10351 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
10352 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
10353 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
10354 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
10355 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
10356 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
10357 manually entered data.
10359 @item gnus-summary-default-score
10360 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
10361 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
10363 @item gnus-score-over-mark
10364 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
10365 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
10366 default. Default is @samp{+}.
10368 @item gnus-score-below-mark
10369 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
10370 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
10371 default. Default is @samp{-}.
10373 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
10374 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
10375 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
10376 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
10378 Predefined functions available are:
10381 @item gnus-score-find-single
10382 @findex gnus-score-find-single
10383 Only apply the group's own score file.
10385 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
10386 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
10387 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
10388 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
10389 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
10390 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
10391 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
10392 then a regexp match is done.
10394 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
10395 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
10397 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
10398 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
10399 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
10400 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
10402 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
10403 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
10404 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
10405 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
10406 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
10409 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
10410 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
10411 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
10412 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
10413 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
10414 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
10417 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
10418 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
10419 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
10420 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
10421 are expired. It's 7 by default.
10423 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10424 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10425 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
10426 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
10427 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
10428 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
10429 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
10432 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
10433 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
10434 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
10439 @node Score File Format
10440 @section Score File Format
10441 @cindex score file format
10443 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
10444 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
10445 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
10447 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
10451 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
10453 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
10455 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
10457 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
10462 (mark-and-expunge -10)
10466 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
10467 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
10468 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
10469 (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
10473 This example demonstrates absolutely everything about a score file.
10475 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
10476 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
10477 has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
10479 Six keys are supported by this alist:
10484 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
10485 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
10486 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
10487 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
10488 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
10489 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
10490 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
10491 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
10492 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
10493 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
10494 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
10495 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
10496 to articles that matches these score entries.
10498 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
10499 score entry has one to four elements.
10503 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
10504 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
10508 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
10509 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
10510 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
10511 is successful. If this element is not present, the
10512 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
10513 instead. This is 1000 by default.
10516 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
10517 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
10518 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
10519 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
10520 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 ce.
10523 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
10524 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
10525 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
10526 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
10529 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
10530 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
10531 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
10532 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
10533 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
10534 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
10535 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
10536 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
10537 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
10538 instead, if you feel like.
10541 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
10542 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
10545 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
10546 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
10547 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
10548 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
10549 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
10550 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
10551 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
10555 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
10556 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
10557 ISO8601 compact format first---@samp{YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS}. If you want to
10558 match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in every year, you
10559 could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string, for instance.
10560 (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so this will
10561 match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where the article
10562 was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the whole
10565 @item Head, Body, All
10566 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
10570 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that followup to
10571 some author. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header uses.
10574 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that are part of
10575 a thread. Uses the same match types as the @code{References} header
10581 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
10582 lower than this number will be marked as read.
10585 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
10586 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
10588 @item mark-and-expunge
10589 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
10590 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
10593 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
10594 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
10595 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
10596 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
10597 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
10600 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
10601 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
10604 @item exclude-files
10605 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. This files will
10606 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
10610 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
10611 ignored when handling global score files.
10614 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
10615 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
10618 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
10619 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
10620 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
10621 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
10623 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
10627 (mark-and-expunge -100)
10630 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
10631 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
10632 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
10633 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
10634 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
10636 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
10637 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
10638 ordinary scoring rules.
10641 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
10642 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
10643 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
10644 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
10645 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
10646 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
10647 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
10648 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
10649 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
10650 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
10651 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
10655 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
10656 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
10657 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
10658 file for a number of groups.
10661 @cindex local variables
10662 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
10663 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
10664 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
10665 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
10670 @node Score File Editing
10671 @section Score File Editing
10673 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
10674 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
10675 with a mode for that.
10677 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
10678 additional commands:
10683 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
10684 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
10685 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
10686 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
10689 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
10690 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
10691 Insert the current date in numerical format
10692 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
10693 you were wondering.
10696 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
10697 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
10698 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
10699 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
10700 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
10705 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
10707 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
10708 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
10710 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
10711 e} to begin editing score files.
10714 @node Adaptive Scoring
10715 @section Adaptive Scoring
10716 @cindex adaptive scoring
10718 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
10719 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
10720 stupidity, to be precise.
10722 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
10723 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
10724 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
10725 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
10726 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
10727 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
10728 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
10729 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
10730 variable to @code{(word line)}.
10732 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
10733 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
10734 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
10735 might look something like this:
10738 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
10739 '((gnus-unread-mark)
10740 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
10741 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
10742 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
10743 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
10744 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
10745 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
10746 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
10747 (gnus-ancient-mark)
10748 (gnus-low-score-mark)
10749 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
10752 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
10753 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
10754 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
10755 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
10756 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
10757 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
10760 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
10761 will be applied to each article.
10763 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
10764 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
10765 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
10766 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
10768 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
10769 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
10770 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
10771 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
10773 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
10774 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
10775 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
10776 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
10777 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
10778 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
10780 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
10781 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
10782 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
10783 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
10784 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
10785 aspirins afterwards.)
10787 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
10788 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
10789 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
10791 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
10792 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
10793 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
10795 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
10796 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
10797 let you use different rules in different groups.
10799 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
10800 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
10801 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
10804 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
10805 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
10806 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
10807 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
10808 the length of the match is less than
10809 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
10810 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
10813 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
10814 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
10815 headers. If you adapt on words, the
10816 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
10817 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
10820 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
10821 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
10822 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
10823 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
10824 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
10827 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
10828 word that appears in subjects of articles that are marked with
10829 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
10830 score with 30 points.
10832 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
10833 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
10834 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
10835 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
10836 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
10838 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
10839 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
10840 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
10841 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
10843 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
10844 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
10845 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
10848 @node Home Score File
10849 @section Home Score File
10851 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
10852 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
10853 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
10854 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
10856 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
10857 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
10858 could perhaps use the same home score file.
10860 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
10861 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
10866 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
10870 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
10871 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
10875 A list. The elements in this list can be:
10879 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
10880 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
10883 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
10884 the home score file.
10887 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
10890 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
10895 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
10898 (setq gnus-home-score-file
10899 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
10902 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
10903 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
10906 (setq gnus-home-score-file
10907 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
10910 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
10912 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
10913 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
10914 their own home score files:
10917 (setq gnus-home-score-file
10918 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
10919 '("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
10920 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
10921 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE"))
10924 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
10925 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
10926 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
10927 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
10928 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
10930 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
10931 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
10932 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
10933 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
10934 precedence over this variable.
10937 @node Followups To Yourself
10938 @section Followups To Yourself
10940 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
10941 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
10942 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
10943 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
10944 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
10945 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
10949 @item gnus-score-followup-article
10950 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
10951 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
10954 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
10955 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
10956 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
10960 @vindex message-sent-hook
10961 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
10962 @code{message-sent-hook}.
