10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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290 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
291 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
294 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
295 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
296 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
297 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
298 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
299 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
300 License'' in the Emacs manual.
302 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
303 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
304 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
306 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
307 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
308 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
309 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
317 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
319 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
320 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
322 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
323 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
324 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
325 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
326 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
327 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
328 License'' in the Emacs manual.
330 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
331 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
332 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
334 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
335 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
336 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
337 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
345 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
348 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
349 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
350 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
352 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
353 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
354 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
355 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
356 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
357 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
358 License'' in the Emacs manual.
360 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
361 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
362 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
364 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
365 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
366 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
367 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
376 @top The Gnus Newsreader
380 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
381 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
382 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
385 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v0.07.
396 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
397 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
399 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
400 being accused of plagiarism:
402 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
403 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
404 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
405 can even read news with it!
407 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
408 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
409 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
410 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
411 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
417 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
418 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
419 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
420 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
421 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
422 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
423 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
424 * Various:: General purpose settings.
425 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
426 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
427 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
428 * Key Index:: Key Index.
431 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
435 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
436 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
437 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
438 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
439 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
440 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
441 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
442 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
443 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
444 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
445 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
449 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
450 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
451 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
455 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
456 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
457 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
458 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
459 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
460 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
461 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
462 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
463 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
464 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
465 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
466 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
467 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
468 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
469 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
470 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
471 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
475 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
476 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
477 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
481 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
482 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
483 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
484 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
485 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
489 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
490 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
491 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
492 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
493 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
497 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
498 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
499 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
500 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
501 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
503 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
504 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
505 * Threading:: How threads are made.
506 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
507 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
508 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
509 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
510 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
511 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
512 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
513 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
514 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
515 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
516 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
517 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
518 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
519 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
520 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
521 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
522 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
523 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
524 or reselecting the current group.
525 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
526 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
527 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
528 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
530 Summary Buffer Format
532 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
533 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
534 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
535 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
539 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
540 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
542 Reply, Followup and Post
544 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
545 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
546 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
547 * Canceling and Superseding::
551 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
552 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
553 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
555 * Generic Marking Commands::
556 * Setting Process Marks::
560 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
561 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
562 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
566 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
567 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
569 Customizing Threading
571 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
572 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
573 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
574 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
578 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
579 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
580 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
581 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
582 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
583 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
587 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
588 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
589 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
593 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
594 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
595 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
596 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
597 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
598 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
599 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
600 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
601 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
602 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
604 Alternative Approaches
606 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
607 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
609 Various Summary Stuff
611 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
612 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
613 * Summary Generation Commands::
614 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
618 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
619 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
620 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
621 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
622 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
626 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
627 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
628 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
629 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
630 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
631 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
632 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
633 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
637 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
638 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
639 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
640 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
641 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
642 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
643 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
644 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
648 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
649 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
650 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
651 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
652 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
653 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
654 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
658 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
659 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
663 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
664 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
665 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
669 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
670 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
671 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
672 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
673 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
674 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
675 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
676 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
677 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
678 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
679 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
680 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
681 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
685 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
686 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
687 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
689 Choosing a Mail Back End
691 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
692 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
693 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
694 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
695 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
696 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
701 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
702 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
703 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
704 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
705 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
706 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
710 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
711 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
712 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
716 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
717 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
718 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
719 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
720 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
724 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
728 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
729 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
730 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
734 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
735 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
739 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
740 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
741 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
742 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
743 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
744 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
745 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
746 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
747 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
748 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
749 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
753 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
754 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
755 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
759 * Group Agent Commands::
760 * Summary Agent Commands::
761 * Server Agent Commands::
765 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
766 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
767 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
768 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
769 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
770 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
771 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
772 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
773 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
774 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
775 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
776 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
777 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
778 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
779 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
780 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
781 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
785 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
786 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
787 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
788 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
792 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
793 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
794 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
798 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
799 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
800 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
801 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
802 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
803 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
804 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
805 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
806 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
807 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
808 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
809 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
810 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
811 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
812 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
813 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
814 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
815 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
816 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
820 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
821 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
822 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
823 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
824 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
825 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
826 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
827 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
831 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
832 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
833 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
834 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
835 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
839 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
840 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
841 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
842 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
843 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
847 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
848 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
849 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
853 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
854 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
855 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
856 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
857 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
858 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
859 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
860 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
861 * Frequently Asked Questions::
865 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
866 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
867 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
868 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
869 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
870 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
871 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
872 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
873 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
877 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
878 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
879 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
880 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
881 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
885 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
886 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
887 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
888 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
892 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
893 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
894 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
895 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
896 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
897 * Group Info:: The group info format.
898 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
899 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
900 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
904 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
905 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
906 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
907 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
908 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
909 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
913 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
914 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
918 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
919 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
925 @chapter Starting Gnus
930 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
931 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
934 @findex gnus-other-frame
935 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
936 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
937 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
939 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
940 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
941 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
943 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
944 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
947 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
948 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
949 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
950 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
951 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
952 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
953 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
954 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
955 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
956 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
957 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
961 @node Finding the News
962 @section Finding the News
965 @vindex gnus-select-method
967 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
968 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
969 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
970 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
973 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
974 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
977 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
980 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
983 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
986 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
987 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
988 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
990 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
992 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
993 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
994 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
995 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
996 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
997 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
999 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1000 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1001 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1002 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1004 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1005 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1006 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1007 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1008 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1009 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1010 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1011 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1012 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1015 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1017 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1018 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1019 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1020 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1021 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1022 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1024 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1026 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1027 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1028 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1029 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1030 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1031 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1034 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1035 you would typically set this variable to
1038 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1042 @node The First Time
1043 @section The First Time
1044 @cindex first time usage
1046 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1047 be subscribed by default.
1049 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1050 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1051 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1052 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1055 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1056 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1057 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1059 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1060 help you with most common problems.
1062 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1063 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1067 @node The Server is Down
1068 @section The Server is Down
1069 @cindex server errors
1071 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1072 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1073 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1075 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1076 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1077 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1078 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1079 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1080 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1081 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1083 @findex gnus-no-server
1084 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1086 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1087 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1088 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1089 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1090 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1091 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1092 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1096 @section Slave Gnusae
1099 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1100 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1101 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1102 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1104 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1105 @code{.newsrc} file.
1107 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1108 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1109 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1110 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1111 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1112 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1113 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1115 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1116 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1117 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1118 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1119 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1120 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1121 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1122 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1124 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1125 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1127 If the @code{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1128 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1129 file. If you answer "yes", the unsaved changes to the master will be
1130 incorporated into the slave. If you answer "no", the slave may see some
1131 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1133 @node Fetching a Group
1134 @section Fetching a Group
1135 @cindex fetching a group
1137 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1138 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1139 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1140 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1141 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1142 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1148 @cindex subscription
1150 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1151 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1152 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1153 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1154 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1155 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1156 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1157 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1158 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1161 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1162 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1163 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1167 @node Checking New Groups
1168 @subsection Checking New Groups
1170 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1171 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1172 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1173 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1174 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1175 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1176 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1177 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1178 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1179 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1181 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1182 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1183 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1184 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1185 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1186 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1187 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1188 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1189 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1190 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1191 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1193 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1194 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1195 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1196 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1197 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1198 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1201 @node Subscription Methods
1202 @subsection Subscription Methods
1204 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1205 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1206 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1208 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1209 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1211 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1215 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1216 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1217 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1218 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1219 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1221 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1222 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1223 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1224 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1226 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1227 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1228 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1230 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1231 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1232 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1233 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1234 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1235 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1236 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1237 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1238 up. Or something like that.
1240 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1241 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1242 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1243 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1244 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1246 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1247 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1248 Kill all new groups.
1250 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1251 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1252 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1253 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1254 topic parameter that looks like
1260 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1263 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1268 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1269 A closely related variable is
1270 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1271 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1272 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1273 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1276 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1277 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1278 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1279 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1282 @node Filtering New Groups
1283 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1285 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1286 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1287 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1290 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1293 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1294 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1295 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1296 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1297 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1298 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1299 subscribing these groups.
1300 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1301 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1303 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1304 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1305 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1306 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1307 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1308 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1309 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1310 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1312 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1313 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1314 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1315 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1316 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1317 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1318 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1319 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1320 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1321 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1324 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1325 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1328 @node Changing Servers
1329 @section Changing Servers
1330 @cindex changing servers
1332 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1333 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1334 very flaky and you want to use another.
1336 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1337 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1341 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1342 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1343 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1344 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1347 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1348 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1349 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1350 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1352 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1353 @findex gnus-change-server
1354 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1355 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1356 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1357 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1358 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1360 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1361 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1362 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1363 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1364 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1366 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1367 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1368 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1369 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1370 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1371 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1373 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1374 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1375 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1376 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1378 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1379 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1380 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1381 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1382 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1383 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1384 cache for all groups).
1388 @section Startup Files
1389 @cindex startup files
1394 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1395 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1397 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1398 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1399 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1400 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1401 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1402 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1403 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1405 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1406 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1407 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1408 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1409 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1410 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1412 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1413 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1414 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1415 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1416 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1417 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1418 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1419 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1420 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1421 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1423 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1424 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1425 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1426 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1427 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1428 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1429 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1430 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1431 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1432 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1433 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1434 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1436 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1437 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1438 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1439 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1441 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1442 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1443 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1444 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1445 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1446 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1447 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1448 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1449 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1450 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1453 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1454 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1456 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1457 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1460 @vindex gnus-init-file
1461 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1462 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1463 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1464 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1465 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1466 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1467 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1468 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1469 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1475 @cindex dribble file
1478 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1479 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1480 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1481 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1482 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1485 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1486 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1489 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1490 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1491 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1493 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1494 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1495 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1496 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1497 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1498 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1500 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1501 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1502 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1505 @node The Active File
1506 @section The Active File
1508 @cindex ignored groups
1510 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1511 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1512 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1514 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1515 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1516 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1517 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1518 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1519 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1520 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1523 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1524 @c if you set it to anything else.
1526 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1528 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1529 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1530 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1532 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1533 you actually subscribe to.
1535 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1536 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1537 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1538 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1540 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1541 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1542 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1543 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1544 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1545 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1547 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1548 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1549 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1552 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1553 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1554 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1555 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1556 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1557 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1559 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1560 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1562 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1563 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1565 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1566 secondary select methods.
1569 @node Startup Variables
1570 @section Startup Variables
1574 @item gnus-load-hook
1575 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1576 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1577 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1578 times you start Gnus.
1580 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1581 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1582 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1584 @item gnus-startup-hook
1585 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1586 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1588 @item gnus-started-hook
1589 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1590 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1593 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1594 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1595 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1596 generating the group buffer.
1598 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1599 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1600 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1601 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1602 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1603 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1604 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1605 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1607 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1608 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1609 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1610 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1611 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1612 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1614 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1615 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1616 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1618 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1619 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1620 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1622 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1623 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1624 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1625 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1631 @chapter Group Buffer
1632 @cindex group buffer
1634 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1636 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1637 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1638 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1639 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1640 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1641 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1642 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1643 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1644 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1645 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1646 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1647 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1648 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1649 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1650 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1651 @c human rights at 9...
1654 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1655 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1656 long as Gnus is active.
1660 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1661 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1662 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1663 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1664 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1665 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1666 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1667 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1673 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1674 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1675 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1676 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1677 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1678 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1679 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1680 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1681 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1682 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1683 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1684 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1685 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1686 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1687 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1688 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1689 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1693 @node Group Buffer Format
1694 @section Group Buffer Format
1697 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1698 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1699 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1703 @node Group Line Specification
1704 @subsection Group Line Specification
1705 @cindex group buffer format
1707 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1708 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1710 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1713 25: news.announce.newusers
1714 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1719 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1720 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1721 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1722 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1724 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1725 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1726 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1727 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1728 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1729 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1731 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1733 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1734 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1735 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1736 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1737 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1739 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1740 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1741 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1743 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1748 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1751 Whether the group is subscribed.
1754 Level of subscribedness.
1757 Number of unread articles.
1760 Number of dormant articles.
1763 Number of ticked articles.
1766 Number of read articles.
1769 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1770 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1772 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1773 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1774 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1775 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1776 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1777 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1778 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1779 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1782 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1785 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1794 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1795 comment element in the group parameters.
1798 Newsgroup description.
1801 @samp{m} if moderated.
1804 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1813 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1817 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1820 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1821 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1822 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1823 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1824 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1827 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1829 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1833 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1836 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1840 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1841 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1842 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1843 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1844 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1845 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1850 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1851 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1852 group, or a bogus native group.
1855 @node Group Modeline Specification
1856 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1857 @cindex group modeline
1859 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1860 The mode line can be changed by setting
1861 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1862 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1866 The native news server.
1868 The native select method.
1872 @node Group Highlighting
1873 @subsection Group Highlighting
1874 @cindex highlighting
1875 @cindex group highlighting
1877 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1878 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1879 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1880 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1881 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1883 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1887 (cond (window-system
1888 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1889 (defface my-group-face-1
1890 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1891 (defface my-group-face-2
1892 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1893 (defface my-group-face-3
1894 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1895 (defface my-group-face-4
1896 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1897 (defface my-group-face-5
1898 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1900 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1901 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1902 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1903 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1904 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1905 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1908 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1910 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1917 The number of unread articles in the group.
1921 Whether the group is a mail group.
1923 The level of the group.
1925 The score of the group.
1927 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1929 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1930 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1932 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1933 topic being inserted.
1936 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1937 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1938 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1940 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1941 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1942 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1943 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1944 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1947 @node Group Maneuvering
1948 @section Group Maneuvering
1949 @cindex group movement
1951 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1952 expected, hopefully.
1958 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1959 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1960 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1966 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1967 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1968 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1972 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1973 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1977 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1978 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1982 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1983 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1984 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1988 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1989 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1990 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1993 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1999 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2000 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2001 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2006 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2007 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2008 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2012 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2013 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2014 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2017 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2018 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2019 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2020 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2024 @node Selecting a Group
2025 @section Selecting a Group
2026 @cindex group selection
2031 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2032 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2033 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2034 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2035 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2036 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2037 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2038 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2039 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2040 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2042 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2043 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2044 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2046 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2047 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2052 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2053 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2054 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2055 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2056 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2060 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2061 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2062 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2063 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2064 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2065 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2066 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2067 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2068 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2069 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2072 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2073 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2074 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2075 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2076 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2079 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2080 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2081 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2082 doing any processing of its contents
2083 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2084 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2085 manner will have no permanent effects.
2089 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2090 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
2091 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2092 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2093 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2094 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2095 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2096 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2099 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2100 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2101 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2102 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2103 Which article this is is controlled by the
2104 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2110 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2113 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2116 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2118 @item unseen-or-unread
2119 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2120 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2124 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2128 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2129 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2131 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2132 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2133 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2134 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2138 @node Subscription Commands
2139 @section Subscription Commands
2140 @cindex subscription
2148 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2149 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2150 Toggle subscription to the current group
2151 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2157 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2158 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2159 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2160 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2166 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2167 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2168 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2174 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2175 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2178 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2179 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2180 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2181 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2182 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2188 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2189 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2193 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2194 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2197 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2198 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2199 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2200 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2201 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2202 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2203 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2204 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2205 @file{.newsrc} file.
2209 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2219 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2220 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2221 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2222 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2223 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2224 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2229 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2230 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2231 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2235 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2236 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2237 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2239 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2240 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2241 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2242 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2243 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2244 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2251 @section Group Levels
2255 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2256 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2257 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2258 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2259 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2261 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2267 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2268 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2269 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2270 prompted for a level.
2273 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2274 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2275 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2276 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2277 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2278 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2279 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2280 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2281 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2282 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2283 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2284 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2285 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2286 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2287 reasons of efficiency.
2289 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2290 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2292 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2293 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2294 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2295 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2296 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2297 groups are hidden, in a way.
2299 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2300 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2301 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2302 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2303 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2304 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2306 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2307 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2308 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2309 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2310 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2311 list of killed groups.)
2313 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2314 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2315 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2317 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2318 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2319 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2320 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2321 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2322 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2323 relevant valid ranges.
2325 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2326 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2327 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2328 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2329 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2330 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2333 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2334 one with the best level.
2336 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2337 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2338 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2341 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2342 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2343 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2344 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2347 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2348 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2349 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2350 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2352 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2353 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2354 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2355 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2356 to 5. The default is 6.
2360 @section Group Score
2365 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2366 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2367 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2370 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2371 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2372 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2373 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2374 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2375 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2376 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2377 least significant part.))
2379 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2380 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2381 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2382 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2383 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2384 action after each summary exit, you can add
2385 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2386 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2387 slow things down somewhat.
2390 @node Marking Groups
2391 @section Marking Groups
2392 @cindex marking groups
2394 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2395 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2396 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2397 bidding on those groups.
2399 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2400 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2401 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2409 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2410 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2416 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2417 Remove the mark from the current group
2418 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2422 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2423 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2427 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2428 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2432 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2433 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2437 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2438 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2439 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2442 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2444 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2445 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2446 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2447 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2448 the command to be executed.
2451 @node Foreign Groups
2452 @section Foreign Groups
2453 @cindex foreign groups
2455 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2456 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2457 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2458 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2465 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2466 @cindex making groups
2467 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2468 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2469 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2473 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2474 @cindex renaming groups
2475 Rename the current group to something else
2476 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2477 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2483 @findex gnus-group-customize
2484 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2488 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2489 @cindex renaming groups
2490 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2491 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2495 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2496 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2497 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2501 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2502 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2503 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2507 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2509 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2510 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2515 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2516 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2520 @cindex (ding) archive
2521 @cindex archive group
2522 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2523 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2524 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2525 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2526 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2527 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2528 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2532 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2534 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2535 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2536 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2537 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2541 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2543 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2544 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2545 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2549 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2550 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2552 Make a group based on some file or other
2553 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2554 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2555 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2556 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2557 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2558 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2559 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2560 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2561 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2565 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2566 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2567 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2568 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2572 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2576 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2577 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2578 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2579 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2580 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2581 @xref{Web Searches}.
2583 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2584 to a particular group by using a match string like
2585 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2588 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2589 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2590 This function will delete the current group
2591 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2592 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2593 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2594 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2595 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2599 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2600 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2601 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2605 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2606 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2607 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2610 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2613 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2614 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2615 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2616 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2617 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2618 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2622 @node Group Parameters
2623 @section Group Parameters
2624 @cindex group parameters
2626 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2627 Here's an example group parameter list:
2630 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2634 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2635 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2636 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2637 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2639 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2640 is an alist of regexps and values.
2642 The following group parameters can be used:
2647 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2650 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2653 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2654 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2655 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2656 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2657 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2659 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2660 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2661 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2662 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2663 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2664 list address instead.
2666 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2670 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2673 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2676 It is totally ignored
2677 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2678 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2680 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2681 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2682 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2683 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2684 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2686 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2687 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2688 sending the message.
2690 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2691 @cindex Mail List Groups
2692 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2693 entering summary buffer.