10964 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
10965 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
10969 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
10970 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
10973 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
10974 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
10979 "<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf@@.*eyesore.no>" 1000 nil r)
10982 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
10983 is system-dependent.
10987 @section Scoring Tips
10988 @cindex scoring tips
10994 @cindex scoring crossposts
10995 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
10996 the @code{Xref} header.
10998 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
11001 @item Multiple crossposts
11002 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
11003 more than, say, 3 groups:
11005 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
11008 @item Matching on the body
11009 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
11010 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
11011 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
11012 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
11013 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
11014 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
11015 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
11018 @item Marking as read
11019 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
11020 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
11021 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
11025 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
11027 @item Negated character classes
11028 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
11029 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
11030 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
11034 @node Reverse Scoring
11035 @section Reverse Scoring
11036 @cindex reverse scoring
11038 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
11039 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
11040 like this in your score file:
11044 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
11049 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
11050 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
11053 @node Global Score Files
11054 @section Global Score Files
11055 @cindex global score files
11057 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
11058 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
11059 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
11061 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
11062 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
11063 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
11065 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
11066 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
11067 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
11068 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
11069 files are applicable to which group.
11071 Say you want to use the score file
11072 @file{/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
11073 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
11076 (setq gnus-global-score-files
11077 '("/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
11078 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
11081 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
11082 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
11083 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
11084 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
11085 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
11087 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
11088 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
11090 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
11091 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
11092 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
11093 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
11094 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
11095 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
11097 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
11103 Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
11105 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
11107 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
11109 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
11110 lowered out of existence.
11112 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
11113 articles completely.
11116 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
11117 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
11118 old articles for a long time.
11121 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
11122 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
11123 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
11124 holding our breath yet?
11128 @section Kill Files
11131 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
11132 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
11133 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
11135 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
11136 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
11137 files into score files.
11139 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
11140 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
11141 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
11142 that isn't a very good idea.
11144 Normal kill files look like this:
11147 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11148 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
11152 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
11153 the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
11155 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
11156 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
11159 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
11164 @kindex M-k (Summary)
11165 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
11166 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
11169 @kindex M-K (Summary)
11170 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
11171 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
11174 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
11179 @kindex M-k (Group)
11180 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
11181 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
11184 @kindex M-K (Group)
11185 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
11186 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
11189 Kill file variables:
11192 @item gnus-kill-file-name
11193 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
11194 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
11195 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
11196 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
11197 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
11198 course) is called just @file{KILL}.
11200 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
11201 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
11202 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
11203 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
11206 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
11207 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
11208 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
11209 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
11210 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
11211 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
11212 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
11213 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
11214 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
11216 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
11217 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
11218 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
11227 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
11228 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
11229 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
11231 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
11232 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
11233 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
11234 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
11235 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
11236 Once it has found for you some people you agree with it tells you, in
11237 the form of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use
11238 this prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
11242 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
11243 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
11244 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
11245 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
11249 @node Using GroupLens
11250 @subsection Using GroupLens
11252 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
11254 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
11255 better bit in town is at the moment.
11257 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
11261 @item gnus-use-grouplens
11262 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
11263 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
11264 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
11266 @item grouplens-pseudonym
11267 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
11268 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
11269 with the Better Bit Bureau.
11271 @item grouplens-newsgroups
11272 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
11273 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
11277 Thats the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
11278 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
11279 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
11280 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
11281 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
11282 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
11285 @node Rating Articles
11286 @subsection Rating Articles
11288 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
11289 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
11290 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
11291 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
11294 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
11299 @kindex r (GroupLens)
11300 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
11301 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
11304 @kindex k (GroupLens)
11305 @findex grouplens-score-thread
11306 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
11307 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
11308 threads in rec.humor.
11312 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
11313 the score of the article you're reading.
11318 @kindex n (GroupLens)
11319 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
11320 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
11323 @kindex , (GroupLens)
11324 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
11325 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
11329 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
11330 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
11333 @node Displaying Predictions
11334 @subsection Displaying Predictions
11336 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
11337 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
11338 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
11339 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
11340 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
11342 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
11343 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
11344 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
11345 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
11346 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
11347 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
11348 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
11349 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
11350 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
11351 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
11352 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
11353 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
11354 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
11356 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
11357 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
11358 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
11359 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
11361 The following are legal values for that variable.
11364 @item prediction-spot
11365 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
11368 @item confidence-interval
11369 A numeric confidence interval.
11371 @item prediction-bar
11372 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
11374 @item confidence-bar
11375 Numerical confidence.
11377 @item confidence-spot
11378 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
11380 @item prediction-num
11381 Plain-old numeric value.
11383 @item confidence-plus-minus
11384 Prediction +/i confidence.
11389 @node GroupLens Variables
11390 @subsection GroupLens Variables
11394 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
11395 The summary line format used in summary buffers that are GroupLens
11396 enhanced. It accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format
11397 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). The default is
11398 @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
11400 @item grouplens-bbb-host
11401 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
11404 @item grouplens-bbb-port
11405 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
11407 @item grouplens-score-offset
11408 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
11409 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
11412 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
11413 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
11414 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
11419 @node Advanced Scoring
11420 @section Advanced Scoring
11422 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
11423 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
11424 about a particular subject? Or what about if you really don't want to
11425 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
11426 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
11428 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
11432 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
11433 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
11434 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
11438 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
11439 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
11441 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
11442 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
11443 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
11444 non-@code{nil} value.
11446 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
11447 operator, and various match operators.
11454 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
11455 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
11456 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
11461 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
11462 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
11463 then this operator will return @code{false}.
11468 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
11469 inverse of the value of its argument.
11473 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
11474 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
11475 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
11476 current article. @code{2-} will make score fules apply to the
11477 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
11478 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) say how far back into
11479 the ancestry you want to go.
11481 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
11482 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
11483 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
11484 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
11485 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
11488 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
11489 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
11491 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
11492 when he's talking about Gnus:
11496 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11497 ("subject" "Gnus"))
11503 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
11507 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11514 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
11515 really don't want to read what he's written:
11519 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11520 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
11524 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
11525 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
11526 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
11533 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
11534 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
11535 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
11536 ("body" "white.*socks"))
11540 The possibilities are endless.
11543 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
11544 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
11546 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
11547 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
11548 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
11549 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
11550 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
11551 (@samp{body}, @code{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
11552 @samp{subject}) first.
11554 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
11555 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
11566 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
11567 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
11573 ("subject" "Gnus")))
11580 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
11581 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
11586 @section Score Decays
11587 @cindex score decays
11590 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
11591 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
11592 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
11593 use them in any sensible way.