2695 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2700 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2701 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2702 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2703 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2704 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2705 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2707 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2708 directly uses this group parameter.
2712 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2713 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2714 of whether it has any unread articles.
2716 @item broken-reply-to
2717 @cindex broken-reply-to
2718 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2719 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2720 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2721 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2722 broken behavior. So there!
2726 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2727 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2731 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2732 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2733 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2738 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2739 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2740 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2741 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2742 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2743 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2744 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2745 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2746 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept artciles.
2750 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2751 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2752 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2754 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2757 @cindex total-expire
2758 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2759 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2760 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2761 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2764 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2768 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2769 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2770 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2771 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2772 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2773 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2776 @cindex score file group parameter
2777 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2778 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2779 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2782 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2783 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2784 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2785 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2788 @cindex admin-address
2789 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2790 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2791 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2792 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2796 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2797 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2801 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2804 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2805 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2808 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2812 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2814 Here are some examples:
2818 Display only unread articles.
2821 Display everything except expirable articles.
2823 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2824 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2828 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2829 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2830 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2831 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2832 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2836 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2837 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2838 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2842 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2843 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2844 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2848 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2849 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2850 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2852 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2854 @item ignored-charsets
2855 @cindex ignored-charset
2856 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2857 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2858 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2860 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2863 @cindex posting-style
2864 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2865 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2866 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2867 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2868 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2870 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2871 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2872 like this in the group parameters:
2877 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2882 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2883 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2887 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2888 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2889 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2890 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2891 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2895 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2896 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2897 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2898 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2900 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2901 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2902 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2903 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2906 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2907 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2911 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2914 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2915 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2916 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2917 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2918 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2919 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2920 @code{eval}ed there.
2922 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2923 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2924 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2925 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2926 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2927 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2928 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2929 parameters for the group.
2932 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2933 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2934 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2935 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2936 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2940 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2941 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2942 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2943 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2944 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2946 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2947 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2951 (setq gnus-parameters
2953 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2954 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2955 (gnus-summary-line-format
2956 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2960 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2964 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2968 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2971 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2972 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2975 @node Listing Groups
2976 @section Listing Groups
2977 @cindex group listing
2979 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2987 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2988 List all groups that have unread articles
2989 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2990 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2991 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2992 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2999 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3000 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3001 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3002 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3003 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3004 unsubscribed groups).
3008 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3009 List all unread groups on a specific level
3010 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3011 with no unread articles.
3015 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3016 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3017 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3018 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3023 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3024 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3028 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3029 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3030 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3034 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3035 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3039 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3040 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3041 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3042 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3043 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3044 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3045 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3046 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3050 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3051 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3052 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3056 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3057 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3058 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3062 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3063 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3067 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3068 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3072 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3073 List groups limited within the current selection
3074 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3078 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3079 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3083 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3084 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3088 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3089 @cindex visible group parameter
3090 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3091 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3092 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3093 get the same effect.
3095 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3096 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3097 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3098 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3099 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3102 @node Sorting Groups
3103 @section Sorting Groups
3104 @cindex sorting groups
3106 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3107 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3108 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3109 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3110 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3111 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3116 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3117 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3118 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3120 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3121 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3122 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3124 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3125 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3126 Sort by group level.
3128 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3129 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3130 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3132 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3133 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3134 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3135 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3137 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3138 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3139 Sort by number of unread articles.
3141 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3142 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3143 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3145 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3146 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3147 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3152 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3153 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3157 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3158 some sorting criteria:
3162 @kindex G S a (Group)
3163 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3164 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3165 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3168 @kindex G S u (Group)
3169 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3170 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3171 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3174 @kindex G S l (Group)
3175 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3176 Sort the group buffer by group level
3177 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3180 @kindex G S v (Group)
3181 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3182 Sort the group buffer by group score
3183 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3186 @kindex G S r (Group)
3187 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3188 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3189 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3192 @kindex G S m (Group)
3193 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3194 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3195 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3199 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3200 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3202 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3203 commands will sort in reverse order.
3205 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3209 @kindex G P a (Group)
3210 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3211 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3212 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3215 @kindex G P u (Group)
3216 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3217 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3218 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3221 @kindex G P l (Group)
3222 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3223 Sort the groups by group level
3224 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3227 @kindex G P v (Group)
3228 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3229 Sort the groups by group score
3230 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3233 @kindex G P r (Group)
3234 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3235 Sort the groups by group rank
3236 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3239 @kindex G P m (Group)
3240 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3241 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3242 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3245 @kindex G P s (Group)
3246 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3247 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3251 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3255 @node Group Maintenance
3256 @section Group Maintenance
3257 @cindex bogus groups
3262 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3263 Find bogus groups and delete them
3264 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3268 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3269 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3270 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3271 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3272 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3276 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3277 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3278 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3279 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3280 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3281 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3284 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3285 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3286 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3287 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3292 @node Browse Foreign Server
3293 @section Browse Foreign Server
3294 @cindex foreign servers
3295 @cindex browsing servers
3300 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3301 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3302 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3303 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3306 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3307 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3308 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3309 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3311 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3316 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3317 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3321 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3322 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3325 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3326 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3327 Enter the current group and display the first article
3328 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3331 @kindex RET (Browse)
3332 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3333 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3337 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3338 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3339 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3345 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3346 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3350 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3351 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3352 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3357 @section Exiting Gnus
3358 @cindex exiting Gnus
3360 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3365 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3366 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3367 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3368 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3372 @findex gnus-group-exit
3373 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3374 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3378 @findex gnus-group-quit
3379 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3380 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3383 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3384 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3385 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3386 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3387 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3392 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3393 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3394 trying to customize meta-variables.
3399 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3400 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3401 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3407 @section Group Topics
3410 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3411 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3412 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3413 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3414 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3415 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3419 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3420 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3431 2: alt.religion.emacs
3434 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3436 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3437 13: comp.sources.unix
3440 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3442 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3443 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3444 is a toggling command.)
3446 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3447 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3448 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3449 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3452 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3453 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3454 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3457 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3461 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3462 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3463 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3464 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3465 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3469 @node Topic Commands
3470 @subsection Topic Commands
3471 @cindex topic commands
3473 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3474 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3475 definitions slightly.
3477 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3478 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3479 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3480 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3481 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3482 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3484 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3491 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3492 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3493 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3497 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3499 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3500 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3501 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3502 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3505 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3506 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3507 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3508 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3512 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3513 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3514 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3515 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3521 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3522 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3523 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3527 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3528 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3529 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3532 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3533 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3534 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3535 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3536 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3538 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3539 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3543 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3544 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3551 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3553 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3554 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3555 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3556 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3557 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3558 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3562 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3568 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3569 Move the current group to some other topic
3570 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3571 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3575 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3576 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3580 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3581 Copy the current group to some other topic
3582 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3583 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3587 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3588 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3589 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3593 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3594 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3595 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3599 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3600 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3601 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3602 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3603 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3604 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3605 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3608 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3609 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3613 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3614 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3615 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3619 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3620 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3621 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3625 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3626 Toggle hiding empty topics
3627 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3631 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3632 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3633 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3636 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3637 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3638 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3639 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3642 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3643 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3644 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3645 expiry process (if any)
3646 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3650 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3651 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3654 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3655 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3656 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3660 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3661 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3662 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3665 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3666 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3667 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3670 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3671 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3672 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3676 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3677 @cindex group parameters
3678 @cindex topic parameters
3680 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3681 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3686 @node Topic Variables
3687 @subsection Topic Variables
3688 @cindex topic variables
3690 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3691 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3693 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3694 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3695 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3708 Number of groups in the topic.
3710 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3712 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3715 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3716 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3717 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3720 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3721 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3723 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3724 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3725 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3729 @subsection Topic Sorting
3730 @cindex topic sorting
3732 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3738 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3739 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3740 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3741 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3744 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3745 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3746 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3747 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3750 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3751 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3752 Sort the current topic by group level
3753 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3756 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3757 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3758 Sort the current topic by group score
3759 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3762 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3763 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3764 Sort the current topic by group rank
3765 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3768 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3769 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3770 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3771 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3774 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3775 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3776 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3777 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3781 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3782 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3783 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3784 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3788 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3789 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3793 @node Topic Topology
3794 @subsection Topic Topology
3795 @cindex topic topology
3798 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3804 2: alt.religion.emacs
3807 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3809 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3810 13: comp.sources.unix
3813 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3814 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3815 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3820 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3821 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3825 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3826 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3827 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3828 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3829 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3830 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3832 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3833 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3834 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3837 @node Topic Parameters
3838 @subsection Topic Parameters
3839 @cindex topic parameters
3841 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3842 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3843 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3845 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3850 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3851 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3852 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3855 @item subscribe-level
3856 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3857 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3858 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3862 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3863 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3864 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3865 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3871 2: alt.religion.emacs
3875 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3877 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3878 13: comp.sources.unix
3882 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3883 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3884 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3885 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3886 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3887 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3889 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3890 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3891 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3892 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3893 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3895 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3896 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3897 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3898 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3899 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3900 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3901 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3902 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3905 @node Misc Group Stuff
3906 @section Misc Group Stuff
3909 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3910 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3911 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3912 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3913 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3920 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3921 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3922 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3926 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3927 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3928 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3929 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3930 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3931 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3932 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3936 @findex gnus-group-mail
3937 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3938 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3939 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3940 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3944 @findex gnus-group-news
3945 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3946 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3947 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3949 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3950 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3951 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3952 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
3953 for this to work though.
3957 Variables for the group buffer:
3961 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3962 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3963 is called after the group buffer has been
3966 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3967 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3968 is called after the group buffer is
3969 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3972 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3973 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3974 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3975 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3977 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3978 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3979 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3980 whether they are empty or not.
3982 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3983 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3984 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3985 non-ASCII group names.
3989 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3990 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3993 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3994 @cindex UTF-8 group names
3995 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3996 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
3997 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
3998 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
4002 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4003 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4008 @node Scanning New Messages
4009 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4010 @cindex new messages
4011 @cindex scanning new news
4017 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4018 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4019 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4020 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4021 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4022 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4027 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4028 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4029 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4030 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4031 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4032 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4033 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4035 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4036 @cindex activating groups
4038 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4039 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4044 @findex gnus-group-restart
4045 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4046 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4047 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4051 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4052 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4054 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4055 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4059 @node Group Information
4060 @subsection Group Information
4061 @cindex group information
4062 @cindex information on groups
4069 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4070 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4073 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4074 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4075 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4076 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4077 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4078 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4079 for fetching the file.
4081 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4082 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4086 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4087 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4089 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4090 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Gnus will use
4091 @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of the charter.
4092 If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control messages for the
4093 group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4097 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4098 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4099 @cindex control message
4100 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4101 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}).
4103 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-nil, Gnus
4104 will open the control messages in a browser using @code{browse-url}.
4105 Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp} and displayed in an
4108 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4109 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode}
4110 (@pxref{(emacs)Compressed Files}).
4114 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4116 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4117 @cindex describing groups
4118 @cindex group description
4119 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4120 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4121 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4125 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4126 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4127 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4134 @findex gnus-version
4135 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4139 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4140 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4143 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4146 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4147 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4151 @node Group Timestamp
4152 @subsection Group Timestamp
4154 @cindex group timestamps
4156 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4157 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4158 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4161 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4164 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4166 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4167 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4170 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4171 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4174 This will result in lines looking like:
4177 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4178 0: custom 19961002T012713
4181 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4182 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4186 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4187 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4190 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4191 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4195 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4196 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4197 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4198 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4200 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4206 @subsection File Commands
4207 @cindex file commands
4213 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4214 @vindex gnus-init-file
4215 @cindex reading init file
4216 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4217 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4221 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4222 @cindex saving .newsrc
4223 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4224 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4225 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4228 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4229 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4230 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4235 @node Sieve Commands
4236 @subsection Sieve Commands
4237 @cindex group sieve commands
4239 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4240 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4241 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4242 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4243 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4245 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4246 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4247 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4248 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4249 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4250 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4251 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4252 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4253 regenerate the Sieve script.
4255 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4256 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4257 is generated. If it is non-nil (the default) articles is placed in
4258 all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article is only
4259 placed in the group with the first matching rule. For example, the
4260 group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4261 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4262 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is nil. (When
4263 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-nil, it looks the same except that
4264 the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4267 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4268 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4273 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4279 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4280 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4281 @cindex generating sieve script
4282 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4283 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4287 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4288 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4289 @cindex updating sieve script
4290 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4291 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4292 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4297 @node Summary Buffer
4298 @chapter Summary Buffer
4299 @cindex summary buffer
4301 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4302 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4304 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4305 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4307 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4310 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4311 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4312 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4313 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4314 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4315 * Delayed Articles::
4316 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4317 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4318 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4319 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4320 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4321 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4322 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4323 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4324 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4325 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4326 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4327 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4328 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4329 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4330 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4331 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4332 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4333 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4334 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4335 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4336 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4337 or reselecting the current group.
4338 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4339 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4340 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4341 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4345 @node Summary Buffer Format
4346 @section Summary Buffer Format
4347 @cindex summary buffer format
4351 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4352 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4353 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4359 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4360 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4361 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4362 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4365 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4366 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4367 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4368 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4369 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4370 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4371 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4372 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4373 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4374 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4375 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4378 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4379 'mail-extract-address-components)
4382 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4383 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4384 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4385 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4388 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4389 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4391 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4392 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4393 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4394 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4395 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4397 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4398 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4399 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4400 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4401 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4402 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4404 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4406 The following format specification characters and extended format
4407 specification(s) are understood:
4413 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4414 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4416 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4417 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4418 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4420 Full @code{From} header.
4422 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4424 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4427 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4428 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4429 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4430 may be more thorough.
4432 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4435 Number of lines in the article.
4437 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4438 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4440 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4441 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4443 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4445 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4448 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4449 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4451 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4452 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4454 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4455 for adopted articles.
4457 One space for each thread level.
4459 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4461 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4464 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4465 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4466 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4469 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4471 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4472 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4473 default level. If the difference between
4474 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4475 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4483 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4485 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4491 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4492 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4494 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4495 article has any children.
4501 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4502 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4504 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4505 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4506 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4507 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4508 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4509 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4512 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4513 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4514 There can only be one such area.
4516 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4517 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4518 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4519 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4520 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4521 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4523 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4524 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4526 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4529 @node To From Newsgroups
4530 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4534 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4535 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4536 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4537 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4538 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4542 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4543 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4544 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4548 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4549 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4552 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4553 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4556 @findex gnus-extra-header
4557 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4558 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4559 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4562 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4566 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4567 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4568 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4569 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4570 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4571 headers are used instead.
4575 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4576 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4577 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4578 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4579 this variable, by entering the server buffer using `^', and then `g' on
4580 the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause regeneration.
4582 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4583 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4584 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4585 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4587 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4591 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4593 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4594 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4595 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4596 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4600 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4603 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4604 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4607 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4608 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4609 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4615 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4616 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4619 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4620 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4622 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4623 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4624 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4625 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4627 Here are the elements you can play with:
4633 Unprefixed group name.
4635 Current article number.
4637 Current article score.
4641 Number of unread articles in this group.
4643 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4646 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4647 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4648 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4649 and no unselected ones.
4651 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4652 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4654 Subject of the current article.
4656 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4658 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4660 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4662 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4664 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4666 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4670 @node Summary Highlighting
4671 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4675 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4676 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4677 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4678 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4679 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4681 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4682 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4683 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4684 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4686 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4687 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4688 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4689 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4691 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4692 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4693 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4694 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4695 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4696 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4699 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4700 ((> score default) . bold))
4702 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4703 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4707 @node Summary Maneuvering
4708 @section Summary Maneuvering
4709 @cindex summary movement
4711 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4712 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4714 None of these commands select articles.
4719 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4720 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4721 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4722 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4723 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4727 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4728 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4729 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4730 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4731 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4734 @kindex G g (Summary)
4735 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4736 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4737 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4740 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4741 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4742 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4743 to the group buffer.
4745 Variables related to summary movement:
4749 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4750 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4751 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4752 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4753 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4754 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4755 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4756 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4757 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4758 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4759 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4760 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4761 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4762 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4764 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4765 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4766 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4767 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4768 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4769 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4770 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4772 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4774 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4775 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4776 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4777 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4778 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4780 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4781 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4782 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4783 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4784 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4785 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4786 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4787 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4790 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4791 the given number of lines from the top.
4796 @node Choosing Articles
4797 @section Choosing Articles
4798 @cindex selecting articles
4801 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4802 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4806 @node Choosing Commands
4807 @subsection Choosing Commands
4809 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4810 and they all select and display an article.
4812 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4813 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4817 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4818 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4819 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4820 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4825 @kindex G n (Summary)
4826 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4827 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4828 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4833 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4834 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4835 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4840 @kindex G N (Summary)
4841 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4842 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4847 @kindex G P (Summary)
4848 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4849 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4852 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4853 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4854 Go to the next article with the same subject
4855 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4858 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4859 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4860 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4861 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4865 @kindex G f (Summary)
4867 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4868 Go to the first unread article
4869 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4873 @kindex G b (Summary)
4875 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4876 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4877 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4878 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4883 @kindex G l (Summary)
4884 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4885 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4888 @kindex G o (Summary)
4889 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4891 @cindex article history
4892 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4893 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4894 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4895 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4896 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4897 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4902 @kindex G j (Summary)
4903 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4904 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4905 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4910 @node Choosing Variables
4911 @subsection Choosing Variables
4913 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4916 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4917 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4918 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4919 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4920 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4921 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4923 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4924 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4925 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4926 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4928 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4929 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4930 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4931 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4932 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4933 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4934 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4935 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4936 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4937 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4938 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4939 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4940 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4941 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4946 @node Paging the Article
4947 @section Scrolling the Article
4948 @cindex article scrolling
4953 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4954 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4955 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4956 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4957 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4960 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4961 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4962 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4965 @kindex RET (Summary)
4966 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4967 Scroll the current article one line forward
4968 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4971 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4972 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4973 Scroll the current article one line backward
4974 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4978 @kindex A g (Summary)
4980 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4981 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4982 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4983 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4984 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4985 the way it came from the server.
4987 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4988 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4989 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4992 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4997 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5002 @kindex A < (Summary)
5003 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5004 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5005 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5010 @kindex A > (Summary)
5011 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5012 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5016 @kindex A s (Summary)
5018 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5019 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5020 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5024 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5025 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5030 @node Reply Followup and Post
5031 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5034 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5035 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5036 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5037 * Canceling and Superseding::
5041 @node Summary Mail Commands
5042 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5044 @cindex composing mail
5046 Commands for composing a mail message:
5052 @kindex S r (Summary)
5054 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5055 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5056 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5057 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5058 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5063 @kindex S R (Summary)
5064 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5065 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5066 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5067 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5068 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5071 @kindex S w (Summary)
5072 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5073 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5074 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5075 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5076 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5079 @kindex S W (Summary)
5080 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5081 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5082 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5083 the process/prefix convention.
5086 @kindex S v (Summary)
5087 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5088 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5089 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5090 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5091 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5092 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5095 @kindex S V (Summary)
5096 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5097 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5098 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5099 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5102 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5103 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5104 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5105 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5108 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5109 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5110 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5111 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5112 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5116 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5117 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5118 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5119 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5120 Forward the current article to some other person
5121 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5122 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5123 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5124 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5125 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5126 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5127 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5128 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5129 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime}
5135 @kindex S m (Summary)
5136 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5137 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5138 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5139 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5140 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5145 @kindex S i (Summary)
5146 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5147 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5148 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5149 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5151 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5152 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
5153 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5154 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5155 for this to work though.
5158 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5159 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5160 @cindex bouncing mail
5161 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5162 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5163 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5164 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5165 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5166 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5167 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5168 very well fail, though.
5171 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5172 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5173 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5174 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5175 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5176 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5177 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5178 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5179 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5180 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5182 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5183 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5184 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5185 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5186 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5188 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5189 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5192 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5193 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5194 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5195 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5196 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5199 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5200 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5201 @cindex crossposting
5202 @cindex excessive crossposting
5203 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5204 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5206 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5207 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5208 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5209 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5210 command understands the process/prefix convention
5211 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5215 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5216 Manual}, for more information.
5219 @node Summary Post Commands
5220 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5222 @cindex composing news
5224 Commands for posting a news article:
5230 @kindex S p (Summary)
5231 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5232 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5233 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5234 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5235 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5240 @kindex S f (Summary)
5241 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5242 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5243 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5247 @kindex S F (Summary)
5249 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5250 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5251 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5252 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5253 process/prefix convention.
5256 @kindex S n (Summary)
5257 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5258 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5259 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5262 @kindex S N (Summary)
5263 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5264 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5265 message through mail and include the original message
5266 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5267 the process/prefix convention.
5270 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5271 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5272 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5273 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5274 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5275 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5276 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5277 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5278 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5279 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5280 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5281 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5282 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section.
5285 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5286 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5288 @cindex making digests
5289 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5290 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5291 process/prefix convention.
5294 @kindex S u (Summary)
5295 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5296 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5297 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5298 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5301 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5302 Manual}, for more information.
5305 @node Summary Message Commands
5306 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5310 @kindex S y (Summary)
5311 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5312 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5313 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5314 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5315 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5320 @node Canceling and Superseding
5321 @subsection Canceling Articles
5322 @cindex canceling articles
5323 @cindex superseding articles
5325 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5326 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5328 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5330 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5332 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5333 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5334 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5335 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5336 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5337 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5339 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5340 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5343 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5344 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5345 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5347 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5348 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5349 your original article.
5351 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5353 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5354 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5355 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5358 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5359 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5360 have posted almost the same article twice.
5362 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5363 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5364 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5365 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5366 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5367 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5368 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5369 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5370 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5371 canceled/superseded.
5373 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5375 @node Delayed Articles
5376 @section Delayed Articles
5377 @cindex delayed sending
5378 @cindex send delayed
5380 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5381 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5382 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5383 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5386 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5389 @findex gnus-delay-article
5390 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5391 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5392 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5393 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5397 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5398 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5399 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5400 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5403 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5404 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5405 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5408 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5409 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5410 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5411 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5412 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5413 that means a time tomorrow.
5416 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5417 couple of variables:
5420 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5421 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5422 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5423 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5425 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5426 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5427 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5428 formats described above.
5430 @item gnus-delay-group
5431 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5432 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5433 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5434 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5436 @item gnus-delay-header
5437 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5438 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5439 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5440 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5443 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5444 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5445 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5446 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5447 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5449 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5450 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5451 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5452 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5453 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5454 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5457 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5458 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5459 By default, this function installs the @kbd{C-c C-j} key binding in
5460 Message mode and @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5461 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts two optional arguments,
5462 @code{no-keymap} and @code{no-check}. If @code{no-keymap} is non-nil,
5463 the @kbd{C-c C-j} binding is not intalled. If @code{no-check} is
5464 non-nil, @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed.
5466 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to change the
5467 keymap but not to change @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. Presumably, you
5468 want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles. Just don't
5469 forget to set that up :-)
5473 @node Marking Articles
5474 @section Marking Articles
5475 @cindex article marking
5476 @cindex article ticking
5479 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5481 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5482 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5483 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5485 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5488 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5489 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5490 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5494 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5498 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5499 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5500 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5504 @node Unread Articles
5505 @subsection Unread Articles
5507 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5512 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5513 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5515 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5516 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5517 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5518 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5519 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5520 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5521 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5524 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5525 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5527 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5528 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5529 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5530 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5534 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5535 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5537 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5542 @subsection Read Articles
5543 @cindex expirable mark
5545 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5550 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5551 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5552 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5555 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5556 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5559 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5560 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5561 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5564 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5565 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5568 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5569 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5572 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5573 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5576 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5577 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5580 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5581 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5584 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5585 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5588 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5589 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5593 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5594 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5595 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5599 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5600 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5602 One more special mark, though:
5606 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5607 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5609 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5610 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5611 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5612 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5618 @subsection Other Marks
5619 @cindex process mark
5622 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5628 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5629 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5630 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5631 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5632 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5635 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5636 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5637 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5638 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5641 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5642 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5643 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5646 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5647 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5648 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5651 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5652 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5653 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5654 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5657 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5658 Articles that according to the back end haven't been seen by the user
5659 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5660 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all back ends support this
5661 mark, in which case it simply never appears.
5664 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5665 Articles that haven't been seen by the user before are marked with a
5666 @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5669 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5670 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5671 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5672 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5673 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5676 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5677 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5678 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5679 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5680 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5681 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5685 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5686 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5687 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5689 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5690 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5691 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5695 @subsection Setting Marks
5696 @cindex setting marks
5698 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5703 @kindex M c (Summary)
5704 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5705 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5706 @cindex mark as unread
5707 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5708 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5714 @kindex M t (Summary)
5715 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5716 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5717 @xref{Article Caching}.
5722 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5723 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5724 Mark the current article as dormant
5725 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5729 @kindex M d (Summary)
5731 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5732 Mark the current article as read
5733 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5737 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5738 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5739 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5744 @kindex M k (Summary)
5745 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5746 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5747 and then select the next unread article
5748 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5752 @kindex M K (Summary)
5753 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5754 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5755 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5756 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5759 @kindex M C (Summary)
5760 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5761 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5762 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5765 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5766 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5767 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5768 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5771 @kindex M H (Summary)
5772 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5773 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5774 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5777 @kindex M h (Summary)
5778 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5779 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5780 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5783 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5784 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5785 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5786 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5789 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5790 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5791 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5792 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5796 @kindex M e (Summary)
5798 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5799 Mark the current article as expirable
5800 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5803 @kindex M b (Summary)
5804 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5805 Set a bookmark in the current article
5806 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5809 @kindex M B (Summary)
5810 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5811 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5812 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5815 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5816 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5817 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5818 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5821 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5822 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5823 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5824 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5827 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5828 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5829 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5830 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5831 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5834 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5835 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5836 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5837 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5838 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5839 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5840 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5841 The default is @code{t}.
5844 @node Generic Marking Commands
5845 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5847 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5848 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5849 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5850 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5851 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5854 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5855 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5858 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5859 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5860 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5861 to list in this manual.
5863 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5864 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5865 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5866 article, you could say something like:
5869 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5870 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5871 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5877 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5878 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5882 @node Setting Process Marks
5883 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5884 @cindex setting process marks
5891 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5892 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5893 Mark the current article with the process mark
5894 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5895 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5899 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5900 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5901 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5902 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5905 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5906 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5907 Remove the process mark from all articles
5908 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5911 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5912 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5913 Invert the list of process marked articles
5914 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5917 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5918 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5919 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5920 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5923 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5924 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5925 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5926 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5929 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5930 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5931 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5935 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
5936 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
5939 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5940 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5941 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5942 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5945 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5946 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5947 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5948 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5951 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5952 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5953 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5954 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5957 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5958 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5959 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5962 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5963 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5964 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5965 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5968 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5969 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5970 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5973 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5974 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5975 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5976 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5979 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5980 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5981 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5982 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5985 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5986 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5987 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5988 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5991 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5992 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5993 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5994 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5998 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5999 set process marks based on article body contents.
6006 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6007 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6008 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6011 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6012 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6013 additional articles.
6019 @kindex / / (Summary)
6020 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6021 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6022 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6026 @kindex / a (Summary)
6027 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6028 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6029 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6033 @kindex / x (Summary)
6034 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6035 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6036 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6037 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6042 @kindex / u (Summary)
6044 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6045 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6046 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6047 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6048 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6051 @kindex / m (Summary)
6052 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6053 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6054 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6057 @kindex / t (Summary)
6058 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6059 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6060 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6061 articles younger than that number of days.
6064 @kindex / n (Summary)
6065 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6066 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6067 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6068 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6071 @kindex / w (Summary)
6072 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6073 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6074 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6078 @kindex / v (Summary)
6079 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6080 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6081 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6084 @kindex / p (Summary)
6085 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6086 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6087 group parameter predicate
6088 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6089 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6093 @kindex M S (Summary)
6094 @kindex / E (Summary)
6095 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6096 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6097 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6100 @kindex / D (Summary)
6101 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6102 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6103 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6106 @kindex / * (Summary)
6107 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6108 Include all cached articles in the limit
6109 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6112 @kindex / d (Summary)
6113 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6114 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6115 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6118 @kindex / M (Summary)
6119 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6120 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6123 @kindex / T (Summary)
6124 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6125 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6128 @kindex / c (Summary)
6129 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6130 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6131 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6134 @kindex / C (Summary)
6135 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6136 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6137 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6138 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6141 @kindex / N (Summary)
6142 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6143 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6144 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6147 @kindex / o (Summary)
6148 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6149 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6150 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6158 @cindex article threading
6160 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6161 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6162 hierarchical fashion.
6164 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6165 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6166 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6167 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6168 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6169 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6170 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6172 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6176 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6179 A tree-like article structure.
6182 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6185 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6186 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6187 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6188 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6189 called loose threads.
6191 @item thread gathering
6192 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6194 @item sparse threads
6195 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6196 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6202 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6203 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6207 @node Customizing Threading
6208 @subsection Customizing Threading
6209 @cindex customizing threading
6212 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6213 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6214 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6215 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6220 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6223 @cindex loose threads
6226 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6227 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6228 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6229 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6230 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6231 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6233 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6234 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6235 There are four possible values:
6239 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6240 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6241 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6242 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6243 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6248 @cindex adopting articles
6253 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6254 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6255 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6256 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6259 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6260 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6261 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6262 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6263 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6264 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6265 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6268 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6269 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6270 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6274 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6275 display them after one another.
6278 Don't gather loose threads.
6281 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6282 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6283 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6284 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6285 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6286 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6287 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6288 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6289 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6290 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6291 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6293 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6294 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6295 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6298 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6299 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6300 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6301 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6302 simplification is used.
6304 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6305 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6306 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6307 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6309 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6311 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6317 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6318 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6319 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6320 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6325 (mapconcat 'identity
6326 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6328 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6331 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6334 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6335 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6336 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6337 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6338 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6339 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6341 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6344 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6345 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6346 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6348 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6349 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6352 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6353 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6354 Remove excessive whitespace.
6356 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6357 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6358 Remove all whitespace.
6361 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6364 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6365 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6366 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6367 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6368 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6369 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6370 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6371 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6373 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6374 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6375 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6376 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6377 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6378 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6379 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6380 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6381 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6385 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6386 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6387 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6388 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6390 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6391 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6392 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6395 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6399 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6400 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6406 @node Filling In Threads
6407 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6410 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6411 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6412 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6413 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6414 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6415 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6416 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6417 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6418 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6419 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6420 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6421 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6424 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6425 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6426 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6428 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6429 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6430 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6431 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6432 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6433 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6434 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6435 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6436 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6437 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6438 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6439 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6440 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6441 @code{nil} by default.
6443 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6444 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6445 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6446 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6447 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6448 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6449 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6451 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6452 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6453 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6458 @node More Threading
6459 @subsubsection More Threading
6462 @item gnus-show-threads
6463 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6464 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6465 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6466 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6467 slower and more awkward.
6469 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6470 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6471 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6474 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6475 Avaliable predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6476 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6481 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6482 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6483 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6486 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6487 unread, but you get my drift.)
6490 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6491 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6492 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6493 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6494 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6495 threads are expunged.
6497 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6498 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6499 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6502 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6503 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6504 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6505 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6506 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6507 result in a new thread.
6509 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6510 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6511 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6514 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6515 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6516 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6517 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6518 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6519 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6520 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6521 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6522 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6523 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6524 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6529 @node Low-Level Threading
6530 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6534 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6535 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6536 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6538 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6539 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6540 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6541 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6542 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6543 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6544 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6545 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6546 meaningful. Here's one example:
6549 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6551 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6552 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6554 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6556 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6563 @node Thread Commands
6564 @subsection Thread Commands
6565 @cindex thread commands
6571 @kindex T k (Summary)
6572 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6573 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6574 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6575 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6576 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6581 @kindex T l (Summary)
6582 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6583 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6584 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6585 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6588 @kindex T i (Summary)
6589 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6590 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6591 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6594 @kindex T # (Summary)
6595 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6596 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6597 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6600 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6601 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6602 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6603 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6606 @kindex T T (Summary)
6607 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6608 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6611 @kindex T s (Summary)
6612 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6613 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6614 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6617 @kindex T h (Summary)
6618 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6619 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6622 @kindex T S (Summary)
6623 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6624 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6627 @kindex T H (Summary)
6628 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6629 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6632 @kindex T t (Summary)
6633 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6634 Re-thread the current article's thread
6635 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6636 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6639 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6640 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6641 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6642 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6646 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6647 understand the numeric prefix.
6652 @kindex T n (Summary)
6654 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6656 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6657 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6658 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6661 @kindex T p (Summary)
6663 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6665 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6666 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6667 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6670 @kindex T d (Summary)
6671 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6672 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6675 @kindex T u (Summary)
6676 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6677 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6680 @kindex T o (Summary)
6681 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6682 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6685 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6686 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6687 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6688 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6689 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6690 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6691 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6692 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6693 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6694 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6695 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6696 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6700 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6701 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6703 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6704 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6705 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6706 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6707 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6708 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6709 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6710 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6711 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6712 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6713 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6714 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6715 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6717 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6718 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6719 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6720 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6721 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6722 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6723 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6724 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6726 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6727 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6728 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6730 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6731 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6732 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6733 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6734 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6735 ascending article order.
6737 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6738 by number, you could do something like:
6741 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6742 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6743 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6744 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6747 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6748 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6749 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6750 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6751 which the articles arrived.
6753 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6757 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6759 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6760 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6763 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6764 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6765 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6766 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6769 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6770 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6771 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6772 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6773 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6774 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6775 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6776 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6777 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6778 variable. It is very similar to the
6779 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6780 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6781 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6782 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6783 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6784 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6785 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6787 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6791 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6792 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6793 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6798 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6799 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6800 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6801 @cindex article pre-fetch
6804 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6805 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6806 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6807 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6808 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6810 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6811 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6813 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6814 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6815 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6816 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6817 connection is blocked.
6819 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6820 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6821 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6822 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6824 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6825 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6826 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6827 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6830 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6833 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6834 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6835 happen automatically.
6837 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6838 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6839 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6840 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6841 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6842 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6843 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6845 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6846 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6847 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6848 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6849 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6850 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6851 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6852 data structure as the only parameter.
6854 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6857 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6858 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6859 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6860 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6863 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6866 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6867 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6868 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6870 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6871 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6872 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6873 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6877 Remove articles when they are read.
6880 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6883 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6885 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6886 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6887 @c from the next group.
6890 @node Article Caching
6891 @section Article Caching
6892 @cindex article caching
6895 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6896 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6897 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6898 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6899 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6901 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6903 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6904 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6905 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6906 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6907 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6908 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6909 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6910 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6912 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6913 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6914 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6915 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6916 as dormant, and don't worry.
6918 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6920 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6921 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6922 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6923 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6924 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6925 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6926 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6927 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6928 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6929 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6931 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6932 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6933 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6934 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6935 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6936 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6937 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6938 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6939 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6940 not then be downloaded by this command.
6942 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6943 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6944 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6945 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6946 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6947 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6949 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6950 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6951 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6952 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6953 variables, the group is not cached.
6955 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6956 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6957 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6958 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6959 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6960 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6961 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6962 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6963 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6966 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
6967 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
6968 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
6969 where, isn't that cool?
6971 @node Persistent Articles
6972 @section Persistent Articles
6973 @cindex persistent articles
6975 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6976 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6977 useful in my opinion.
6979 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6980 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6981 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6982 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6983 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6984 the expiry going on at the news server.
6986 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6987 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6988 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6994 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6995 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6998 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6999 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7000 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7001 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7005 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7007 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7008 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7009 interested in persistent articles:
7012 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7016 @node Article Backlog
7017 @section Article Backlog
7019 @cindex article backlog
7021 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7022 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7023 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7024 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7025 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7026 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7027 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7028 increase memory usage some.
7030 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7031 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7032 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7033 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7034 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7035 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7036 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7038 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
7041 @node Saving Articles
7042 @section Saving Articles
7043 @cindex saving articles
7045 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7046 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7047 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7048 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7049 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7051 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7052 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7053 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7055 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7056 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7057 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7059 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7060 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7061 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7062 deleted before saving.
7068 @kindex O o (Summary)
7070 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7071 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7072 Save the current article using the default article saver
7073 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7076 @kindex O m (Summary)
7077 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7078 Save the current article in mail format
7079 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7082 @kindex O r (Summary)
7083 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7084 Save the current article in rmail format
7085 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7088 @kindex O f (Summary)
7089 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7090 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7091 Save the current article in plain file format
7092 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7095 @kindex O F (Summary)
7096 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7097 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7098 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7101 @kindex O b (Summary)
7102 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7103 Save the current article body in plain file format
7104 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7107 @kindex O h (Summary)
7108 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7109 Save the current article in mh folder format
7110 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7113 @kindex O v (Summary)
7114 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7115 Save the current article in a VM folder
7116 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7120 @kindex O p (Summary)
7122 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7123 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7124 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7127 @kindex O P (Summary)
7128 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7129 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7130 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7131 external program Muttprint (see
7132 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7133 options to use is controlled by the variable
7134 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7138 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7139 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7140 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7141 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7142 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7143 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7144 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7145 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7146 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7147 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7148 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7149 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7153 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7154 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7155 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7156 functions below, or you can create your own.
7160 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7161 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7162 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7163 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7164 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7165 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7166 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7168 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7169 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7170 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7171 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7172 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7173 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7175 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7176 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7177 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7178 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7179 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7180 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7181 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7183 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7184 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7185 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7186 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7187 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7188 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7190 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7191 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7192 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7193 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7194 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7196 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7197 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7198 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7199 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7200 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7203 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7204 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7205 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7206 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7207 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7209 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7210 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7211 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7212 reader to use this setting.