11595 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
11596 @findex gnus-decay-score
11597 @vindex gnus-score-decay-function
11598 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
11599 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
11600 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
11601 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
11602 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-score-decay-function}
11603 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
11604 definition of that function:
11607 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
11610 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
11612 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
11614 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
11617 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
11618 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
11619 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
11620 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
11624 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
11627 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
11630 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
11634 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
11635 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
11636 the new score, which should be an integer.
11638 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
11639 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
11646 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
11647 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
11648 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
11649 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
11650 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
11651 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
11652 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
11653 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
11654 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
11655 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
11656 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
11657 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
11658 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
11659 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
11660 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
11664 @node Process/Prefix
11665 @section Process/Prefix
11666 @cindex process/prefix convention
11668 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
11669 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
11671 This is a method for figuring out what articles that the user wants the
11672 command to be performed on.
11676 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
11677 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
11678 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
11679 with the current one.
11681 @vindex transient-mark-mode
11682 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
11683 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
11685 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
11686 process mark, perform the operation on the articles that are marked with
11689 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
11690 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
11692 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
11695 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
11696 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
11697 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
11698 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11700 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
11701 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
11702 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
11703 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
11704 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
11705 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
11706 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
11707 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
11711 @section Interactive
11712 @cindex interaction
11716 @item gnus-novice-user
11717 @vindex gnus-novice-user
11718 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
11719 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
11720 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
11721 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
11724 @item gnus-expert-user
11725 @vindex gnus-expert-user
11726 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
11727 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
11728 matter how strange.
11730 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
11731 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
11732 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
11733 is @code{t} by default.
11735 @item gnus-interactive-exit
11736 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
11737 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
11742 @node Formatting Variables
11743 @section Formatting Variables
11744 @cindex formatting variables
11746 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables that
11747 are called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
11748 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
11749 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
11750 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
11753 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
11754 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
11755 lots of percentages everywhere.
11758 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
11759 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
11760 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
11761 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
11764 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
11765 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
11766 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
11767 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
11768 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
11769 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
11770 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
11771 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
11773 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
11774 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
11776 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
11777 @findex gnus-update-format
11778 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
11779 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
11780 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
11781 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
11785 @node Formatting Basics
11786 @subsection Formatting Basics
11788 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
11789 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
11790 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
11792 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
11793 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
11794 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
11795 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
11796 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
11799 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
11800 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
11801 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
11802 less than 4 characters wide.
11805 @node Advanced Formatting
11806 @subsection Advanced Formatting
11808 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
11809 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
11810 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
11811 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
11813 These are the legal modifiers:
11818 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
11822 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
11827 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
11830 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
11835 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
11838 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
11841 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
11844 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
11848 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
11849 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
11850 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
11851 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
11852 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
11853 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
11854 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
11856 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
11857 last operation, padding.
11859 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
11860 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
11861 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
11862 @xref{Compilation}.
11865 @node User-Defined Specs
11866 @subsection User-Defined Specs
11868 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
11869 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
11870 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
11871 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
11872 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
11873 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
11874 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
11875 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
11876 should protect against that.
11878 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
11879 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
11880 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
11881 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
11885 @node Formatting Fonts
11886 @subsection Formatting Fonts
11888 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
11889 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
11890 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
11891 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
11894 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
11895 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
11896 default. If you say @samp{%1[} instead, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1}
11897 instead, and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes
11898 for the @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
11899 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
11901 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
11904 ;; Create three face types.
11905 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
11906 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
11908 ;; We want the article count to be in
11909 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
11910 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
11911 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
11913 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
11914 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
11916 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
11917 (setq gnus-group-line-format
11918 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
11921 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
11922 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
11924 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
11925 mode-line variables.
11928 @node Windows Configuration
11929 @section Windows Configuration
11930 @cindex windows configuration
11932 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
11934 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
11935 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
11936 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
11937 @code{t} by default.
11939 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
11940 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
11941 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
11944 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
11945 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
11946 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
11950 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
11951 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
11952 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
11953 possible names is listed below.
11955 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
11956 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
11959 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
11963 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
11964 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
11965 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
11966 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
11967 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
11968 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
11969 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
11970 size spec per split.
11972 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
11975 Here's a more complicated example:
11978 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
11979 (summary 0.25 point)
11980 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
11984 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
11985 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
11986 occupy, not a percentage.
11988 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
11989 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
11990 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
11991 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
11992 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
11995 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
11998 (article (horizontal 1.0
12003 (summary 0.25 point)
12008 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
12009 @code{horizontal} thingie?
12011 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
12012 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
12013 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
12014 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
12015 the screen is to be given to this strip.
12017 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
12018 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
12019 lines from the splits.
12021 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a legal split
12025 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
12026 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
12027 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
12028 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
12029 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] ")"
12030 size = number | frame-params
12031 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
12034 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
12035 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
12036 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
12037 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
12039 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
12040 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
12041 @cindex window height
12042 @cindex window width
12043 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
12044 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
12045 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
12046 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
12047 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
12048 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
12050 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
12051 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
12052 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
12053 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
12055 @findex gnus-configure-frame
12056 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
12057 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
12058 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
12059 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
12060 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
12061 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
12062 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
12063 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
12064 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
12065 configuration list.
12068 (gnus-configure-frame
12072 (article 0.3 point))
12080 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
12081 @code{frame} split:
12084 (gnus-configure-frame
12087 (summary 0.25 point)
12089 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
12090 (user-position . t)
12091 (left . -1) (top . 1))
12096 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
12097 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
12098 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
12099 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
12100 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
12101 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
12104 Here's a list of all possible keys for
12105 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
12107 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
12108 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
12109 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
12110 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
12111 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft},
12112 @code{pipe}, @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}.
12114 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
12115 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
12116 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
12120 (message (horizontal 1.0
12121 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
12123 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
12128 @findex gnus-add-configuration
12129 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
12130 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
12131 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
12132 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
12135 (gnus-add-configuration
12136 '(article (vertical 1.0
12138 (summary .25 point)
12142 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
12143 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
12144 Gnus has been loaded.
12146 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
12147 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
12148 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
12149 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
12150 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
12154 @section Compilation
12155 @cindex compilation
12156 @cindex byte-compilation
12158 @findex gnus-compile
12160 Remember all those line format specification variables?
12161 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
12162 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
12163 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
12164 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
12165 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
12168 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
12169 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
12170 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
12171 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
12172 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
12173 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
12174 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
12178 @section Mode Lines
12181 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
12182 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
12183 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
12184 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
12185 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
12186 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
12187 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
12190 @cindex display-time
12192 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
12193 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
12194 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
12195 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
12196 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
12197 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
12198 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
12199 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
12202 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
12204 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
12205 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
12207 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
12208 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
12209 (length display-time-string)))))
12212 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
12213 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either.