7215 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7216 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7217 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7218 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7221 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7222 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7223 available functions that generate names:
7227 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7228 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7229 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7231 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7232 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7233 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7235 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7236 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7237 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7239 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7240 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7241 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7243 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7244 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7245 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7248 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7249 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7250 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7251 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7252 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7256 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7257 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7258 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7259 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7262 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7263 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7264 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7265 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7266 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7267 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7268 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7269 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7270 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7272 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7273 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7274 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7275 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7277 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7278 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7279 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7282 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7283 lots of mail groups called things like
7284 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7285 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7286 following will do just that:
7289 (defun my-save-name (group)
7290 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7291 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7293 (setq gnus-split-methods
7294 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7299 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7300 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7301 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7302 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7303 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7304 all the files in the top level directory
7305 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7306 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7307 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7308 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7310 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7311 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7312 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7313 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7314 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7317 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7321 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7322 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7323 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7326 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7327 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7328 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7329 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7332 @node Decoding Articles
7333 @section Decoding Articles
7334 @cindex decoding articles
7336 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7337 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7340 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7341 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7342 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7343 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7344 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7345 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7349 @cindex article series
7350 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7351 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7352 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7353 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7354 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7356 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7357 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7358 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7360 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7361 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7362 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7364 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7365 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7366 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7369 @node Uuencoded Articles
7370 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7372 @cindex uuencoded articles
7377 @kindex X u (Summary)
7378 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7379 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7380 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7383 @kindex X U (Summary)
7384 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7385 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7386 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7389 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7390 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7391 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7394 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7395 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7396 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7397 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7401 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7402 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7403 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7404 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7405 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7407 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7408 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7409 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7410 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7413 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7414 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7415 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7416 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7417 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7418 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7422 @node Shell Archives
7423 @subsection Shell Archives
7425 @cindex shell archives
7426 @cindex shared articles
7428 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7429 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7430 some commands to deal with these:
7435 @kindex X s (Summary)
7436 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7437 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7440 @kindex X S (Summary)
7441 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7442 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7445 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7446 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7447 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7450 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7451 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7452 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7453 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7457 @node PostScript Files
7458 @subsection PostScript Files
7464 @kindex X p (Summary)
7465 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7466 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7469 @kindex X P (Summary)
7470 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7471 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7472 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7475 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7476 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7477 View the current PostScript series
7478 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7481 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7482 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7483 View and save the current PostScript series
7484 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7489 @subsection Other Files
7493 @kindex X o (Summary)
7494 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7495 Save the current series
7496 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7499 @kindex X b (Summary)
7500 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7501 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7502 doesn't really work yet.
7506 @node Decoding Variables
7507 @subsection Decoding Variables
7509 Adjective, not verb.
7512 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7513 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7514 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7518 @node Rule Variables
7519 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7520 @cindex rule variables
7522 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7523 variables are of the form
7526 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7533 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7534 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7536 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7537 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7540 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7541 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7544 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7545 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7546 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7547 user and default view rules.
7549 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7550 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7551 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7556 @node Other Decode Variables
7557 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7560 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7562 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7563 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7564 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7565 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7566 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7570 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7571 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7574 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7575 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7576 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7579 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7580 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7581 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7582 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7583 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7586 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7587 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7588 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7590 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7591 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7592 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7593 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7594 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7597 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7598 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7599 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7601 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7602 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7603 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7604 looking for files to display.
7606 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7607 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7608 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7611 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7612 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7613 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7616 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7617 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7618 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7621 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7622 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7623 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7626 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7627 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7628 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7629 decoded articles as unread.
7631 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7632 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7633 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7634 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7636 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7637 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7638 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7640 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7641 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7643 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7644 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7645 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7646 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7648 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7649 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7650 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7651 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7652 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7653 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7654 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7655 simply dropped them.
7660 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7661 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7665 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7666 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7667 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7668 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7669 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7670 for you when you post the article.
7672 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7673 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7674 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7675 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7677 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7678 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7679 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7680 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7681 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7682 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7683 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7685 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7686 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7687 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7688 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7689 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7690 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7691 Default is @code{t}.
7697 @subsection Viewing Files
7698 @cindex viewing files
7699 @cindex pseudo-articles
7701 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7702 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7703 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7704 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7705 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7706 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7707 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7709 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7710 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7711 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7712 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7714 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7715 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7716 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7718 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7719 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7720 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7721 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7722 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7724 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7725 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7726 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7727 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7728 a list of parameters to that command.
7730 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7731 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7732 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7734 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7735 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7736 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7739 @node Article Treatment
7740 @section Article Treatment
7742 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7743 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7744 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7745 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7746 these articles easier.
7749 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7750 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7751 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7752 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7753 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7754 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7755 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7756 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7757 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7758 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7762 @node Article Highlighting
7763 @subsection Article Highlighting
7764 @cindex highlighting
7766 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7767 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7772 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7773 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7774 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7775 Do much highlighting of the current article
7776 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7777 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7780 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7781 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7782 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7783 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7784 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7785 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7786 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7787 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7788 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7789 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7790 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7791 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7794 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7795 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7796 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7798 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7801 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7803 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7804 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7805 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7807 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7808 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7809 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7811 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7812 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7813 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7814 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7815 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7816 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7818 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7819 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7820 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7822 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7823 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7824 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7826 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7827 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7828 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7829 that it's a citation.
7831 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7832 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7833 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7835 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7836 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7837 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7839 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7840 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7841 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7842 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7848 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7849 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7850 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7851 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7852 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7853 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7854 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7855 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7860 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7863 @node Article Fontisizing
7864 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7866 @cindex article emphasis
7868 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7869 @kindex W e (Summary)
7870 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7871 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7872 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7873 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7875 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7876 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7877 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7878 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7879 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7880 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7881 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7882 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7886 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7887 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7888 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7897 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7898 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7899 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7900 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7901 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7902 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7903 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7904 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7905 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7906 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7907 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7908 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7909 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7911 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7912 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7913 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7917 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7920 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7922 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7923 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7924 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7925 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7927 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7930 @node Article Hiding
7931 @subsection Article Hiding
7932 @cindex article hiding
7934 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7935 too much cruft in most articles.
7940 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7941 @findex gnus-article-hide
7942 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7943 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7944 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7947 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7948 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7949 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7953 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7954 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7955 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7956 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7959 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7960 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7961 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7965 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7966 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7967 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7968 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7969 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7970 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7971 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7972 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7976 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7977 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7978 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7979 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7984 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7985 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7986 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7987 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7988 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7989 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7990 articles that have signatures in them do:
7992 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7994 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7996 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7997 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7999 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
8002 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
8007 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8008 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8009 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8010 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8013 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8014 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8017 @cindex stripping advertisements
8018 @cindex advertisements
8019 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8020 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8021 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8022 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8023 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8024 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8025 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8026 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8027 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8028 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8032 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8033 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8034 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8035 customizing the hiding:
8039 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8040 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8041 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8042 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8043 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8044 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8045 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8050 Starting point of the hidden text.
8052 Ending point of the hidden text.
8054 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8056 Number of lines of hidden text.
8059 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8060 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8061 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8062 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8063 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8068 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8069 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8071 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8072 following two variables:
8075 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8076 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8077 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8078 50), hide the cited text.
8080 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8081 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8082 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8087 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8088 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8089 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8090 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8091 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8092 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8096 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8097 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8098 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8100 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8101 citation customization.
8103 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8107 @node Article Washing
8108 @subsection Article Washing
8110 @cindex article washing
8112 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8113 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8115 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8116 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8119 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8120 articles by default.
8125 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8126 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8130 @kindex W l (Summary)
8131 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8132 Remove page breaks from the current article
8133 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8137 @kindex W r (Summary)
8138 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8139 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8140 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8141 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8142 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8143 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8145 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8146 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8147 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8148 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8152 @kindex W t (Summary)
8154 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8155 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8156 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8159 @kindex W v (Summary)
8160 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8161 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8162 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8165 @kindex W o (Summary)
8166 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8167 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8170 @kindex W d (Summary)
8171 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8172 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8174 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8176 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8177 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8178 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8179 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8182 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8183 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8184 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8185 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8188 @kindex W k (Summary)
8189 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8190 @cindex Outlook Express
8191 Deuglify broken Outlook (Express) articles and redisplay
8192 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8195 @kindex W w (Summary)
8196 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8197 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8199 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8203 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8204 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8205 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8208 @kindex W C (Summary)
8209 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8210 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8211 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8214 @kindex W c (Summary)
8215 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8216 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8217 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8218 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8219 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8222 @kindex W q (Summary)
8223 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8224 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8225 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
8226 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
8227 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
8228 readable to me. Note that this is usually done automatically by
8229 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
8230 header that says that this encoding has been done.
8231 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8234 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8235 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8236 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8237 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8238 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8239 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8240 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8242 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8245 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8246 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8247 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8248 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8249 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8252 @kindex W u (Summary)
8253 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8254 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8255 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8256 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8257 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8260 @kindex W h (Summary)
8261 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8262 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8263 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8264 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8266 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8268 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8269 The default is to use the function specified by
8270 @code{mm-inline-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Customization, , , emacs-mime})
8271 to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by the
8272 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8280 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8284 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8287 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8290 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8295 @kindex W b (Summary)
8296 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8297 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8298 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8301 @kindex W B (Summary)
8302 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8303 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8304 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8307 @kindex W p (Summary)
8308 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8309 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8310 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8311 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8312 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8313 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8314 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8317 @kindex W s (Summary)
8318 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8319 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8320 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8323 @kindex W a (Summary)
8324 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8325 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8326 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8329 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8330 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8331 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8332 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8335 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8336 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8337 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8338 lines with a single empty line.
8339 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8342 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8343 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8344 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8345 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8348 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8349 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8350 Do all the three commands above
8351 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8354 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8355 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8356 Remove all blank lines
8357 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8360 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8361 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8362 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8363 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8366 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8367 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8368 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8369 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8373 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8376 @node Article Header
8377 @subsection Article Header
8379 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8384 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8385 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8386 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8389 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8390 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8391 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8392 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8395 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8396 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8397 Fold all the message headers
8398 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8402 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8403 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8404 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8409 @node Article Buttons
8410 @subsection Article Buttons
8413 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8414 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8415 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8416 button on these references.
8418 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8419 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
8420 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
8425 @item gnus-button-alist
8426 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8427 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8430 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8436 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
8437 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
8438 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a variable containing a
8439 regexp, useful variables to use include @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8442 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8443 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8444 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8447 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8448 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8449 avoid false matches.
8452 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8455 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8456 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8460 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8463 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8466 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8467 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8468 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8469 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8470 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8473 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8476 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8478 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8479 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8480 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8481 default values of the variables above.
8483 @item gnus-article-button-face
8484 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8485 Face used on buttons.
8487 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8488 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8489 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8493 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8497 @subsection Article Date
8499 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8500 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8501 when the article was sent.
8506 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8507 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8508 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8509 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8512 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8513 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8515 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8516 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8519 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8520 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8521 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8524 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8525 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8526 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8527 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8530 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8531 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8532 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8533 @findex format-time-string
8534 Display the date using a user-defined format
8535 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8536 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8537 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8538 for a list of possible format specs.
8541 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8542 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8543 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8544 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8545 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8546 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8549 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8552 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8553 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8556 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8557 into wonderful absurdities.
8559 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8562 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8565 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8566 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8570 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8571 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8572 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8573 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8574 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8575 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8576 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8580 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8581 preferred format automatically.
8584 @node Article Display
8585 @subsection Article Display
8590 These commands add various frivolous display gimmics to the article
8591 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8593 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8594 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8596 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8597 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8599 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8600 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8602 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8607 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8608 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8609 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8610 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8613 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8614 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8615 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8618 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8619 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8620 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8623 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8624 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8625 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8626 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8629 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8630 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8631 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8632 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8635 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8636 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8637 Remove all images from the article buffer
8638 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8644 @node Article Signature
8645 @subsection Article Signature
8647 @cindex article signature
8649 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8650 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8651 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8652 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8653 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8654 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8655 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8656 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8657 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8660 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8661 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8662 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8663 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8664 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8665 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8666 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8667 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8670 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8673 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8674 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8675 signature when displaying articles.
8679 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8682 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8685 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8686 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8688 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8689 in question is not a signature.
8692 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8693 listed above. Here's an example:
8696 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8697 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8700 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8701 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8702 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8703 signature after all.
8706 @node Article Miscellania
8707 @subsection Article Miscellania
8711 @kindex A t (Summary)
8712 @findex gnus-article-babel
8713 Translate the article from one language to another
8714 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8720 @section MIME Commands
8721 @cindex MIME decoding
8723 @cindex viewing attachments
8725 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8726 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8732 @kindex K v (Summary)
8733 View the @sc{mime} part.
8736 @kindex K o (Summary)
8737 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8740 @kindex K c (Summary)
8741 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8744 @kindex K e (Summary)
8745 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8748 @kindex K i (Summary)
8749 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8752 @kindex K | (Summary)
8753 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8756 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8761 @kindex K b (Summary)
8762 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8763 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8767 @kindex K m (Summary)
8768 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8769 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8770 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8771 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8772 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8775 @kindex X m (Summary)
8776 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8777 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8778 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8779 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8782 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8783 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8784 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8785 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8788 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8789 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8790 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8791 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8794 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8795 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
8796 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8797 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8799 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8800 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8801 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8802 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
8803 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
8804 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8807 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8808 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
8809 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8810 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8817 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8818 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8819 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8820 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8823 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8826 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8830 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8831 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8832 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8833 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8834 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8835 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8838 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8839 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8840 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8841 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8842 displayed. This variable overrides
8843 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8845 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8846 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8847 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} to the default value.
8849 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8850 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8851 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8852 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8853 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8854 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8855 save all jpegs into some directory).
8857 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8860 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8861 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8863 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8864 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8865 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8866 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8867 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8870 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8871 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8872 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8874 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8875 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8876 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8877 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8879 Ready-made functions include@*
8880 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8881 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8882 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8883 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8884 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8885 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8886 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8887 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8888 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8889 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8890 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8891 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8893 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8894 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8896 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8897 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8898 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
8901 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8902 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8903 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8904 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
8908 to your @file{.gnus} file.
8917 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8918 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8919 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8920 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8921 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8922 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8923 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8925 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8926 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8927 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
8928 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8930 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8931 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
8932 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8933 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8934 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
8935 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8936 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
8937 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
8939 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8940 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8941 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8942 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8943 quoted-printable header encoding.
8945 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8946 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8947 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8951 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8954 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8955 means encode all charsets),
8957 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8958 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8959 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8966 @cindex coding system aliases
8967 @cindex preferred charset
8969 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8971 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8972 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8975 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8976 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8979 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8980 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8982 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8985 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8988 This will almost do the right thing.
8990 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8994 (codepage-setup 1251)
8995 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8999 @node Article Commands
9000 @section Article Commands
9007 @kindex A P (Summary)
9008 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9009 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9010 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9011 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9012 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9013 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9018 @node Summary Sorting
9019 @section Summary Sorting
9020 @cindex summary sorting
9022 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9023 can't really see why you'd want that.
9028 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9029 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9030 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9033 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9034 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9035 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9038 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9039 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9040 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9043 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9044 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9045 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9048 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9049 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9050 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9053 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9054 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9055 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9058 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9059 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9060 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9063 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9064 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9065 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9068 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9069 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9070 Sort using the default sorting method
9071 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9074 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9075 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9076 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9077 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9078 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9082 @node Finding the Parent
9083 @section Finding the Parent
9084 @cindex parent articles
9085 @cindex referring articles
9090 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9091 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9092 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9093 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9094 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9095 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9096 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9097 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9098 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9100 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9101 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9102 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9103 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9104 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9108 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9109 @kindex A R (Summary)
9110 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9111 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9114 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9115 @kindex A T (Summary)
9116 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9117 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9118 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9119 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9120 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9121 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9122 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9124 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9125 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9126 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9127 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9128 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9129 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9132 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9133 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9135 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9136 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9137 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9138 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9139 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9140 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9141 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9144 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9145 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9146 by giving this command a prefix.
9148 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9149 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9150 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9151 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9152 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9153 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9156 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9157 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9158 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9161 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9162 then ask Google if that fails:
9165 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9167 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type google))))
9170 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9171 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9172 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9173 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9174 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9175 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9176 support this at all.
9179 @node Alternative Approaches
9180 @section Alternative Approaches
9182 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9183 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9186 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9187 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9192 @subsection Pick and Read
9193 @cindex pick and read
9195 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9196 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9197 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9198 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9200 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9201 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9202 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9203 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9204 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9205 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9207 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9212 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9213 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9214 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9215 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9216 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9217 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9218 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9219 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9222 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9223 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9224 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9225 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9229 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9230 Unpick the thread or article
9231 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9232 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9233 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9234 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9235 the thread or article at that line.
9239 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9240 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9241 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9242 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9243 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9244 will still be visible when you are reading.
9248 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9249 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9250 which is mapped to the same function
9251 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9253 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9256 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9259 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9260 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9262 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9263 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9264 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9266 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9267 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9268 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9269 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9270 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9271 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9272 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9276 @subsection Binary Groups
9277 @cindex binary groups
9279 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9280 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9281 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9282 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9283 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9284 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9285 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9288 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9289 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9290 command, when you have turned on this mode
9291 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9293 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9294 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9298 @section Tree Display
9301 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9302 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9303 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9304 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9307 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9310 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9311 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9312 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9314 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9315 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9316 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9317 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9318 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9320 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9321 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9322 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9323 default is @code{modeline}.
9325 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9326 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9327 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9328 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9329 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9330 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9331 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9337 The name of the poster.
9339 The @code{From} header.
9341 The number of the article.
9343 The opening bracket.
9345 The closing bracket.
9350 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9352 Variables related to the display are:
9355 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9356 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9357 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9358 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9359 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9360 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9362 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9363 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9364 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9365 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9369 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9370 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9371 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9372 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9373 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9374 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9375 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9376 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9377 other windows displayed next to it.
9379 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9383 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9384 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9387 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9388 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9389 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9390 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9391 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9392 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9393 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9397 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9400 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9410 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9414 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9415 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9417 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9419 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9424 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9425 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9426 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9429 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9430 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9431 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9432 (gnus-add-configuration
9436 (summary 0.75 point)
9441 @xref{Window Layout}.
9444 @node Mail Group Commands
9445 @section Mail Group Commands
9446 @cindex mail group commands
9448 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9449 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9451 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9452 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9457 @kindex B e (Summary)
9458 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9459 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9460 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9461 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9462 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9465 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9466 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9467 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9468 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9469 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9470 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9473 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9474 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9475 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9476 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9477 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9478 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9481 @kindex B m (Summary)
9483 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9484 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9485 Move the article from one mail group to another
9486 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9487 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9490 @kindex B c (Summary)
9492 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9493 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9494 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9495 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9496 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9499 @kindex B B (Summary)
9500 @cindex crosspost mail
9501 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9502 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9503 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9504 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9505 be properly updated.
9508 @kindex B i (Summary)
9509 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9510 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9511 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9512 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9515 @kindex B I (Summary)
9516 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9517 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9518 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9519 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9522 @kindex B r (Summary)
9523 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9524 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9525 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9526 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9527 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9528 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9529 (which is the default).
9533 @kindex B w (Summary)
9535 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9536 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9537 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9538 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9539 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9540 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9541 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9544 @kindex B q (Summary)
9545 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9546 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9547 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9548 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9551 @kindex B t (Summary)
9552 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9553 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9554 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9557 @kindex B p (Summary)
9558 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9559 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9560 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9561 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9562 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9563 article from your news server (or rather, from
9564 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9565 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9566 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9567 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9568 just not have arrived yet.
9571 @kindex K E (Summary)
9572 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9573 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9574 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9575 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9576 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9580 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9581 @cindex moving articles
9582 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
9583 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9584 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9585 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9586 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9587 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9588 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9591 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9592 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9593 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9594 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9598 @node Various Summary Stuff
9599 @section Various Summary Stuff
9602 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9603 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9604 * Summary Generation Commands::
9605 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9609 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9610 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9611 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9613 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9614 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9615 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9616 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9617 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9618 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9621 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9622 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9623 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9624 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9625 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9627 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9628 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9629 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9632 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9633 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9634 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9635 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9636 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9637 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9638 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
9639 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9640 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9641 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9643 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9644 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9645 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9646 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9647 list of articles to be selected.
9649 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9650 the list in one particular group:
9653 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9654 (if (string= group "some.group")
9655 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9659 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9660 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9661 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9662 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9663 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9664 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9665 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9666 buffers. For example:
9669 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9670 '(message-use-followup-to
9671 (gnus-visible-headers .
9672 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9678 @node Summary Group Information
9679 @subsection Summary Group Information
9684 @kindex H f (Summary)
9685 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9686 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9687 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9688 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9689 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9690 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9691 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9692 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9693 be used for fetching the file.
9696 @kindex H d (Summary)
9697 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9698 Give a brief description of the current group
9699 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9700 rereading the description from the server.
9703 @kindex H h (Summary)
9704 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9705 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9706 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9709 @kindex H i (Summary)
9710 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9711 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9715 @node Searching for Articles
9716 @subsection Searching for Articles
9721 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9722 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9723 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9724 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9727 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9728 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9729 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9730 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9734 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9735 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9736 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9737 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9738 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9739 search backward instead.
9741 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9742 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9745 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9746 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9747 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9748 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9751 @node Summary Generation Commands
9752 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9757 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9758 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9759 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9762 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9763 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9764 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9765 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9770 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9771 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9777 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9778 @kindex A D (Summary)
9779 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9780 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9781 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9782 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9783 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9784 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9785 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9786 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9790 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9791 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9792 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9793 several documents into one biiig group
9794 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9795 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9796 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9797 command understands the process/prefix convention
9798 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9801 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9802 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9803 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9804 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9805 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9806 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9810 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9811 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9812 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9815 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
9816 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9817 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9818 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9821 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
9822 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9823 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9824 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9829 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9830 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9831 @cindex summary exit
9832 @cindex exiting groups
9834 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9835 group and return you to the group buffer.
9841 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9843 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9844 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9845 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9846 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9847 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9848 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9849 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9850 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9851 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9852 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9853 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9857 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9859 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9860 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9861 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9865 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9867 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9868 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9869 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9870 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9873 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9874 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9875 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9876 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9879 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9880 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9881 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9882 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9885 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9886 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9887 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9888 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9889 all articles, both read and unread.
9893 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9894 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9895 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9896 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9897 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9898 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9899 articles, both read and unread.
9902 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9903 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9904 Exit the group and go to the next group
9905 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9908 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9909 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9910 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9911 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9914 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9915 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9916 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9917 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9918 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9919 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9922 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9923 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9924 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9925 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9927 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9928 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9929 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9930 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9931 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9932 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9933 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9934 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9935 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9936 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9937 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9938 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9940 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9942 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9943 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9944 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9945 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9946 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9947 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9948 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9949 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9950 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9953 @node Crosspost Handling
9954 @section Crosspost Handling
9958 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9959 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9960 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9961 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9962 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9963 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9966 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9967 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9968 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9969 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9970 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9972 @cindex cross-posting
9975 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9976 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9977 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9978 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9979 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9980 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9981 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9982 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9983 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9984 the cross reference mechanism.
9986 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9987 @cindex overview.fmt
9988 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9989 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9990 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9991 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9992 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9993 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9996 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9997 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9998 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10003 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10006 @node Duplicate Suppression
10007 @section Duplicate Suppression
10009 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10010 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10011 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10012 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10017 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10018 is evil and not very common.
10021 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10022 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10025 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10026 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10029 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10032 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10033 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10035 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10036 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10037 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10038 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10039 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10040 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10041 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10044 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10045 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10046 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10047 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10048 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10049 saw the article in.
10052 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10053 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10054 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10056 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10057 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10058 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10059 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10060 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10061 session are suppressed.
10063 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10064 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10065 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10066 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10068 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10069 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10070 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10071 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10074 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10075 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10076 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10077 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10078 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10079 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10080 to you to figure out, I think.
10085 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10086 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10087 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10091 To handle PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or gpg.el as
10092 well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG).
10095 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10096 or newer is recommended.
10100 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10101 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10104 @item mm-verify-option
10105 @vindex mm-verify-option
10106 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10107 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10108 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10110 @item mm-decrypt-option
10111 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10112 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10113 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10114 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10119 @section Mailing List
10121 @kindex A M (summary)
10122 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10123 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10124 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10125 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10126 summary buffer, or say:
10129 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
10132 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10137 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10138 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10139 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10142 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10143 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10144 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10147 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10148 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10149 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10153 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10154 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10155 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10158 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10159 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10160 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10163 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10164 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10165 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10169 @node Article Buffer
10170 @chapter Article Buffer
10171 @cindex article buffer
10173 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10174 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10175 tell Gnus otherwise.
10178 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10179 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10180 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10181 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10182 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10186 @node Hiding Headers
10187 @section Hiding Headers
10188 @cindex hiding headers
10189 @cindex deleting headers
10191 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10192 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10194 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10195 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10196 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10197 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10198 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10199 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10200 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10201 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10202 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10204 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10208 @item gnus-visible-headers
10209 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10210 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10211 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10212 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10214 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10215 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10218 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10221 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10224 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10225 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10226 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10227 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10228 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10229 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10231 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10232 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10235 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10238 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10241 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10242 variable will have no effect.
10246 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10247 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10248 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10249 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10250 the headers are to be displayed.
10252 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10253 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10256 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10259 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10260 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10262 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10263 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10264 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10265 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10266 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10267 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10268 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10271 These conditions are:
10274 Remove all empty headers.
10276 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10277 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10279 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10280 @code{From} header.
10282 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10285 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10286 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10288 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10291 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10293 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10296 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10299 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10300 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10303 This is also the default value for this variable.
10307 @section Using MIME
10310 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10311 while people stand around yawning.
10313 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10314 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10316 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10317 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10318 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10320 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10321 @findex gnus-display-mime
10322 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10323 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10324 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10325 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
10327 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10331 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10332 @item RET (Article)
10333 @kindex RET (Article)
10334 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10335 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
10336 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If builtin viewers can not display
10337 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
10338 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
10339 object is displayed inline.
10341 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10342 @item M-RET (Article)
10343 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10345 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10346 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10348 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10350 @kindex t (Article)
10351 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
10352 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10354 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10356 @kindex C (Article)
10357 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10358 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10360 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10362 @kindex o (Article)
10363 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
10364 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10366 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10367 @item C-o (Article)
10368 @kindex C-o (Article)
10369 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
10370 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10371 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10372 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
10373 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
10374 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10376 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10378 @kindex c (Article)
10379 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10380 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
10382 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10384 @kindex p (Article)
10385 Print the @sc{mime} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10386 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10387 @file{.mailcap} file.
10389 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10391 @kindex i (Article)
10392 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
10393 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10394 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10395 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10396 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
10399 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
10401 @kindex E (Article)
10402 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10403 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10404 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
10406 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
10408 @kindex e (Article)
10409 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
10410 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
10412 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
10414 @kindex | (Article)
10415 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
10417 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
10419 @kindex . (Article)
10420 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
10421 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
10425 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
10426 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
10429 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
10430 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
10431 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
10432 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
10433 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
10434 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
10435 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
10436 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
10437 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
10439 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10441 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10444 @node Customizing Articles
10445 @section Customizing Articles
10446 @cindex article customization
10448 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10449 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10450 called automatically when you select the articles.
10452 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10453 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10454 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10455 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10457 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10458 for sensible values.
10462 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10465 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10468 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10471 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10474 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10478 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10479 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10480 regexps in the list.
10483 A list where the first element is not a string:
10485 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10486 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10487 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10491 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10496 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10497 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10498 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10499 considered to contain just a single part.
10501 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10502 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10503 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10504 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10505 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10506 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10507 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10509 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10510 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10511 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10512 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10515 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10516 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10518 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10520 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10521 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10522 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10523 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10524 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10525 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10526 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10527 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10528 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10529 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10531 @xref{Article Washing}.
10533 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10534 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10535 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10536 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10537 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10538 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10539 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10541 @xref{Article Date}.
10543 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10544 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10545 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10549 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10551 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10553 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10554 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10555 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10559 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10563 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10564 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10565 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10566 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10567 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10568 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10569 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10570 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10572 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10574 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10575 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10576 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10578 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10580 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10581 @item gnus-treat-translate
10582 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10584 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10585 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10586 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10587 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10589 @xref{Article Header}.
10594 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10595 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10596 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10597 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10598 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10602 @node Article Keymap
10603 @section Article Keymap
10605 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10606 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10607 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10608 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10611 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10616 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10617 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10618 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10621 @kindex DEL (Article)
10622 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10623 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10626 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10627 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10628 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10629 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10630 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10633 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10634 @findex gnus-article-mail
10635 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10636 given a prefix, include the mail.
10639 @kindex s (Article)
10640 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10641 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10642 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10645 @kindex ? (Article)
10646 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10647 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10648 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10651 @kindex TAB (Article)
10652 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10653 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10654 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10657 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10658 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10659 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10662 @kindex R (Article)
10663 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10664 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10665 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10666 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10670 @kindex F (Article)
10671 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10672 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10673 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10674 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10682 @section Misc Article
10686 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10687 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10688 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10689 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10692 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10693 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10695 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10696 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10698 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10699 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10700 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10701 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10702 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10703 the contents of the article buffer.
10705 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10706 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10707 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10709 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10710 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10711 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10712 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10714 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10715 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10716 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10717 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10718 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10724 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10725 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10726 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10731 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10734 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10737 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10738 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10739 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10742 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10745 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10748 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10753 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10757 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10759 @item gnus-break-pages
10760 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10761 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10762 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10763 paging will not be done.
10765 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10766 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10767 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10772 @node Composing Messages
10773 @chapter Composing Messages
10774 @cindex composing messages
10777 @cindex sending mail
10782 @cindex using s/mime
10783 @cindex using smime
10785 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10786 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10787 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10788 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10789 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10790 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10793 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10794 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
10795 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10796 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10797 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10798 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10799 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10800 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10803 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10804 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10810 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10813 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10814 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10815 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10816 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
10818 @item gnus-add-to-list
10819 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10820 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10821 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10823 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10824 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10825 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus requests confirmation when replying to news.
10826 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
10827 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
10832 @node Posting Server
10833 @section Posting Server
10835 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10836 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10838 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10840 It can be quite complicated.
10842 @vindex gnus-post-method
10843 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
10844 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
10845 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
10846 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
10847 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
10848 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
10849 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
10850 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
10851 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10854 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10857 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10858 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10859 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10860 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10862 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10863 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10865 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10866 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10869 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10870 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10872 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
10873 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
10874 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
10875 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
10876 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
10877 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
10878 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
10879 package correctly. An example:
10882 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
10883 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
10886 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
10887 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
10888 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
10890 Other possible choises for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
10891 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
10892 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
10894 @node Mail and Post
10895 @section Mail and Post
10897 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
10901 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
10902 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
10903 @cindex mailing lists
10905 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
10906 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
10907 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
10908 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
10909 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
10910 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
10911 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
10912 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
10913 still a pain, though.
10917 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
10918 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
10919 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
10922 @findex ispell-message
10924 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
10927 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
10928 you're in, you could say something like the following:
10931 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
10935 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
10936 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
10938 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
10941 Modify to suit your needs.
10944 @node Archived Messages
10945 @section Archived Messages
10946 @cindex archived messages
10947 @cindex sent messages
10949 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
10950 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
10951 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
10952 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
10955 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
10956 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
10959 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
10960 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
10961 use to store sent messages. The default is:
10964 (nnfolder "archive"
10965 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
10966 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
10967 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
10968 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
10971 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
10972 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
10973 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
10974 directory chosen, you could say something like:
10977 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
10978 '(nnfolder "archive"
10979 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
10980 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
10981 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
10984 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
10986 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
10987 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
10988 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
10990 This variable can be used to do the following:
10995 Messages will be saved in that group.
10997 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
10998 message will not be stored in the select method given by
10999 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11000 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11001 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11002 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11003 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11004 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11008 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11010 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11011 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11014 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11019 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11021 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11024 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11026 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11029 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11031 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11032 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11033 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11034 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11037 More complex stuff:
11039 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11040 '((if (message-news-p)
11045 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11046 messages in one file per month:
11049 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11050 '((if (message-news-p)
11052 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11055 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11056 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11058 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11059 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11060 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11061 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11062 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11063 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11064 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11065 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11066 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11067 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11069 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11070 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11071 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11072 this will disable archiving.
11075 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11076 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11077 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11078 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11079 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11082 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11083 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11084 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11087 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11088 but the latter is the preferred method.
11090 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11091 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11092 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11094 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11095 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11096 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11097 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11098 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11099 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11100 changed in the future.
11105 @node Posting Styles
11106 @section Posting Styles
11107 @cindex posting styles
11110 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11112 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11113 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11114 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11117 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11118 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11119 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11120 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11121 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11126 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11127 (organization "What me?"))
11129 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11130 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11131 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11134 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11135 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11136 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11137 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11138 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11139 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11140 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11141 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11143 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11144 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11145 If it is the form @code{(header MATCH REGEXP)}, then Gnus will look in
11146 the original article for a header whose name is MATCH and compare that
11147 REGEXP. MATCH and REGEXP are strings. If it's a function symbol, that
11148 function will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol,
11149 then the variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list
11150 will be @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil}
11151 value, then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
11153 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11154 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11155 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11156 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11157 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11158 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11159 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11160 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11161 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11162 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11165 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11166 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11167 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11168 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11169 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11170 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11171 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11172 references chars lines xref extra.
11174 @vindex message-reply-headers
11176 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11177 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11178 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11180 @findex message-mail-p
11181 @findex message-news-p
11183 So here's a new example:
11186 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11188 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11190 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11191 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11193 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11194 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11195 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11196 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11197 (signature my-news-signature))
11198 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11199 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11200 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11201 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11202 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11203 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11204 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11205 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11206 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11207 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11209 (From (save-excursion
11210 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11211 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11213 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11216 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11217 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11218 if you fill many roles.
11225 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11226 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11227 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11228 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11229 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11231 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11232 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11233 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11234 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11235 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11239 @vindex nndraft-directory
11240 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11241 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11242 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11243 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11244 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11245 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11247 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11248 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11251 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11252 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11253 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11254 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11255 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11256 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11257 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11258 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11259 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11260 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11261 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11262 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11263 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11264 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11266 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11267 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11268 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11270 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11271 @kindex D e (Draft)
11272 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11273 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11274 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11276 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11279 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11280 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11281 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11282 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11283 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11284 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11285 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11288 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11289 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11290 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11293 @node Rejected Articles
11294 @section Rejected Articles
11295 @cindex rejected articles
11297 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11298 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11299 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11300 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11302 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11303 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11304 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11305 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11306 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11308 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11309 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11310 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11312 @node Signing and encrypting
11313 @section Signing and encrypting
11315 @cindex using s/mime
11316 @cindex using smime
11318 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11319 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11320 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11321 (@pxref{Security}).
11323 For PGP, Gnus supports two external libraries, @sc{gpg.el} and
11324 @sc{Mailcrypt}, you need to install at least one of them. The
11325 @sc{s/mime} support in Gnus requires the external program OpenSSL.
11327 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11328 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11329 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11330 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11331 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11332 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11333 automatically encrypted messages.
11335 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11336 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11337 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11342 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11343 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11345 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11348 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11349 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11351 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11354 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11355 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11357 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11360 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11361 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11363 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11366 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11367 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11369 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11372 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11373 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11375 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11378 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11379 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11380 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11384 Also @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}.
11386 @node Select Methods
11387 @chapter Select Methods
11388 @cindex foreign groups
11389 @cindex select methods
11391 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11392 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11393 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11394 personal mail group.
11396 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11397 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11398 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11399 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11400 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11401 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11403 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11404 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11406 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11409 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11410 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11411 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11412 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11413 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11415 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11418 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11419 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11420 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11421 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11422 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11423 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11424 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11425 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11429 @node Server Buffer
11430 @section Server Buffer
11432 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11433 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11434 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11435 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11436 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11437 back end represents a virtual server.
11439 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11440 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11441 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11442 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11444 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11445 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11446 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11447 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11448 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11449 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11450 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11452 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11453 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11456 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11457 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11458 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11459 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11460 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11461 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11462 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11465 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11466 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11469 @node Server Buffer Format
11470 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11471 @cindex server buffer format
11473 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11474 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11475 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11476 variable, with some simple extensions:
11481 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11484 The name of this server.
11487 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11490 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11493 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11494 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11495 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11496 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11506 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11509 @node Server Commands
11510 @subsection Server Commands
11511 @cindex server commands
11517 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11518 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11522 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11523 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11526 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11527 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11528 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11532 @findex gnus-server-exit
11533 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11537 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11538 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11542 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11543 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11547 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11548 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11552 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11553 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11557 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11558 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11559 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11564 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11565 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11566 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11567 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11572 @node Example Methods
11573 @subsection Example Methods
11575 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11578 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11581 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11587 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11588 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11591 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11592 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11594 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11595 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11599 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11602 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11603 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11605 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11606 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11607 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11611 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11614 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11617 Here's the method for a public spool:
11621 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11622 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11628 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11629 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11630 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11631 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11632 should probably look something like this:
11636 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11637 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11638 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11639 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11642 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11643 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11644 configuration to the example above:
11647 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11650 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11652 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11653 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11654 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11658 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11659 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11660 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11661 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11664 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11665 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11666 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11667 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11670 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11671 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11673 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11674 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11676 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11677 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11678 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11680 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11682 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11683 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11684 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11685 will contain the following:
11695 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11696 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11697 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11700 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11701 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11702 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11705 @node Server Variables
11706 @subsection Server Variables
11708 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11709 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11710 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11711 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11712 won't change the "derived" variables.