12216 @node Highlighting and Menus
12217 @section Highlighting and Menus
12219 @cindex highlighting
12222 @vindex gnus-visual
12223 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the prettifying Gnus
12224 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
12225 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
12228 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
12229 following elements are legal, and are all included by default:
12232 @item group-highlight
12233 Do highlights in the group buffer.
12234 @item summary-highlight
12235 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
12236 @item article-highlight
12237 Do highlights in the article buffer.
12239 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
12241 Create menus in the group buffer.
12243 Create menus in the summary buffers.
12245 Create menus in the article buffer.
12247 Create menus in the browse buffer.
12249 Create menus in the server buffer.
12251 Create menus in the score buffers.
12253 Create menus in all buffers.
12256 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
12257 buffers, you could say something like:
12260 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
12263 If you want only highlighting and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
12266 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
12269 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
12270 in all Gnus buffers.
12272 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
12275 @item gnus-mouse-face
12276 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
12277 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
12278 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
12280 @item gnus-display-type
12281 @vindex gnus-display-type
12282 This variable is symbol indicating the display type Emacs is running
12283 under. The symbol should be one of @code{color}, @code{grayscale} or
12284 @code{mono}. If Gnus guesses this display attribute wrongly, either set
12285 this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or set the resource
12286 @code{Emacs.displayType} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
12288 @item gnus-background-mode
12289 @vindex gnus-background-mode
12290 This is a symbol indicating the Emacs background brightness. The symbol
12291 should be one of @code{light} or @code{dark}. If Gnus guesses this
12292 frame attribute wrongly, either set this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or
12293 set the resource @code{Emacs.backgroundMode} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
12294 `gnus-display-type'.
12297 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
12301 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
12302 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
12303 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
12305 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
12306 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
12307 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
12309 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
12310 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
12311 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
12313 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
12314 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
12315 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
12317 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
12318 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
12319 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
12321 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
12322 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
12323 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
12334 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
12335 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
12336 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
12337 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
12338 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
12342 @vindex gnus-carpal
12343 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
12344 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
12345 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
12350 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
12351 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
12352 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
12354 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
12355 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
12356 Face used on buttons.
12358 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
12359 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
12360 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
12362 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
12363 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
12364 Buttons in the group buffer.
12366 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
12367 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
12368 Buttons in the summary buffer.
12370 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
12371 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
12372 Buttons in the server buffer.
12374 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
12375 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
12376 Buttons in the browse buffer.
12379 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
12380 is either a cons cell where the car contains a text to be displayed and
12381 the cdr contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
12389 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
12390 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
12391 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
12392 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
12393 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
12395 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
12396 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
12397 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
12399 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
12400 been idle for thirty minutes:
12403 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
12406 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
12410 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
12413 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter works together
12414 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
12415 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
12417 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
12418 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
12419 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
12420 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
12422 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
12423 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
12424 @var{idle} minutes.
12426 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
12427 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
12430 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
12431 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
12432 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
12434 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
12435 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
12436 seconds. This is @code{60} by default. If you change that variable,
12437 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
12439 @vindex gnus-use-demon
12440 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
12441 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
12443 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
12444 your @file{.gnus} file:
12446 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
12448 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
12451 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
12452 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
12453 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
12454 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
12455 Some ready-made functions to do this has been created:
12456 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
12457 @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just
12458 put those functions in your @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
12460 @findex gnus-demon-init
12461 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
12462 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
12463 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
12464 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
12465 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
12467 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
12468 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
12469 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
12478 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
12479 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
12481 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
12482 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
12483 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
12484 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
12487 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
12488 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
12489 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
12490 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
12492 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
12493 this will make spam disappear.
12495 There are some variables to customize, of course:
12498 @item gnus-use-nocem
12499 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
12500 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
12503 @item gnus-nocem-groups
12504 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
12505 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
12506 default is @code{("alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
12508 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
12509 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
12510 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
12511 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
12512 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;" "jem@@xpat.com;" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
12513 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
12515 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
12518 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
12519 @cindex Chris Lewis
12520 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
12521 usenet abuse than anybody else.
12524 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
12525 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
12526 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
12528 @item jem@@xpat.com;
12530 Jem---Korean despammer who is getting very busy these days.
12532 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
12533 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
12534 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
12537 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
12538 ones you want to listen to.
12540 @item gnus-nocem-directory
12541 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
12542 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
12543 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
12545 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
12546 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
12547 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
12548 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
12549 might then see old spam.
12557 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
12558 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
12559 over your shoulder as you read news.
12562 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
12563 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
12564 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
12565 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
12566 * Picon Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
12571 @subsection Picon Basics
12573 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
12576 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
12577 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
12578 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
12579 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
12580 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
12581 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
12582 @code{GIF} formats.
12585 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases, point
12586 your Web browser at
12587 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
12589 @vindex gnus-picons-database
12590 Gnus expects picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
12591 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
12594 @node Picon Requirements
12595 @subsection Picon Requirements
12597 To use have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
12598 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
12601 Additionally, you must have @code{xpm} support compiled into XEmacs.
12603 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
12604 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you must have
12605 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
12606 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
12610 @subsection Easy Picons
12612 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
12613 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
12616 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
12617 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
12618 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-prepare-hook 'gnus-group-display-picons t)
12619 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
12624 @subsection Hard Picons
12626 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
12627 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
12628 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
12629 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
12630 feature, you need to first decide where to display them.
12634 @item gnus-picons-display-where
12635 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
12636 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
12637 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
12638 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
12639 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
12640 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
12641 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
12645 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
12646 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
12648 Now that you've made that decision, you need to add the following
12649 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get
12650 displayed at the right time.
12652 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
12653 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
12655 @item gnus-article-display-picons
12656 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
12657 Looks up and display the picons for the author and the author's domain
12658 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to
12659 the @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
12661 @item gnus-group-display-picons
12662 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
12663 Displays picons representing the current group. This function should
12664 be added to the @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook} or to the
12665 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} if @code{gnus-picons-display-where}
12666 is set to @code{article}.
12668 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
12669 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
12670 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
12671 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
12675 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
12676 to the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
12679 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
12683 @node Picon Configuration
12684 @subsection Picon Configuration
12686 The following variables offer further control over how things are
12687 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
12688 don't need to worry about.
12691 @item gnus-picons-database
12692 @vindex gnus-picons-database
12693 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
12694 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
12695 subdirectories. Defaults to @file{/usr/local/faces}.
12697 @item gnus-picons-news-directory
12698 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directory
12699 Sub-directory of the faces database containing the icons for
12702 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
12703 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
12704 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
12705 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc/MISC")} is the default.
12707 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
12708 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
12709 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
12710 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
12711 want to add @samp{unknown} to this list.
12713 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
12714 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
12715 The command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
12716 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
12717 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
12718 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
12720 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
12721 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
12722 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
12723 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
12725 @item gnus-picons-buffer
12726 @vindex gnus-picons-buffer
12727 The name of the buffer that @code{picons} points to. Defaults to
12728 @samp{*Icon Buffer*}.