11714 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11715 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11716 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11717 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11718 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11719 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11720 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11721 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11722 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11726 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11727 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11728 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11732 @node Servers and Methods
11733 @subsection Servers and Methods
11735 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11736 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11737 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11738 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11742 @node Unavailable Servers
11743 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11745 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11746 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11747 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11748 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11749 actually the case or not.
11751 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11752 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11753 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11754 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11755 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11756 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11757 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11758 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11760 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11761 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11763 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11764 with the following commands:
11770 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11771 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11772 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11776 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11777 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11778 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11782 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11783 Mark the current server as unreachable
11784 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11787 @kindex M-o (Server)
11788 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11789 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11790 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11793 @kindex M-c (Server)
11794 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11795 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11796 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11800 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11801 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11802 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11806 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
11807 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
11813 @section Getting News
11814 @cindex reading news
11815 @cindex news back ends
11817 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11818 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11819 or it can read from a local spool.
11822 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11823 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11831 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11832 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11833 server as the, uhm, address.
11835 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11836 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11837 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11838 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11840 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11841 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11842 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11844 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11849 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11850 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11851 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11853 @cindex authentification
11854 @cindex nntp authentification
11855 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11856 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11857 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11858 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11859 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11860 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11861 present in this hook.
11863 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11864 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11865 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11866 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11867 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11868 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11869 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11870 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11871 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11872 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11873 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11874 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11878 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11881 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11883 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11884 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11885 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11886 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11887 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11888 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
11889 @samp{force} is explained below.
11893 Here's an example file:
11896 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
11897 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
11900 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
11901 have to be first, for instance.
11903 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
11904 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
11905 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
11906 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
11907 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
11908 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
11909 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
11911 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
11912 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
11918 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
11919 previously mentioned.
11921 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
11923 @item nntp-server-action-alist
11924 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
11925 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
11926 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
11927 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
11930 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
11931 '(("innd" (ding))))
11934 You probably don't want to do that, though.
11936 The default value is
11939 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
11940 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
11941 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
11944 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
11945 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
11947 @item nntp-maximum-request
11948 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
11949 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
11950 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
11951 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
11952 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
11953 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
11954 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
11956 @item nntp-connection-timeout
11957 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
11958 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
11959 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
11960 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
11961 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
11962 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
11963 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
11964 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
11965 no timeouts are done.
11967 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
11968 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
11969 @c @cindex PPP connections
11970 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
11971 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
11972 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
11973 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
11974 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
11975 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
11976 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
11977 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
11978 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
11979 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
11981 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
11982 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
11983 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
11984 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
11985 @c described above.
11987 @item nntp-server-hook
11988 @vindex nntp-server-hook
11989 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
11992 @item nntp-buggy-select
11993 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
11994 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
11996 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
11997 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
11998 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
11999 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12002 @item nntp-xover-commands
12003 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12006 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12007 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12011 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12012 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12013 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12014 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12015 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12016 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12017 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12018 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12019 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12020 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12021 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12023 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12024 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12025 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12027 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12028 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12029 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12030 server closes connection.
12032 @item nntp-record-commands
12033 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12034 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12035 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12036 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12037 that doesn't seem to work.
12039 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12040 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12041 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12042 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12043 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12044 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12045 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12046 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12048 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12049 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12050 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12051 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12052 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12053 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12054 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12057 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12060 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12061 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12065 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12066 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12067 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12071 @node Direct Functions
12072 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12073 @cindex direct connection functions
12075 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12076 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12077 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12078 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12081 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12082 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12083 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12086 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12087 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12088 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12089 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12090 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
12091 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
12092 define a server as follows:
12095 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12097 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12099 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12100 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12101 (nntp-port-number "snews")
12102 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12105 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12106 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12107 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12108 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12109 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12110 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12111 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12112 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12116 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12117 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12118 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12121 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12122 session, which is not a good idea.
12126 @node Indirect Functions
12127 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12128 @cindex indirect connection functions
12130 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12131 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12132 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12133 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
12134 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12135 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12138 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12139 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12140 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12141 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12142 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12144 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12147 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12148 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12149 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12150 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12152 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12153 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12154 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12155 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12156 @samp{ssh} for `nntp-via-rlogin-command', you may set this to
12157 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12158 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12159 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12162 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12163 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12164 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12165 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12167 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12170 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12171 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12172 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12175 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12176 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12177 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12178 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12180 @item nntp-via-user-password
12181 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12182 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12184 @item nntp-via-envuser
12185 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12186 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12187 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12188 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12190 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12191 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12192 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12193 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12200 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12205 @item nntp-via-user-name
12206 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12207 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12209 @item nntp-via-address
12210 @vindex nntp-via-address
12211 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12216 @node Common Variables
12217 @subsubsection Common Variables
12219 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12220 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12225 @item nntp-pre-command
12226 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12227 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12228 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12229 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12230 wrapper for instance.
12233 @vindex nntp-address
12234 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12236 @item nntp-port-number
12237 @vindex nntp-port-number
12238 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12240 @item nntp-end-of-line
12241 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12242 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12243 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12244 using a non native connection function.
12246 @item nntp-telnet-command
12247 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12248 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12249 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12250 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12252 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12253 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12254 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12261 @subsection News Spool
12265 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12266 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12267 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12270 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12271 anything else) as the address.
12273 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12274 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12275 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12276 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12280 @item nnspool-inews-program
12281 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12282 Program used to post an article.
12284 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12285 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12286 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12288 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12289 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12290 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12291 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12293 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12294 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12295 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12296 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12298 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12299 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12300 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12302 @item nnspool-active-file
12303 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12304 The path to the active file.
12306 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12307 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12308 The path to the group descriptions file.
12310 @item nnspool-history-file
12311 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12312 The path to the news history file.
12314 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12315 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12316 The path to the active date file.
12318 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12319 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12320 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12323 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12324 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12326 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12327 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12328 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12334 @section Getting Mail
12335 @cindex reading mail
12338 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12342 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12343 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12344 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12345 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12346 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12347 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12348 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12349 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12350 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12351 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12352 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12353 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12354 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12358 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12359 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12361 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12362 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12363 of a culture shock.
12365 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12366 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12368 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12369 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12370 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12371 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12373 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12375 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12376 deleted? How awful!
12378 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12379 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12380 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12381 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12384 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12385 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12386 they want to treat a message.
12388 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12389 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12390 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12391 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12392 archived somewhere else.
12394 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12395 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12396 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12397 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12398 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12400 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12401 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12402 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12404 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12405 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12408 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12409 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12410 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12411 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12412 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12414 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12415 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12416 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12417 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12418 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12419 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12423 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12424 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12426 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12427 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12428 and things will happen automatically.
12430 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
12431 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
12434 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12437 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12438 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12439 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12440 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12441 like any other group.
12443 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12446 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12447 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12448 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12452 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12453 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12454 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12457 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12458 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12459 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12462 @node Splitting Mail
12463 @subsection Splitting Mail
12464 @cindex splitting mail
12465 @cindex mail splitting
12467 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12468 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12469 to be split into groups.
12472 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12473 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12474 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12475 ("mail.other" "")))
12478 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12479 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12480 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12481 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12482 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12483 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12484 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12487 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12490 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12491 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12492 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12493 mail belongs in that group.
12495 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12496 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
12497 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12498 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12499 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
12500 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
12502 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12503 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12504 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12505 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12506 thinks should carry this mail message.
12508 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12509 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12510 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12511 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12513 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12514 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12515 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12516 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12517 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12519 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12522 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12523 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12524 links. If that's the case for you, set
12525 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12526 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12528 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12529 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12530 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12531 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12532 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12533 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12536 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12537 Header lines longer than the value of
12538 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12541 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12542 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12543 By default the splitting codes MIME decodes headers so you can match
12544 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12545 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12546 can be turned off completely by binding
12547 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12548 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12550 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12551 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12552 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12553 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12554 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12555 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12556 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12557 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12558 month's rent money.
12562 @subsection Mail Sources
12564 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12565 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12569 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12570 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12571 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12575 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12576 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12578 @cindex mail server
12581 @cindex mail source
12583 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12584 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12589 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12592 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12593 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12594 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12597 The following mail source types are available:
12601 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12607 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12608 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12609 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12612 An example file mail source:
12615 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12618 Or using the default path:
12624 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12625 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12626 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12629 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12633 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12636 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12640 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12643 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12645 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12648 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12652 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
12653 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
12654 That is, mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in the
12655 group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12656 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12657 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus
12658 to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you
12659 want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12661 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12662 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12663 to all the files from the directory.
12669 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12673 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12677 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12678 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12679 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12680 predicate are considered.
12684 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12688 An example directory mail source:
12691 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12696 Get mail from a POP server.
12702 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12703 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12706 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12707 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12708 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12709 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12710 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12713 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12717 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12721 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12722 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12725 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12728 The valid format specifier characters are:
12732 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12733 included in this string.
12736 The name of the server.
12739 The port number of the server.
12742 The user name to use.
12745 The password to use.
12748 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12749 corresponding keywords.
12752 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12753 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12756 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12757 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12760 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12761 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12764 @item :authentication
12765 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12766 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12771 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12772 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12774 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12775 default user name, and default fetcher:
12781 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12784 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12785 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12788 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12791 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12795 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12796 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12797 contains exactly one mail.
12803 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12804 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12807 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12808 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12810 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12811 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12812 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12815 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12816 from locking problems).
12820 Two example maildir mail sources:
12823 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12824 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12828 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12833 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12834 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12835 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12836 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12839 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12840 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12846 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12847 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12850 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12851 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12854 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12858 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12862 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12863 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12864 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12865 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12867 @item :authentication
12868 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12869 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12870 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12871 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
12874 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
12875 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
12876 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
12882 The valid format specifier characters are:
12886 The name of the server.
12889 User name from `imap-default-user'.
12892 The port number of the server.
12895 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12896 corresponding keywords.
12899 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
12900 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
12903 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
12904 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
12905 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
12906 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
12907 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
12908 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
12911 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
12912 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
12913 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
12914 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
12917 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
12918 after finishing the fetch.
12922 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
12925 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
12927 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
12931 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
12932 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
12933 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
12935 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
12936 required for url "4.0pre.46".
12938 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
12944 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
12945 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
12948 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
12952 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
12956 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
12957 folder after finishing the fetch.
12961 An example webmail source:
12964 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
12966 :password "secret")
12971 @item Common Keywords
12972 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
12978 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
12979 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
12983 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
12988 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
12989 useful when you use local mail and news.
12994 @subsubsection Function Interface
12996 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
12997 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
12998 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
12999 consider the following mail-source setting:
13002 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13003 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13006 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13007 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13008 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13009 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13010 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13012 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13015 @node Mail Source Customization
13016 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13018 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13019 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13023 @item mail-source-crash-box
13024 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13025 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13026 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13028 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13029 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13030 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
13032 @item mail-source-directory
13033 @vindex mail-source-directory
13034 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13035 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13036 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13039 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13040 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13041 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13042 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13043 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13044 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13046 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13047 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13048 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13050 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13051 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13052 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13053 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13058 @node Fetching Mail
13059 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13061 @vindex mail-sources
13062 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13063 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13064 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13065 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13067 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13068 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13071 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13072 mail server, you'd say something like:
13077 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13078 :password "secret")))
13081 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13085 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13086 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13089 :password "secret")))
13093 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13094 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13095 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13096 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13097 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13098 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13102 @node Mail Back End Variables
13103 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13105 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13109 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13110 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13111 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13112 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13114 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13115 @item nnmail-split-hook
13116 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
13117 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13118 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13119 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13120 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13121 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13122 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13123 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13124 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13127 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13128 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13129 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13130 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13131 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13132 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13133 starting to handle the new mail) and
13134 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13135 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13136 default file modes the new mail files get:
13139 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13140 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13142 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13143 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13146 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13147 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13148 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13149 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13150 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13151 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13152 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13154 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13155 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13156 @findex delete-file
13157 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13159 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13160 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13161 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13162 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13163 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13165 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13166 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13167 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13168 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13169 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13171 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13172 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13173 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13178 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13179 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13180 @cindex mail splitting
13181 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13183 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13184 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13185 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13186 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13187 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13188 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13190 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13193 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13194 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13195 ;; from real errors.
13196 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13198 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13199 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13200 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13201 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13202 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13203 ;; Other mailing lists...
13204 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13205 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13206 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13207 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13208 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13209 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13210 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13211 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13213 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13214 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13218 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13219 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13220 the five possible split syntaxes:
13225 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13226 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13230 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13231 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13232 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13233 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13234 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13235 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13236 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13237 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13240 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13241 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13242 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13243 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13246 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13247 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13250 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13251 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13254 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13255 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13256 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13257 function should return a @var{split}.
13260 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13261 body of the messages:
13264 (defun split-on-body ()
13266 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13267 (goto-char (point-min))
13268 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13272 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13273 when the @code{:} function is run.
13276 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13277 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
13278 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
13282 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13286 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13287 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13288 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13289 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13290 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13292 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13293 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13294 are expanded as specified by the variable
13295 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13296 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13299 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13300 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13301 when all this splitting is performed.
13303 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13304 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13305 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13308 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13311 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13312 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13314 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13315 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13316 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13317 groupings 1 through 9.
13319 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13320 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13321 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13322 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13323 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13324 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13325 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13326 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13327 it once per thread.
13329 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13330 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13331 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13334 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13335 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13337 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13338 ;; other splits go here
13342 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13343 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13344 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13345 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13346 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13347 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13348 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13349 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13350 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13351 unless the group name matches the regexp
13352 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13353 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13354 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13355 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13356 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13357 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13358 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13359 messages goes into the new group.
13361 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13362 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13363 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13364 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13365 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13369 @node Group Mail Splitting
13370 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13371 @cindex mail splitting
13372 @cindex group mail splitting
13374 @findex gnus-group-split
13375 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13376 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13377 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13378 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13379 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13380 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13381 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13382 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13384 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13385 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13386 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13387 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13389 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13390 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13391 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13392 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13393 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13394 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13395 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13397 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13398 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13399 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13400 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13401 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13402 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13403 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13405 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13406 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13407 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13408 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13409 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13410 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13411 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13412 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13413 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13414 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13415 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13416 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13417 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13419 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13424 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13425 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13427 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13428 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13429 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13430 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13432 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13435 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13436 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13437 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13440 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13441 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13442 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13446 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13447 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13448 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13452 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13455 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13456 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13457 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13458 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13459 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13460 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13461 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13462 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13463 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13465 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13466 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13467 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13468 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13469 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13470 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13471 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13472 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13473 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13475 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13476 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13477 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13478 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13479 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13480 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
13483 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13486 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13487 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13488 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13489 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13490 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13493 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13494 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13495 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13496 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13498 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13499 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13500 @cindex incorporating old mail
13501 @cindex import old mail
13503 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13504 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13505 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13508 Doing so can be quite easy.
13510 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13511 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13512 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13513 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13514 your @code{nnml} groups.
13520 Go to the group buffer.
13523 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13524 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13527 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
13530 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13531 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13534 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13535 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13538 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13539 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13540 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13541 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13542 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13544 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13545 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13546 using the new mail back end.
13549 @node Expiring Mail
13550 @subsection Expiring Mail
13551 @cindex article expiry
13553 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13554 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13555 different approach to mail reading.
13557 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13558 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13559 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13560 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13561 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13562 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13565 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13566 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
13567 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13568 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13569 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13570 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13571 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13572 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13574 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13575 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
13576 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
13577 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
13578 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
13579 column in the summary buffer.
13581 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13582 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13583 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13584 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13587 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13589 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13590 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13591 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13594 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13595 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13596 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13597 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13598 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13600 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13601 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13604 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13605 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13608 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13609 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13611 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13612 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13613 don't really mix very well.
13615 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13616 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13617 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13618 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13621 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13622 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13623 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13624 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13627 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13629 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13631 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13633 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13635 ((string= group "important")
13641 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13642 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13644 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13645 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13646 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13649 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13650 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13652 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13653 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13654 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13655 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13656 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13657 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13658 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13659 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13660 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13661 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13662 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13663 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13664 name or @code{delete}.
13666 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13668 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13671 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13672 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13673 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13674 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13675 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13678 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13679 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13680 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13681 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13682 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13685 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13686 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13687 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13688 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13689 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13690 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13692 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13693 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13694 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13695 easier for procmail users.
13697 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13698 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13699 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13700 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13701 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13702 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13703 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13704 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13705 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13706 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13707 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13708 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13709 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13712 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13714 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13715 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13716 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13717 auto-expire turned on.
13721 @subsection Washing Mail
13722 @cindex mail washing
13723 @cindex list server brain damage
13724 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13726 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13727 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13728 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
13729 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
13730 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
13731 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
13733 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
13734 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
13735 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13738 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13739 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13740 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13741 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13744 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13745 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13746 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13747 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13748 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13751 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13752 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13753 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13754 Emacs running on MS machines.
13758 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13759 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13760 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13761 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13764 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13765 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13766 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13767 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13769 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
13770 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
13771 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
13772 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
13773 into a feature by documenting it.)
13775 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13776 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13777 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13778 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13779 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13780 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13781 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13784 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13785 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13788 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13789 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13792 This can also be done non-destructively with
13793 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13795 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13796 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13797 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13799 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13800 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13802 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13803 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13804 @code{References} headers.
13808 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13809 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13810 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13814 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13815 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13816 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13823 @subsection Duplicates
13825 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13826 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13827 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13828 @cindex duplicate mails
13829 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13830 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13831 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13832 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13833 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13834 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13835 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13836 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13837 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13838 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13839 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13840 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13841 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13843 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13844 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13845 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13846 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
13848 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
13851 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
13852 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
13856 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
13857 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
13858 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
13859 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
13860 (any mail "mail.misc")
13867 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13868 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
13873 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
13874 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
13875 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
13876 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
13877 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
13880 @node Not Reading Mail
13881 @subsection Not Reading Mail
13883 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
13884 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
13885 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
13887 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
13888 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
13889 mail, which should help.
13891 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13892 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13893 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13894 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13895 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13896 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
13897 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
13898 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
13899 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
13900 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
13901 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
13903 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
13904 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
13908 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
13909 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
13911 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
13912 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
13913 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
13915 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
13916 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
13917 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
13918 Spool}). You might notice that only five back ends are listed below;
13919 @code{nnmaildir}'s documentation has not yet been completely
13920 incorporated into this manual. Until it is, you can find it at
13921 @uref{http://multivac.cwru.edu./nnmaildir/}.
13924 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
13925 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
13926 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
13927 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
13928 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
13929 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
13933 @node Unix Mail Box
13934 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
13936 @cindex unix mail box
13938 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13939 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13940 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
13941 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
13942 which group it belongs in.
13944 Virtual server settings:
13947 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
13948 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13949 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
13952 @item nnmbox-active-file
13953 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13954 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
13955 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
13957 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
13958 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13959 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
13960 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
13965 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
13969 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13970 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13971 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
13972 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
13973 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
13975 Virtual server settings:
13978 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
13979 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13980 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
13982 @item nnbabyl-active-file
13983 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13984 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
13985 @file{~/.rmail-active}
13987 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13988 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13989 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
13995 @subsubsection Mail Spool
13997 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
13999 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14000 format. It should be used with some caution.