12737 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
12738 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
12739 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
12741 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
12742 Gnus---it's all just data that is designed to look nice to the user.
12743 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
12744 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
12745 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
12746 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
12747 @code{undo} function.
12749 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
12750 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
12751 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
12752 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
12753 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
12754 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
12755 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
12756 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
12757 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
12758 never be totally undoable.
12760 @findex gnus-undo-mode
12761 @vindex gnus-use-undo
12763 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
12764 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
12765 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
12766 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
12771 @section Moderation
12774 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
12775 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
12776 @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
12779 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
12783 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
12786 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
12788 If you are the moderation of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
12793 You split your incoming mail by matching on
12794 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
12795 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
12798 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
12799 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
12802 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
12803 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
12807 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
12810 (setq gnus-moderated-list
12811 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
12815 @node XEmacs Enhancements
12816 @section XEmacs Enhancements
12819 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
12820 advantage of that. Relevant variables include:
12823 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
12824 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
12825 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
12826 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
12827 unusual directory structure.
12829 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
12830 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
12831 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
12832 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
12834 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
12835 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
12836 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
12837 Legal values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
12838 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
12839 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
12841 @item gnus-use-toolbar
12842 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
12843 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
12844 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
12845 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
12847 @item gnus-group-toolbar
12848 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
12849 The toolbar in the group buffer.
12851 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
12852 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
12853 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
12855 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
12856 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
12857 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
12859 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
12860 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
12861 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
12867 @node Various Various
12868 @section Various Various
12874 @item gnus-directory
12875 @vindex gnus-directory
12876 All Gnus directories will be initialized from this variable, which
12877 defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or @file{~/News/}
12878 if that variable isn't set.
12880 @item gnus-default-directory
12881 @vindex gnus-default-directory
12882 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
12883 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
12884 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
12885 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
12886 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
12887 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
12890 @vindex gnus-verbose
12891 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
12892 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
12893 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
12894 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
12895 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
12897 @item gnus-verbose-backends
12898 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
12899 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
12900 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
12902 @item nnheader-max-head-length
12903 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
12904 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
12905 as little as possible. This variable (default @code{4096}) specifies
12906 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
12907 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
12908 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
12909 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
12910 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
12913 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
12914 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
12915 This variable says how big a piece of each article to read when doing
12916 the operation described above.
12918 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
12919 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
12921 @cindex illegal characters in file names
12922 @cindex characters in file names
12923 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
12924 For instance, if @samp{:} is illegal as a file character in file names
12925 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
12928 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
12932 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
12933 Windows (phooey) systems.
12935 @item gnus-hidden-properties
12936 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
12937 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
12938 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
12939 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
12941 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
12942 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
12943 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
12944 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
12945 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
12947 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
12948 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
12949 String used to separate to shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
12958 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
12959 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
12961 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
12963 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
12969 Not because of victories @*
12972 but for the common sunshine,@*
12974 the largess of the spring.
12978 but for the day's work done@*
12979 as well as I was able;@*
12980 not for a seat upon the dais@*
12981 but at the common table.@*
12986 @chapter Appendices
12989 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
12990 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
12991 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
12992 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
12993 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
12994 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
12995 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
13003 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
13004 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
13006 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
13007 can point your (feh!) web browser to
13008 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
13009 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
13010 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
13012 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
13013 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
13014 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
13015 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
13016 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
13017 appropriate name, don't you think?)
13019 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
13020 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
13021 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
13022 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
13024 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
13025 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution.
13027 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'') was
13028 released under the name ``Gnus 5.2''.
13030 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun.
13033 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
13034 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
13035 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
13036 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
13037 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
13038 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
13039 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
13046 What's the point of Gnus?
13048 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
13049 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
13050 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
13051 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
13052 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
13053 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
13054 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
13055 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
13056 keep track of millions of people who post?
13058 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
13059 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
13060 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
13061 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
13062 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
13063 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
13064 everywhere I could imagine useful. By doing so, I'm inviting every one
13065 of you to explore and invent.
13067 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x hail-emacs}.
13070 @node Compatibility
13071 @subsection Compatibility
13073 @cindex compatibility
13074 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
13075 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
13076 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
13081 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
13085 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
13088 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @pxref{Decoding
13091 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
13092 buffers. All variables that are relevant while reading a group are
13093 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
13094 important variables have their values copied into their global
13095 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
13096 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
13098 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
13099 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
13100 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
13101 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
13102 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
13106 @cindex highlighting
13107 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
13108 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
13109 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
13110 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
13111 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
13112 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
13115 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
13116 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
13117 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
13118 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
13120 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
13121 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
13122 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
13123 to stop doing it the old way.
13125 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
13127 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
13129 @cindex reporting bugs
13131 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
13132 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
13133 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
13137 @subsection Conformity
13139 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
13140 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
13147 There are no known breaches of this standard.
13151 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
13153 @item Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
13154 @cindex Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
13155 Gnus has been through the Seal process and failed. I think it'll pass
13156 the next inspection.
13158 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
13159 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
13160 We do have some breaches to this one.
13165 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
13166 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
13169 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
13170 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
13171 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
13172 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
13173 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
13176 Gnus does line breaking on this header. I infer from RFC1036 that being
13177 conservative in what you output is not creating 5000-character lines, so
13178 it seems like a good idea to me. However, this standard-to-be says that
13179 whitespace in the @code{References} header is to be preserved, so... It
13180 doesn't matter one way or the other to Gnus, so if somebody tells me
13181 what The Way is, I'll change it. Or not.
13186 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliantly with regards to the texts
13187 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
13192 @subsection Emacsen
13198 Gnus should work on :
13203 Emacs 19.30 and up.
13206 XEmacs 19.13 and up.
13209 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.30 and up.
13213 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
13214 reliably, at least.
13216 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various platforms:
13221 The mouse-face on Gnus lines under Emacs and Mule is delimited to
13222 certain parts of the lines while they cover the entire line under
13226 The same with current-article marking---XEmacs puts an underline under
13227 the entire summary line while Emacs and Mule are nicer and kinder.
13230 XEmacs features more graphics---a logo and a toolbar.
13233 Citation highlighting us better under Emacs and Mule than under XEmacs.
13236 Emacs 19.26-19.28 have tangible hidden headers, which can be a bit
13243 @subsection Contributors
13244 @cindex contributors
13246 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
13247 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
13248 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
13249 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
13250 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
13251 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
13252 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
13253 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
13254 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
13255 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
13257 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
13263 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
13266 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
13267 well as numerous other things).
13270 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
13273 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
13274 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
13277 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
13278 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
13281 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
13284 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
13287 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
13290 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
13293 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinsky---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
13294 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
13297 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
13300 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
13303 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
13306 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
13310 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
13313 Ricardo Nassif, Mark Borges, and Jost Krieger---proof-reading.
13316 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
13319 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports.
13323 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
13332 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
13336 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
13345 Massimo Campostrini,
13349 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
13363 Francois Felix Ingrand,
13366 Thor Kristoffersen,
13401 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
13404 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
13405 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
13409 @subsection New Features
13410 @cindex new features
13413 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
13414 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
13415 * Red Gnus:: The future.
13418 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
13419 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
13420 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
13424 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
13426 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
13431 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
13432 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
13435 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
13436 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
13439 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
13442 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
13443 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
13444 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
13447 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
13448 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
13449 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
13450 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
13453 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
13454 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
13457 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
13458 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
13459 (@pxref{The Active File}).
13462 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
13463 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
13466 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
13467 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
13468 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
13471 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
13472 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
13473 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
13476 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
13477 the @file{.emacs} file.
13480 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
13481 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13484 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
13485 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
13488 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
13489 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
13492 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
13493 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
13496 Gnus can fetch articles asynchronously on a second connection to the
13497 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
13500 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
13503 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
13504 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
13507 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
13508 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
13511 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
13512 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
13515 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
13518 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
13519 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
13522 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
13526 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
13530 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
13531 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
13534 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
13540 @node September Gnus
13541 @subsubsection September Gnus
13543 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
13548 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
13549 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
13553 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
13554 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
13558 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
13562 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
13563 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
13566 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
13570 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
13573 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
13576 A @code{trn}-line tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
13579 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
13583 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
13584 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
13587 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
13591 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
13595 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
13599 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
13603 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
13606 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
13607 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
13610 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
13614 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
13615 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
13618 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
13621 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
13622 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
13623 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
13626 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
13630 The Gnus cache is much faster.
13633 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
13637 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-address and
13638 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13641 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
13642 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
13645 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
13646 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13649 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
13650 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
13651 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
13654 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
13655 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
13658 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
13661 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
13664 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
13665 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
13669 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
13672 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
13675 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
13676 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
13679 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
13683 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
13686 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
13689 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
13693 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
13696 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
13700 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
13703 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
13706 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
13707 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
13710 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
13711 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
13715 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
13716 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
13719 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
13723 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
13724 buffer to allow easier treatment.
13727 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
13730 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
13734 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
13738 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
13739 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
13742 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
13746 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
13747 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
13750 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
13751 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
13754 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
13758 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
13761 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
13762 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers)
13766 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
13769 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
13775 @subsubsection Red Gnus
13777 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
13782 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
13785 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
13786 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
13789 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
13790 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
13794 Article washing status can be displayed in the
13795 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
13798 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
13801 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
13802 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
13805 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
13809 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
13810 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}).
13813 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
13814 Server Internals}).
13817 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
13821 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
13824 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
13825 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
13828 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
13829 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
13830 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
13833 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
13834 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
13837 A way to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed when
13838 generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
13841 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
13845 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
13846 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
13849 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
13850 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
13853 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
13857 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
13860 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
13864 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
13865 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
13868 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
13869 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
13872 A new command for reading collections of documents
13873 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
13874 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
13877 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
13881 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
13882 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
13885 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
13886 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
13887 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
13890 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
13891 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
13895 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
13899 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
13903 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
13907 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
13911 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
13912 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
13917 @node Newest Features
13918 @subsection Newest Features
13921 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
13924 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
13928 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
13930 Really do unbinhexing.
13933 And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
13934 implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
13936 @file{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/sgnus/todo>} is where the actual
13937 up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
13938 could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
13943 @section The Manual
13947 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
13948 either @code{texi2dvi}
13950 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
13951 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
13953 to get what you hold in your hands now.
13955 The following conventions have been used:
13960 This is a @samp{string}
13963 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
13966 This is a @file{file}
13969 This is a @code{symbol}
13973 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
13977 (setq flargnoze "yes")
13980 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
13983 (setq flumphel 'yes)
13986 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
13987 ever get them confused.
13991 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
13992 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
13993 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
13994 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
13995 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
13996 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
13997 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
14004 @section Terminology
14006 @cindex terminology
14011 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
14012 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
14013 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
14014 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
14015 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
14019 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
14020 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
14021 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
14022 not posting, and replying is not following up.
14026 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
14030 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
14035 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
14036 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
14037 is all done by the backends.
14041 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
14042 default, way of getting news.
14046 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
14047 These are groups that use different backends for getting news.
14051 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
14052 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
14056 A message that has been posted as news.
14059 @cindex mail message
14060 A message that has been mailed.
14064 A mail message or news article
14068 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
14073 The rest of an article. Everything that is not in the head is in the
14078 A line from the head of an article.
14082 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
14083 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
14087 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
14088 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
14089 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
14090 normal @sc{head} format.
14094 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
14095 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
14096 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
14097 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
14098 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
14099 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
14101 @item killed groups
14102 @cindex killed groups
14103 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
14104 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
14106 @item zombie groups
14107 @cindex zombie groups
14108 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
14111 @cindex active file
14112 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
14113 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
14114 is rather large, as you might surmise.
14117 @cindex bogus groups
14118 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
14119 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
14120 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
14124 A machine than one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
14126 @item select method
14127 @cindex select method
14128 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
14131 @item virtual server
14132 @cindex virtual server
14133 A named select method. Since a select methods defines all there is to
14134 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the things as a
14135 whole is a virtual server.
14139 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
14140 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
14143 @item ephemeral groups
14144 @cindex ephemeral groups
14145 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
14146 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
14147 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
14150 @cindex solid groups
14151 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
14152 group buffer are solid groups.
14157 @node Customization
14158 @section Customization
14159 @cindex general customization
14161 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
14162 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
14163 for some quite common situations.
14166 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
14167 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
14168 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
14169 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
14173 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
14174 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
14176 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
14177 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
14178 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
14182 @item gnus-read-active-file
14183 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
14184 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
14185 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-news} and
14186 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
14187 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
14189 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
14190 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
14191 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
14192 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
14196 @node Slow Terminal Connection
14197 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
14199 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that
14200 runs Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce the
14201 amount of data that is sent over the wires as much as possible.
14205 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
14206 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
14207 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
14208 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
14209 horizontal and vertical recentering.
14211 @item gnus-visible-headers
14212 Cut down on the headers that are included in the articles to the
14213 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
14214 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
14215 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
14217 @item gnus-article-display-hook
14218 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
14220 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
14221 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
14222 gnus-article-hide-citation))
14225 @item gnus-use-full-window
14226 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
14227 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
14228 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
14229 want to read them anyway.
14231 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
14232 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
14235 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
14236 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
14237 lines, which might save some time.