14002 @vindex nnml-directory
14003 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14004 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14005 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14006 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14008 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14011 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14012 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14013 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14014 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14015 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14016 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14017 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14018 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14020 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14021 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14022 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14023 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14025 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14027 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14028 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14029 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14030 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14031 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14032 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14033 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14034 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14037 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14038 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14039 them next time it starts.
14041 Virtual server settings:
14044 @item nnml-directory
14045 @vindex nnml-directory
14046 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
14047 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
14050 @item nnml-active-file
14051 @vindex nnml-active-file
14052 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14053 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
14055 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14056 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14057 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14058 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
14060 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14061 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14062 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14065 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14066 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14067 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14068 default is @code{nil}.
14070 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14071 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14072 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14074 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14075 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14076 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14078 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14079 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14080 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14081 default is @code{nil}.
14083 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14084 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14085 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14087 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14088 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14089 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14094 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14095 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14096 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14097 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14098 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14099 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14100 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14105 @subsubsection MH Spool
14107 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14109 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14110 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14111 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14112 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14114 Virtual server settings:
14117 @item nnmh-directory
14118 @vindex nnmh-directory
14119 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14120 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14123 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14124 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14125 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14129 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14130 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14131 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14132 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14133 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14134 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14135 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14140 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14142 @cindex mbox folders
14143 @cindex mail folders
14145 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14146 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14147 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14150 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14152 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14153 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14154 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14155 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14156 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14157 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14158 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14159 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14160 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14161 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14163 Virtual server settings:
14166 @item nnfolder-directory
14167 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14168 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14169 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14172 @item nnfolder-active-file
14173 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14174 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14176 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14177 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14178 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14179 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
14181 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14182 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14183 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14186 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14187 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14188 @cindex backup files
14189 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14190 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14191 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14192 your @file{.emacs} file:
14195 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14196 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14198 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14201 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14202 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14203 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14204 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14205 extract some information from it before removing it.
14207 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14208 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14209 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14210 default is @code{nil}.
14212 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14213 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14214 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14216 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14217 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14218 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14219 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14221 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14222 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14223 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14224 default is @code{nil}.
14226 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14227 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14228 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14230 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14231 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14232 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14233 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14238 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14239 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14240 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14241 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14242 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14243 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14246 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14247 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14249 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14250 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14251 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14252 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14253 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14255 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14256 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14257 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14258 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14259 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14260 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14261 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14262 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14265 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14266 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14267 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14268 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14273 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14274 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14275 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14276 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14277 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14278 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14279 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14280 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14281 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14282 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14283 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14284 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14285 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14290 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14291 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14292 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14293 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14294 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14295 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14296 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14297 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14298 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14299 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14300 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14301 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14302 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14303 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14305 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14306 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14311 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14312 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14313 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14314 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14315 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14316 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14317 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14318 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14319 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14320 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14321 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14322 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14323 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14324 provided by the active file and overviews.
14326 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14327 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
14328 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14329 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14330 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14333 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14334 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14339 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14340 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14341 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14342 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14343 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14344 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14345 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14349 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14350 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14351 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14352 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14353 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14354 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14355 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14356 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14357 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14359 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14360 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
14361 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
14362 friendly mail back end all over.
14366 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
14367 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
14368 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
14369 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
14370 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
14371 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
14372 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
14373 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
14376 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
14377 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
14378 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
14379 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
14380 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
14381 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
14382 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
14383 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
14384 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
14385 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will undergo
14386 treatment such as duplicate checking.
14388 An article will not necessarily keep the same number across Gnus
14389 sessions; articles are renumbered starting from 1 for each Gnus session
14390 (more precisely, each time you open the @code{nnmaildir} server). This
14391 way, you don't get gaps in your article number ranges, and when entering
14392 large groups, Gnus is likely to give a more accurate article count. The
14393 price is that @code{nnmaildir} doesn't work with the cache or agent.
14394 This will probably be changed in the future.
14396 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
14397 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
14398 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
14399 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
14400 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
14403 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
14404 parameters slightly different from those of other mail backends.
14406 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
14407 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
14408 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
14409 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
14410 parameter to somthing small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
14411 would) to make it use less memory.
14413 Startup and shutdown are likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than
14414 with other backends. Everything in between is likely to be faster,
14415 depending in part on your filesystem.
14417 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
14418 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived backend.
14423 @node Browsing the Web
14424 @section Browsing the Web
14426 @cindex browsing the web
14430 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
14431 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
14432 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
14433 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
14434 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
14435 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
14436 even know what a news group is.
14438 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14439 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14440 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14441 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14442 you mad in the end.
14444 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14447 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14448 interfaces to these sources.
14452 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14453 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14454 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14455 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14456 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14457 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14460 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14462 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14463 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14464 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14465 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14466 though, you should be ok.
14468 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14469 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14470 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14471 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14472 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14474 @node Archiving Mail
14475 @subsection Archiving Mail
14476 @cindex archiving mail
14477 @cindex backup of mail
14479 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
14480 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
14481 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
14482 marks is fairly simple.
14484 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14485 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
14488 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
14489 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
14490 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
14491 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
14492 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
14493 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
14494 might interfer with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
14495 before you restore the data.
14497 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
14498 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
14499 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
14500 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
14501 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
14502 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
14503 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
14504 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
14505 is unnecessary in that case.
14508 @subsection Web Searches
14513 @cindex Usenet searches
14514 @cindex searching the Usenet
14516 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14517 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14518 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14519 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14520 searches without having to use a browser.
14522 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14523 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14524 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14525 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14526 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14528 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14529 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14530 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14531 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14532 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14533 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14534 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14535 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14536 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14537 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14540 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14541 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14542 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14543 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14544 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14545 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14547 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14548 to use @code{nnweb}.
14550 Virtual server variables:
14555 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14556 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
14557 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
14560 @vindex nnweb-search
14561 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14563 @item nnweb-max-hits
14564 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14565 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14568 @item nnweb-type-definition
14569 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14570 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14571 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14576 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14580 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14583 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14586 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14590 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14597 @subsection Slashdot
14601 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14602 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14603 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14605 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14606 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14609 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14610 '((nnslashdot "")))
14613 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14614 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14615 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14616 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14617 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14620 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14621 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14623 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14624 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14625 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14626 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14627 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14628 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14631 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14634 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14635 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14636 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14637 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14638 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14639 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14640 but much, much slower than untreaded.
14642 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14643 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14644 The login name to use when posting.
14646 @item nnslashdot-password
14647 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14648 The password to use when posting.
14650 @item nnslashdot-directory
14651 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14652 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14653 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14655 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14656 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14657 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14658 news articles and comments. The default is
14659 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14661 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14662 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14663 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14665 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14667 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14668 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14669 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14671 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14673 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14674 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14675 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14677 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14678 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14679 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14680 updated. The default is 0.
14687 @subsection Ultimate
14689 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14691 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14692 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14693 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14694 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14696 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14697 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14698 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14699 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14700 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14701 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14702 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14704 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14707 @item nnultimate-directory
14708 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14709 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14710 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
14715 @subsection Web Archive
14717 @cindex Web Archive
14719 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
14720 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
14721 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
14722 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14725 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
14726 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
14727 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
14728 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
14729 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
14730 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
14731 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
14733 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
14736 @item nnwarchive-directory
14737 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
14738 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
14739 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
14741 @item nnwarchive-login
14742 @vindex nnwarchive-login
14743 The account name on the web server.
14745 @item nnwarchive-passwd
14746 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
14747 The password for your account on the web server.
14755 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
14756 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
14757 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14760 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
14761 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
14764 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
14767 @item nnrss-directory
14768 @vindex nnrss-directory
14769 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
14770 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
14774 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
14775 the summary buffer.
14778 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
14779 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
14781 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
14783 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
14784 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
14787 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
14790 (require 'browse-url)
14792 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
14794 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
14797 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
14798 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
14800 (browse-url (cdr url))
14801 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
14803 (eval-after-load "gnus"
14804 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
14805 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
14806 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
14809 @node Customizing w3
14810 @subsection Customizing w3
14816 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14817 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14818 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14820 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14821 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14822 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14825 (eval-after-load "w3"
14827 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14828 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14829 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14830 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14832 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14835 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14836 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14845 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14846 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14847 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14848 specify the network address of the server.
14850 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14851 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14852 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14853 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
14854 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
14856 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
14857 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
14858 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
14859 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
14861 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14862 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
14863 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14864 usage explained in this section.
14866 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14867 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
14868 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
14871 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14872 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14873 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14875 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14876 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14877 ; a UW server running on localhost
14879 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14880 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14881 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14882 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14883 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14884 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14885 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14886 (nnimap-stream network))
14887 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14889 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14890 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14891 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14894 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14899 @item nnimap-address
14900 @vindex nnimap-address
14902 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14903 server name if not specified.
14905 @item nnimap-server-port
14906 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14907 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14909 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
14912 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14913 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14916 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14917 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14918 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14919 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14920 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14921 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14922 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14924 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14925 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14926 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14929 Example server specification:
14932 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14933 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14934 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14937 @item nnimap-stream
14938 @vindex nnimap-stream
14939 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14940 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14941 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
14942 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
14944 Example server specification:
14947 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14948 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14951 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14955 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
14956 @samp{imtest} program.
14958 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
14960 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14961 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14964 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
14965 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
14966 library @samp{ssl.el}.
14968 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14970 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14973 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14974 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
14975 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
14976 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
14977 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
14978 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
14979 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
14980 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
14981 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14984 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14985 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14986 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14987 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14988 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14989 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14990 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14991 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
14992 distribution, for instance).
14994 @vindex imap-shell-program
14995 @vindex imap-shell-host
14996 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14997 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14999 @item nnimap-authenticator
15000 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15002 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15003 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15005 Example server specification:
15008 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15009 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15012 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15016 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15017 external program @code{imtest}.
15019 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15022 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15023 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15025 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15027 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15029 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
15032 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15034 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15035 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15036 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15037 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15038 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15039 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15042 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15043 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15044 running in circles yet?
15046 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15047 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15050 The possible options are:
15055 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
15058 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15059 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15060 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15061 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15063 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15068 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15069 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15071 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15072 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15073 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15074 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15075 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15078 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15079 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15082 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15083 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15084 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15085 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15088 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15089 as ticked for other users.
15091 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15093 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15095 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15096 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15097 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15098 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15100 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15101 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15102 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15103 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15105 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15106 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15108 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15109 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15110 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15116 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15117 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15118 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
15123 @node Splitting in IMAP
15124 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15125 @cindex splitting imap mail
15127 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15128 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15129 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15130 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15131 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15135 Here are the variables of interest:
15139 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15140 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15142 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15144 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15145 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15147 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15149 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15150 @cindex splitting, inbox
15152 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15154 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15155 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15159 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15160 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15163 No nnmail equivalent.
15165 @item nnimap-split-rule
15166 @cindex Splitting, rules
15167 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15169 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15172 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15173 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15174 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15175 Neither did I, we need examples.
15178 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15180 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15181 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15182 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15185 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15186 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15187 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15189 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15190 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15194 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15197 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15198 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15199 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15200 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15202 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15203 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15204 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15205 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15206 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15207 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15209 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15210 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
15211 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
15213 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15214 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15215 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15217 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15219 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15220 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15221 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15224 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15225 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15226 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15227 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15228 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15229 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15232 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15233 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15234 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15235 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15236 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15237 group/function elements.
15239 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15241 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15243 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15245 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15246 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15248 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15249 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15250 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15253 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15254 @cindex splitting, fancy
15255 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15256 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15258 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15259 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15260 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15262 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15263 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15264 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15265 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15270 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15271 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15274 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15278 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15279 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15280 @cindex editing imap acls
15281 @cindex Access Control Lists
15282 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15284 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15286 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15287 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15288 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15291 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15292 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15293 editing window with detailed instructions.
15295 Some possible uses:
15299 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15300 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15301 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15303 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15304 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
15305 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15309 @node Expunging mailboxes
15310 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
15314 @cindex Manual expunging
15316 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
15318 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
15319 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
15320 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
15322 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
15327 @node Other Sources
15328 @section Other Sources
15330 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
15331 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
15335 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
15336 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
15337 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
15338 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
15339 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
15343 @node Directory Groups
15344 @subsection Directory Groups
15346 @cindex directory groups
15348 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
15349 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
15352 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
15353 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
15354 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
15355 back end to read directories. Big deal.
15357 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
15358 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
15359 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
15360 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
15361 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
15363 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
15365 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
15366 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
15367 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
15368 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
15371 @node Anything Groups
15372 @subsection Anything Groups
15375 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
15376 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
15377 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
15380 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
15381 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
15382 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
15383 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
15384 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
15385 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
15386 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
15387 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
15388 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
15389 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
15392 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
15393 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
15394 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
15395 in the article buffer, just as usual.
15397 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
15398 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
15399 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
15400 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
15402 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
15403 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
15404 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
15405 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
15406 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
15407 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
15408 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
15409 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
15414 @item nneething-map-file-directory
15415 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
15416 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
15417 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
15419 @item nneething-exclude-files
15420 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
15421 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
15422 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
15424 @item nneething-include-files
15425 @vindex nneething-include-files
15426 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
15427 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
15429 @item nneething-map-file
15430 @vindex nneething-map-file
15431 Name of the map files.
15435 @node Document Groups
15436 @subsection Document Groups
15438 @cindex documentation group
15441 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15442 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15449 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15454 The standard Unix mbox file.
15456 @cindex MMDF mail box
15458 The MMDF mail box format.
15461 Several news articles appended into a file.
15464 @cindex rnews batch files
15465 The rnews batch transport format.
15466 @cindex forwarded messages
15469 Forwarded articles.
15472 Netscape mail boxes.
15475 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
15477 @item standard-digest
15478 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15481 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
15483 @item lanl-gov-announce
15484 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
15486 @item rfc822-forward
15487 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
15490 The Outlook mail box.
15493 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
15496 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
15499 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
15502 An RFC934-forwarded message.
15508 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
15511 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15517 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15518 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15519 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15522 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15523 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15524 group. And that's it.
15526 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15527 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15528 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15529 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15530 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15531 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15532 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15533 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15534 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15535 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15537 Virtual server variables:
15540 @item nndoc-article-type
15541 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15542 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15543 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15544 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15545 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
15546 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
15548 @item nndoc-post-type
15549 @vindex nndoc-post-type
15550 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
15551 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
15556 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
15560 @node Document Server Internals
15561 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
15563 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
15564 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
15565 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
15566 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
15568 First, here's an example document type definition:
15572 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
15573 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
15576 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
15577 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
15578 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
15579 types can be defined with very few settings:
15582 @item first-article
15583 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
15584 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
15587 @item article-begin
15588 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
15589 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
15591 @item head-begin-function
15592 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
15595 @item nndoc-head-begin
15596 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
15599 @item nndoc-head-end
15600 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
15601 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
15603 @item body-begin-function
15604 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
15608 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
15611 @item body-end-function
15612 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
15616 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
15619 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
15620 regexp will be totally ignored.
15624 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
15625 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
15626 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
15627 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
15628 something that's palatable for Gnus:
15631 @item prepare-body-function
15632 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
15633 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
15634 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
15636 @item article-transform-function
15637 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
15638 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
15639 body of the article.
15641 @item generate-head-function
15642 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
15643 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
15644 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
15645 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
15649 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
15654 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15655 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15656 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
15657 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
15658 (head-end . "^ ?$")
15659 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
15660 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
15661 (subtype digest guess))
15664 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
15665 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
15666 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
15667 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
15668 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
15670 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
15671 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
15672 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
15673 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
15674 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
15675 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
15676 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
15677 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
15678 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
15679 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
15687 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
15688 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
15689 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
15691 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
15692 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
15693 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
15696 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
15697 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
15698 that interested in doing things properly.
15700 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
15701 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
15704 First some terminology:
15709 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
15710 get news and/or mail from.
15713 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
15714 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
15717 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
15721 @item message packets
15722 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
15723 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
15724 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15726 @item response packets
15727 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
15728 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
15729 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15739 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
15740 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
15741 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
15742 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
15745 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
15748 You put the packet in your home directory.
15751 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
15752 the native or secondary server.
15755 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
15756 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
15759 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
15763 You transfer this packet to the server.
15766 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
15769 You then repeat until you die.
15773 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
15774 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
15777 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
15778 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
15779 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
15783 @node SOUP Commands
15784 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
15786 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
15790 @kindex G s b (Group)
15791 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
15792 Pack all unread articles in the current group
15793 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
15794 process/prefix convention.
15797 @kindex G s w (Group)
15798 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
15799 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
15802 @kindex G s s (Group)
15803 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
15804 Send all replies from the replies packet
15805 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
15808 @kindex G s p (Group)
15809 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
15810 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
15813 @kindex G s r (Group)
15814 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
15815 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
15818 @kindex O s (Summary)
15819 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
15820 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
15821 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
15822 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15827 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
15832 @item gnus-soup-directory
15833 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
15834 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
15835 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
15837 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
15838 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
15839 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
15840 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
15842 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
15843 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
15844 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
15845 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
15847 @item gnus-soup-packer
15848 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
15849 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15850 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
15852 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
15853 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
15854 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15855 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15857 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
15858 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
15859 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
15861 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15862 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15863 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
15864 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
15870 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
15873 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
15874 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
15875 you can read them at leisure.
15877 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
15881 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
15882 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
15883 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
15884 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
15886 @item nnsoup-directory
15887 @vindex nnsoup-directory
15888 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
15889 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
15891 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
15892 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
15893 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
15894 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
15896 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
15897 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
15898 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
15899 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
15900 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
15902 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
15903 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
15904 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
15905 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
15907 @item nnsoup-active-file
15908 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
15909 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
15910 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
15911 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
15912 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
15914 @item nnsoup-packer
15915 @vindex nnsoup-packer
15916 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
15917 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
15919 @item nnsoup-unpacker
15920 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
15921 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
15922 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15924 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
15925 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
15926 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
15929 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
15930 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
15931 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
15934 @item nnsoup-always-save
15935 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
15936 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
15942 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
15944 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
15945 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
15946 more for that to happen.
15948 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
15949 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
15950 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
15953 In specific, this is what it does:
15956 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
15957 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
15960 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
15961 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
15962 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
15965 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
15966 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
15967 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
15970 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
15971 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
15972 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
15974 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
15980 @item nngateway-address
15981 @vindex nngateway-address
15982 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
15984 @item nngateway-header-transformation
15985 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
15986 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
15987 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
15988 transformation should be called, and defaults to
15989 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
15990 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
15993 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
15994 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
15995 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
15998 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16001 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16004 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16007 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16009 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16012 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16013 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16014 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16016 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16018 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16019 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16020 @code{nngateway-address}.
16025 (setq gnus-post-method
16027 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16028 (nngateway-header-transformation
16029 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16037 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16040 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16045 @node Combined Groups
16046 @section Combined Groups
16048 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16052 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16053 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16057 @node Virtual Groups
16058 @subsection Virtual Groups
16060 @cindex virtual groups
16061 @cindex merging groups
16063 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16066 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16067 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16068 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16070 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16071 regexp to match component groups.