14241 @node Little Disk Space
14242 @subsection Little Disk Space
14245 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
14246 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
14250 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
14251 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
14252 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
14253 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
14256 @item gnus-save-killed-list
14257 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
14258 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
14259 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
14260 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
14266 @subsection Slow Machine
14267 @cindex slow machine
14269 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
14270 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
14272 Set@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
14273 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
14275 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
14276 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
14277 summary buffer faster.
14279 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
14280 processing a bit faster.
14283 @node Troubleshooting
14284 @section Troubleshooting
14285 @cindex troubleshooting
14287 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
14295 Make sure your computer is switched on.
14298 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
14299 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
14303 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
14304 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
14305 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
14306 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
14309 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
14313 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
14314 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
14315 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
14316 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
14317 something like that.
14320 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
14323 @cindex reporting bugs
14325 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
14327 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
14328 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
14329 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
14330 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
14332 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
14333 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
14334 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
14335 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
14338 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
14339 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you send back
14340 just ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
14341 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
14342 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
14343 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
14345 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
14346 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
14347 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
14350 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
14351 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
14353 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
14354 @cindex ding mailing list
14355 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@ifi.uio.no}.
14356 Write to @samp{ding-request@@ifi.uio.no} to subscribe.
14359 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
14360 @section A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
14362 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
14363 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
14364 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
14365 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
14368 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
14369 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
14370 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
14371 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
14372 and general method of operations.
14375 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
14376 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
14377 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
14378 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
14379 * Group Info:: The group info format.
14380 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
14381 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
14385 @node Backend Interface
14386 @subsection Backend Interface
14388 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
14389 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
14390 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
14391 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
14392 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
14393 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
14395 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
14396 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
14397 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
14398 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
14399 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
14400 been opened, the function should fail.
14402 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
14403 name. Take this example:
14407 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
14408 (nntp-port-number 4324))
14411 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
14412 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
14414 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
14415 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
14416 server environments that it pulls down/pushes up when needed.
14418 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
14419 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
14420 always check whether are present before attempting to call.
14422 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
14423 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
14424 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
14425 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
14426 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
14427 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
14430 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
14431 some might be said to not be. The latter are backends that generally
14432 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
14433 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
14436 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
14439 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
14442 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
14443 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
14444 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
14445 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
14446 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
14450 @node Required Backend Functions
14451 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
14455 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
14457 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
14458 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
14459 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
14460 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
14462 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
14463 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
14464 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
14465 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
14467 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try to fetch "extra
14468 headers, in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
14469 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
14470 article number in @code{articles}, and fill in the gaps as well. The
14471 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
14472 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
14473 number, do maximum fetches.
14475 Here's an example HEAD:
14478 221 1056 Article retrieved.
14479 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
14480 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
14481 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
14482 Subject: Re: Something very droll
14483 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
14484 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
14486 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
14487 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
14488 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
14492 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
14493 these in the data buffer.
14495 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
14499 head = error / valid-head
14500 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
14501 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
14502 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
14503 header = <text> eol
14506 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
14507 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
14511 nov-buffer = *nov-line
14512 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
14513 field = <text except TAB>
14516 For a closer explanation what should be in those fields,
14520 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
14522 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
14523 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that defines this virtual server.
14525 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
14526 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
14527 server. In fact, it should do so.
14529 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
14530 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
14533 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
14535 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
14536 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
14539 There should be no data returned.
14542 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
14544 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
14545 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
14546 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
14547 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
14549 There should be no data returned.
14552 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
14554 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
14555 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
14556 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
14557 attempt to reconnect to a server that is has lost connection to.
14559 There should be no data returned.
14562 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
14564 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
14566 There should be no data returned.
14569 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
14571 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
14572 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
14573 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
14574 it would be nice if that were possible.
14576 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
14577 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
14578 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
14579 another, and Gnus mainly request articles to be inserted directly into
14580 its article buffer.
14582 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
14583 the car is the group name the article was fetched from, and the cdr is
14584 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
14585 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
14586 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
14587 on successful article retrievement.
14590 @item (nnchoke-open-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
14592 Make @var{group} the current group.
14594 There should be no data returned by this function.
14597 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
14599 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
14600 making @var{group} the current group.
14602 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
14605 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
14608 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
14611 The first number is the status, which should be @code{211}. Next is the
14612 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
14613 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
14614 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
14615 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
14616 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
14617 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
14618 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
14621 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
14622 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
14623 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
14627 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
14629 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
14630 a no-op on most backends.
14632 There should be no data returned.
14635 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
14637 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
14640 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
14643 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
14644 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
14647 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
14648 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
14651 active-file = *active-line
14652 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
14654 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
14657 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
14658 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
14659 (@samp{=other-group} or none of the above (@samp{y}).
14662 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
14664 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
14665 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
14666 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
14667 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
14668 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
14669 clear if the posting could not be completed.
14671 There should be no result data from this function.
14676 @node Optional Backend Functions
14677 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
14681 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
14683 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
14684 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
14685 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
14687 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
14688 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
14689 former is in the same format as the data from
14690 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
14691 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
14694 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
14698 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
14700 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
14701 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
14702 information (as is the case with virtual an imap groups). This function
14703 may alter the info in any manner it sees fit, and should return the
14704 (altered) group info. This function may alter the group info
14705 destructively, so no copying is needed before boogeying.
14707 There should be no result data from this function.
14710 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
14712 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
14713 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
14714 user is following up is news or mail. This function should return
14715 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
14716 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
14717 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
14718 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
14719 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
14721 There should be no result data from this function.
14724 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
14726 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
14727 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
14728 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
14729 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
14730 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
14732 The only use for this that I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
14733 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
14734 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
14737 There should be no result data from this function.
14740 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
14742 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
14743 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
14744 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
14745 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
14746 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
14747 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
14748 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
14750 There should be no result data from this function.
14753 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
14755 The result data from this function should be a description of
14759 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
14761 description = <text>
14764 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
14766 The result data from this function should be the description of all
14767 groups available on the server.
14770 description-buffer = *description-line
14774 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
14776 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
14777 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
14778 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
14781 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
14783 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
14785 There should be no return data.
14788 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
14790 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
14791 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
14792 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
14793 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
14794 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
14797 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
14800 There should be no result data returned.
14803 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
14806 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
14807 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
14809 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
14810 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
14811 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
14812 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
14813 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
14814 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
14816 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
14817 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
14820 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
14821 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
14823 There should be no data returned.
14826 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
14828 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
14829 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
14830 this function in short order.
14832 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
14833 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
14835 There should be no data returned.
14838 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
14840 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
14841 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
14843 There should be no data returned.
14846 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
14848 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
14849 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
14850 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
14852 There should be no data returned.
14855 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
14857 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
14858 articles that are in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
14860 There should be no data returned.
14865 @node Error Messaging
14866 @subsubsection Error Messaging
14868 @findex nnheader-report
14869 @findex nnheader-get-report
14870 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
14871 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
14872 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
14873 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
14874 there are many of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
14875 This function always returns @code{nil}.
14878 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
14880 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
14883 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
14884 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
14885 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
14886 takes one argument---the server symbol.
14888 Internally, these function access @var{backend}@code{-status-string}, so
14889 the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
14890 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
14893 @node Writing New Backends
14894 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
14896 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
14897 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
14898 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
14899 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
14900 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
14903 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
14904 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
14905 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
14907 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
14908 package called @code{nnoo}.
14910 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
14911 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
14918 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
14919 parameters. For instance:
14922 (nnoo-declare nndir
14926 @code{nndir} has here declared that it intends to inherit functions from
14927 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
14930 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
14931 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
14932 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
14934 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
14935 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
14936 a function in those backends.
14939 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
14940 "Where nndir will look for groups."
14941 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
14944 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
14945 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
14946 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
14948 @item nnoo-define-basics
14949 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
14953 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
14957 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
14958 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
14959 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
14961 @item nnoo-map-functions
14962 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
14963 functions from the parent backends.
14966 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
14967 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
14968 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
14971 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
14972 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
14973 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
14974 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
14977 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
14978 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
14979 haven't already been defined.
14985 nnmh-request-newgroups)
14989 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
14990 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
14991 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
14996 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
14999 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
15000 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
15004 (require 'nnheader)
15008 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
15010 (nnoo-declare nndir
15013 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
15014 "Where nndir will look for groups."
15015 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
15017 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
15018 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
15021 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
15022 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
15023 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
15025 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
15026 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
15028 ;;; Interface functions.
15030 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
15032 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
15033 (setq nndir-directory
15034 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
15036 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
15037 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
15038 (push `(nndir-current-group
15039 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
15041 (push `(nndir-top-directory
15042 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
15044 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
15046 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
15047 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
15048 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
15049 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
15050 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
15054 nnmh-status-message
15056 nnmh-request-newgroups))
15062 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
15063 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
15065 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
15066 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
15067 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
15068 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
15070 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
15071 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
15076 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
15079 The abilities can be:
15083 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
15085 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
15087 This backend supports both mail and news.
15089 This is neither a post or mail backend---it's something completely
15092 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
15093 articles and groups.
15095 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
15096 true for almost all backends.
15097 @item prompt-address
15098 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
15099 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
15100 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
15105 @node Score File Syntax
15106 @subsection Score File Syntax
15108 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
15109 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
15110 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
15112 Here's a typical score file:
15116 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
15123 BNF definition of a score file:
15126 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
15127 element = rule / atom
15128 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
15129 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
15130 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
15131 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
15133 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
15134 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
15135 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
15136 date-header = "date"
15137 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
15138 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
15139 score = "nil" / <integer>
15140 date = "nil" / <natural number>
15141 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
15142 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
15143 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
15144 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
15145 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
15146 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
15147 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
15148 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
15149 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
15150 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
15151 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
15152 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
15153 exclude-files / read-only / touched
15154 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
15155 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
15156 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
15157 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
15158 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
15159 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
15160 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
15161 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
15162 adapt = "adapt" [ space "nil" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
15163 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
15164 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
15165 eval = "eval" space <form>
15166 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
15169 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
15172 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
15173 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
15174 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
15175 one looong line, then that's ok.
15177 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
15182 @subsection Headers
15184 Gnus uses internally a format for storing article headers that
15185 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
15186 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
15187 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
15189 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
15190 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
15191 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
15192 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
15193 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
15194 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
15195 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
15197 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
15198 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
15199 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
15200 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
15201 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
15203 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
15210 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
15211 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
15213 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
15214 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
15215 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
15216 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
15218 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
15222 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
15225 is transformed into
15228 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
15231 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
15232 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
15235 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
15238 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
15239 is slightly tricky:
15242 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
15248 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
15251 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
15257 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
15264 and is equal to the previous range.
15266 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
15267 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
15268 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
15272 range = simple-range / normal-range
15273 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
15274 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
15275 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
15276 number *[ " " contents ]
15279 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
15280 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
15281 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
15282 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
15283 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
15288 @subsection Group Info
15290 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
15291 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
15292 describes the group.
15294 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
15295 second is a more complex one:
15298 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
15300 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
15301 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
15303 (auto-expire (to-address "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
15306 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
15307 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
15308 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
15309 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
15310 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
15311 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
15312 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
15314 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
15315 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
15316 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
15318 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
15321 info = "(" group space level space read
15322 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
15323 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
15324 group = quote <string> quote
15325 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
15327 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
15328 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
15329 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
15330 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
15333 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
15334 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
15338 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
15339 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
15343 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
15344 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
15345 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
15347 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
15348 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
15349 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
15350 Gnus, that's very useful.
15352 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
15353 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
15354 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
15355 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
15356 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
15357 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
15358 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
15359 following function:
15362 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
15366 (,function ,@@args))
15370 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
15371 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
15372 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
15375 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
15376 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
15377 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
15380 @node Various File Formats
15381 @subsection Various File Formats
15384 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
15385 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
15389 @node Active File Format
15390 @subsubsection Active File Format
15392 The active file lists all groups that are available on the server in
15393 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
15396 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
15399 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
15400 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
15401 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
15402 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
15403 no.general 1000 900 y
15406 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
15409 active = *group-line
15410 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
15411 group = <non-white-space string>
15413 high-number = <non-negative integer>
15414 low-number = <positive integer>
15415 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
15419 @node Newsgroups File Format
15420 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
15422 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
15423 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
15424 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
15427 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
15428 Here's the definition:
15432 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
15433 group = <non-white-space string>
15435 description = <string>
15439 @node Emacs for Heathens
15440 @section Emacs for Heathens
15442 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
15443 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
15444 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
15445 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
15446 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
15447 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
15448 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
15452 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
15453 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
15458 @subsection Keystrokes
15462 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
15465 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
15468 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
15469 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
15470 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
15471 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
15472 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
15473 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
15475 The shift key is normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
15476 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
15477 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
15478 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
15479 keyboards. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
15480 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
15481 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
15483 Now, us Emacs people doesn't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
15484 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
15485 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
15486 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
15487 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
15488 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
15489 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
15491 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
15492 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
15493 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
15494 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
15495 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
15501 @subsection Emacs Lisp
15503 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
15504 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
15505 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
15506 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
15508 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
15509 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
15510 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
15511 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
15512 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
15513 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
15514 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
15517 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
15518 write the following:
15521 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
15524 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
15525 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
15526 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
15529 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
15530 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
15531 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
15532 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
15533 previous ``form'', which here is a simple @code{setq} statement.
15535 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
15536 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
15537 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
15541 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
15545 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
15548 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
15549 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
15552 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
15555 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
15556 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
15559 @include gnus-faq.texi