16073 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16074 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16075 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16076 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16077 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16078 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16079 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16080 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16082 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16083 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16086 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16089 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16090 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16092 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16093 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16094 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16095 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16098 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16101 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16102 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16103 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16105 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16106 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16107 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16108 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16109 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16111 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16112 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16113 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16115 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16116 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16117 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16118 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16119 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16120 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16121 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16122 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16123 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16124 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16125 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16127 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16128 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16129 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16130 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16131 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16132 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16133 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16135 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16136 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16138 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16139 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16143 @node Kibozed Groups
16144 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16148 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16149 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16150 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16151 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16153 @kindex G k (Group)
16154 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16157 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16158 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16159 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16160 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16162 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16163 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16164 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16166 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16167 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16168 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16169 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16170 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16171 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16172 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16173 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16175 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16176 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16177 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16178 Stranger things have happened.
16180 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16181 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16183 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16184 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16185 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16186 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16187 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16188 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16190 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16191 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16194 @node Gnus Unplugged
16195 @section Gnus Unplugged
16200 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16202 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16203 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16204 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16205 read news. Believe it or not.
16207 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16208 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16209 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16210 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16211 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16213 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16214 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16215 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16216 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16217 reading news on a machine.
16219 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16220 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16222 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16225 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16226 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16227 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16228 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16229 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16230 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16231 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16232 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16233 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16234 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16235 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16240 @subsection Agent Basics
16242 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16244 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16245 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16246 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16247 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16249 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16250 connected to the net continuously.
16252 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16253 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16255 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16260 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16261 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16262 already fetched while in this mode.
16265 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16266 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
16267 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
16268 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
16269 Source Specifiers}).
16272 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
16273 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
16274 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
16275 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
16276 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
16279 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
16280 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
16281 then you read the news offline.
16284 And then you go to step 2.
16287 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
16293 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
16294 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
16295 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
16296 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
16297 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
16298 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
16299 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
16300 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
16303 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
16310 @node Agent Categories
16311 @subsection Agent Categories
16313 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
16314 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
16315 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
16316 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
16317 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
16318 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
16319 you're interested in the articles anyway.
16321 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
16322 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
16323 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
16324 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
16325 managing categories.
16328 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
16329 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
16330 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
16334 @node Category Syntax
16335 @subsubsection Category Syntax
16337 A category consists of two things.
16341 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
16342 are eligible for downloading; and
16345 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
16346 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
16347 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
16350 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
16351 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
16352 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
16353 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
16355 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
16356 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
16357 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
16359 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
16360 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
16361 operators sprinkled in between.
16363 Perhaps some examples are in order.
16365 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
16366 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
16372 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
16373 short (for some value of ``short'').
16375 Here's a more complex predicate:
16384 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
16385 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
16388 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
16389 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
16390 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
16392 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
16393 you want to do, you can write your own.
16397 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
16398 lines; default 100.
16401 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
16402 lines; default 200.
16405 True iff the article has a download score less than
16406 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
16409 True iff the article has a download score greater than
16410 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
16413 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
16414 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
16415 checksum and sees whether articles match.
16424 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
16425 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
16426 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
16429 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
16430 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
16431 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
16432 something along the lines of the following:
16435 (defun my-article-old-p ()
16436 "Say whether an article is old."
16437 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
16438 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
16441 with the predicate then defined as:
16444 (not my-article-old-p)
16447 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
16448 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
16452 (require 'gnus-agent)
16453 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
16454 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
16455 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
16458 and simply specify your predicate as:
16464 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16465 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16466 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16467 just don't give a damn.
16469 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
16470 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16471 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16472 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16473 parameters like so:
16476 (agent-predicate . short)
16479 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16480 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16481 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16483 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16486 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16489 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16490 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16491 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16494 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16495 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16496 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16497 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16498 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16499 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16501 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16502 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16503 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16504 if it's to be specific to that group.
16506 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16513 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16514 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16520 Category specification
16524 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16530 Group Parameter specification
16533 (agent-score ("from"
16534 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16539 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16545 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
16552 Category specification
16555 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
16561 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
16565 Group Parameter specification
16568 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
16571 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
16576 Use @code{normal} score files
16578 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
16579 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
16580 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
16581 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
16583 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
16584 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
16585 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
16586 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
16590 Category Specification
16597 Group Parameter specification
16600 (agent-score . file)
16605 @node Category Buffer
16606 @subsubsection Category Buffer
16608 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
16609 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
16610 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
16612 The following commands are available in this buffer:
16616 @kindex q (Category)
16617 @findex gnus-category-exit
16618 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
16621 @kindex k (Category)
16622 @findex gnus-category-kill
16623 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
16626 @kindex c (Category)
16627 @findex gnus-category-copy
16628 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
16631 @kindex a (Category)
16632 @findex gnus-category-add
16633 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
16636 @kindex p (Category)
16637 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
16638 Edit the predicate of the current category
16639 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
16642 @kindex g (Category)
16643 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
16644 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
16645 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
16648 @kindex s (Category)
16649 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
16650 Edit the download score rule of the current category
16651 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
16654 @kindex l (Category)
16655 @findex gnus-category-list
16656 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
16660 @node Category Variables
16661 @subsubsection Category Variables
16664 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
16665 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
16666 Hook run in category buffers.
16668 @item gnus-category-line-format
16669 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
16670 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
16671 Variables}). Valid elements are:
16675 The name of the category.
16678 The number of groups in the category.
16681 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
16682 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
16683 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
16685 @item gnus-agent-short-article
16686 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
16687 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
16689 @item gnus-agent-long-article
16690 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
16691 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
16693 @item gnus-agent-low-score
16694 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
16695 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
16698 @item gnus-agent-high-score
16699 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
16700 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
16706 @node Agent Commands
16707 @subsection Agent Commands
16709 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
16710 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
16711 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
16715 * Group Agent Commands::
16716 * Summary Agent Commands::
16717 * Server Agent Commands::
16720 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
16721 following incantation:
16723 @cindex gnus-agent-batch
16725 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch
16730 @node Group Agent Commands
16731 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
16735 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
16736 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
16737 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
16738 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
16741 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
16742 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
16743 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
16746 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
16747 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
16748 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
16749 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
16752 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
16753 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
16754 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
16755 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
16758 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
16759 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
16760 Add the current group to an Agent category
16761 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
16762 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16765 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
16766 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
16767 Remove the current group from its category, if any
16768 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
16769 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16772 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
16773 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16774 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
16780 @node Summary Agent Commands
16781 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
16785 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
16786 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
16787 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
16790 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
16791 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
16792 Remove the downloading mark from the article
16793 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
16796 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
16797 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
16798 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
16801 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
16802 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
16803 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
16806 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
16807 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
16808 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
16809 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
16814 @node Server Agent Commands
16815 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
16819 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
16820 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
16821 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
16822 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
16825 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
16826 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
16827 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
16828 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
16833 @node Agent as Cache
16834 @subsection Agent as Cache
16836 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
16837 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
16838 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
16839 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
16840 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
16841 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
16842 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
16843 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
16844 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
16846 This behaviour can be controlled by @code{gnus-agent-cache}
16847 (@pxref{Agent Variables}).
16850 @subsection Agent Expiry
16852 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
16853 @findex gnus-agent-expire
16854 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
16855 @cindex Agent expiry
16856 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
16859 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
16860 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
16861 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
16862 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
16863 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
16864 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
16866 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
16867 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
16868 expiry in different groups.
16871 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
16877 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
16878 method---it must always match all groups.
16880 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
16881 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
16882 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
16883 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
16884 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
16886 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
16887 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
16888 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
16889 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
16891 @node Agent and IMAP
16892 @subsection Agent and IMAP
16894 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
16895 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
16896 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
16897 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
16899 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
16900 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
16901 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
16902 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
16904 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
16905 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
16906 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
16907 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
16909 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16910 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
16911 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
16912 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
16913 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
16914 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
16916 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
16917 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
16918 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
16919 in the group buffer.
16921 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
16922 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
16927 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
16930 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
16934 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
16935 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
16936 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
16937 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
16938 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
16939 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
16940 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
16941 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
16944 @node Outgoing Messages
16945 @subsection Outgoing Messages
16947 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
16948 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
16949 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
16951 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
16952 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
16953 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
16954 messages in the draft group.
16958 @node Agent Variables
16959 @subsection Agent Variables
16962 @item gnus-agent-directory
16963 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
16964 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
16965 @file{~/News/agent/}.
16967 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
16968 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
16969 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
16970 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
16971 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
16974 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16975 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16976 Hook run when connecting to the network.
16978 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16979 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16980 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
16982 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
16983 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
16984 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
16986 @item gnus-agent-cache
16987 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
16988 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
16989 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
16990 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
16992 @item gnus-agent-go-online
16993 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
16994 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
16995 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
16996 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
16997 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
16998 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17004 @node Example Setup
17005 @subsection Example Setup
17007 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17008 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17009 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17012 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17013 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17014 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17016 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17017 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17018 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17020 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17021 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17023 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17024 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17025 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17028 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17029 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17032 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17033 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17034 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17035 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17036 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17039 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17040 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17041 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17042 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17043 back all the killed groups.)
17045 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
17046 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
17047 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
17050 @node Batching Agents
17051 @subsection Batching Agents
17053 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
17054 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
17055 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
17059 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
17063 @node Agent Caveats
17064 @subsection Agent Caveats
17066 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
17067 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
17071 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
17075 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
17077 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is `nil'.
17081 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
17082 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP and also uses the
17083 locally stored articles.
17090 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
17091 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
17092 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
17095 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
17096 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
17097 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
17098 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
17099 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
17101 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
17102 before generating the summary buffer.
17104 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
17105 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
17106 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
17108 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
17109 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
17110 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
17111 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
17114 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
17115 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
17116 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
17117 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
17118 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
17119 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
17120 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
17121 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
17122 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
17123 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
17124 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
17125 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
17126 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
17127 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
17128 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
17129 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
17130 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
17134 @node Summary Score Commands
17135 @section Summary Score Commands
17136 @cindex score commands
17138 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
17139 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
17140 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
17141 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
17142 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
17144 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
17145 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
17146 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
17147 score file the current one.
17149 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
17154 @kindex V s (Summary)
17155 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
17156 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
17159 @kindex V S (Summary)
17160 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
17161 Display the score of the current article
17162 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
17165 @kindex V t (Summary)
17166 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
17167 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
17168 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
17171 @kindex V w (Summary)
17172 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
17173 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
17176 @kindex V R (Summary)
17177 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
17178 Run the current summary through the scoring process
17179 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
17180 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
17181 effect you're having.
17184 @kindex V c (Summary)
17185 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
17186 Make a different score file the current
17187 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
17190 @kindex V e (Summary)
17191 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
17192 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
17193 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
17197 @kindex V f (Summary)
17198 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
17199 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
17200 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
17203 @kindex V F (Summary)
17204 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17205 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
17206 after editing score files.
17209 @kindex V C (Summary)
17210 @findex gnus-score-customize
17211 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
17212 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
17216 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
17221 @kindex V m (Summary)
17222 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
17223 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
17224 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
17227 @kindex V x (Summary)
17228 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
17229 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
17230 expunge all articles below this score
17231 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
17234 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
17235 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
17238 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
17239 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
17243 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
17244 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
17246 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
17247 keys are available:
17251 Score on the author name.
17254 Score on the subject line.
17257 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
17260 Score on the @code{References} line.
17266 Score on the number of lines.
17269 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
17272 Score on an "extra" header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
17273 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
17276 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
17277 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
17278 @file{ADAPT} files.)
17287 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
17293 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
17294 what headers you are scoring on.
17306 Substring matching.
17309 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
17338 Greater than number.
17343 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
17344 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
17345 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
17350 Temporary score entry.
17353 Permanent score entry.
17356 Immediately scoring.
17360 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
17361 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
17362 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
17366 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
17367 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
17368 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
17369 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
17371 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
17372 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
17373 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
17374 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
17375 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
17377 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
17378 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
17379 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
17380 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
17381 current score file.
17383 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
17384 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
17385 pretend they are keymaps or not.
17388 @node Group Score Commands
17389 @section Group Score Commands
17390 @cindex group score commands
17392 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
17397 @kindex W f (Group)
17398 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17399 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
17400 all the time. This command will flush the cache
17401 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
17405 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
17407 @findex gnus-batch-score
17408 @cindex batch scoring
17410 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
17414 @node Score Variables
17415 @section Score Variables
17416 @cindex score variables
17420 @item gnus-use-scoring
17421 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
17422 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
17423 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
17425 @item gnus-kill-killed
17426 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
17427 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
17428 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
17429 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
17430 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
17431 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
17432 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
17434 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
17435 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
17436 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
17437 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
17438 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
17440 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
17441 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
17442 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
17443 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
17445 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17446 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17447 @cindex score cache
17448 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
17449 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
17450 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
17451 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
17452 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
17453 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
17456 @item gnus-save-score
17457 @vindex gnus-save-score
17458 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
17459 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
17460 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17462 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
17463 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
17464 across group visits.
17466 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17467 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17468 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
17469 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
17470 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
17471 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
17472 manually entered data.
17474 @item gnus-summary-default-score
17475 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
17476 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
17478 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
17479 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
17480 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
17481 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
17482 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
17483 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
17485 @item gnus-score-over-mark
17486 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
17487 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
17488 default. Default is @samp{+}.
17490 @item gnus-score-below-mark
17491 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
17492 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
17493 default. Default is @samp{-}.
17495 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17496 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17497 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
17498 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
17500 Predefined functions available are:
17503 @item gnus-score-find-single
17504 @findex gnus-score-find-single
17505 Only apply the group's own score file.
17507 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
17508 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
17509 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
17510 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
17511 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
17512 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
17513 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
17514 then a regexp match is done.
17516 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
17517 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
17519 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
17520 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
17521 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
17522 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
17524 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17525 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17526 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
17527 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
17528 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
17532 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
17533 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
17534 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
17535 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
17536 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
17537 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
17538 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
17541 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
17542 overall score file, you could use the value
17544 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
17545 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
17548 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
17549 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
17550 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
17551 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
17552 are expired. It's 7 by default.
17554 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17555 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17556 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
17557 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
17558 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
17559 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
17560 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
17561 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
17563 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17564 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17565 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
17567 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
17568 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
17569 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
17570 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
17571 threading---according to the current value of
17572 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
17573 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
17574 simplified in this manner.
17579 @node Score File Format
17580 @section Score File Format
17581 @cindex score file format
17583 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
17584 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
17585 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
17587 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
17591 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
17593 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
17595 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
17597 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
17602 (mark-and-expunge -10)
17606 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
17607 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
17608 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
17609 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
17613 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
17614 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
17616 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
17617 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
17618 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
17620 Six keys are supported by this alist:
17625 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
17626 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
17627 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
17628 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
17629 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
17630 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
17631 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
17632 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
17633 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
17634 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
17635 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
17636 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
17637 to articles that matches these score entries.
17639 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
17640 score entry has one to four elements.
17644 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
17645 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
17649 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
17650 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
17651 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
17652 is successful. If this element is not present, the
17653 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
17654 instead. This is 1000 by default.
17657 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
17658 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
17659 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
17660 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
17661 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
17664 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
17665 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
17666 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
17667 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
17670 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
17671 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
17672 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
17673 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
17674 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
17675 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
17676 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
17677 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
17678 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
17679 instead, if you feel like.
17682 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
17683 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
17684 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
17685 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
17686 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
17687 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
17690 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
17694 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
17695 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
17697 These predicates are true if
17700 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
17703 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
17704 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
17711 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
17712 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
17713 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
17714 it's not. I think.)
17716 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
17717 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
17718 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
17719 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
17722 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
17723 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
17724 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
17725 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
17726 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
17727 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
17728 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
17732 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
17733 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
17734 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
17735 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
17736 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
17737 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
17738 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
17739 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
17742 @item Head, Body, All
17743 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
17747 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
17748 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
17749 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
17750 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
17751 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
17752 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
17753 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
17757 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
17758 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
17759 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
17760 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
17761 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
17762 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
17763 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
17764 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
17765 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
17766 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
17767 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
17771 @cindex Score File Atoms
17773 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17774 lower than this number will be marked as read.
17777 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17778 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
17780 @item mark-and-expunge
17781 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17782 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
17785 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
17786 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
17787 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
17788 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
17789 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
17792 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
17793 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
17796 @item exclude-files
17797 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
17798 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
17802 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
17803 ignored when handling global score files.
17806 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
17807 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
17808 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
17809 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
17812 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
17813 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
17814 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
17815 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
17817 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
17821 (mark-and-expunge -100)
17824 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
17825 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
17826 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
17827 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
17828 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
17830 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
17831 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
17832 scoring rules exist.
17835 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
17836 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
17837 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
17838 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
17839 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
17840 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
17841 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17842 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
17843 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
17844 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
17845 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
17849 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
17850 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
17851 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
17852 file for a number of groups.
17855 @cindex local variables
17856 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
17857 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
17858 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
17859 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
17860 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
17864 @node Score File Editing
17865 @section Score File Editing
17867 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
17868 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
17869 with a mode for that.
17871 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
17872 additional commands:
17877 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
17878 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
17879 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
17880 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
17883 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
17884 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
17885 Insert the current date in numerical format
17886 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
17887 you were wondering.
17890 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
17891 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
17892 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
17893 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
17894 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
17899 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
17901 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
17902 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
17904 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
17905 e} to begin editing score files.
17908 @node Adaptive Scoring
17909 @section Adaptive Scoring
17910 @cindex adaptive scoring
17912 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
17913 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
17914 stupidity, to be precise.
17916 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
17917 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
17918 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
17919 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
17920 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17921 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
17922 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
17923 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
17924 variable to @code{(word line)}.
17926 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17927 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
17928 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
17929 might look something like this:
17932 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17933 '((gnus-unread-mark)
17934 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
17935 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
17936 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
17937 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
17938 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
17939 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
17940 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
17941 (gnus-ancient-mark)
17942 (gnus-low-score-mark)
17943 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
17946 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
17947 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
17948 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
17949 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
17950 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
17951 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
17954 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
17955 will be applied to each article.
17957 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
17958 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
17959 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
17960 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
17962 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
17963 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
17964 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
17965 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
17967 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
17968 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
17969 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
17970 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
17972 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
17973 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
17974 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
17975 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
17976 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
17977 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
17979 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
17980 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
17981 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
17982 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
17983 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
17984 aspirins afterwards.)
17986 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
17987 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
17988 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
17990 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
17991 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
17992 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
17994 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
17995 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
17996 let you use different rules in different groups.
17998 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
17999 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18000 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18003 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18004 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18005 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18006 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18007 the length of the match is less than
18008 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18009 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18012 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18013 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18014 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18015 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18016 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18019 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18020 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18021 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18022 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18023 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18026 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18027 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18028 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18029 score with 30 points.
18031 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18032 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18033 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18034 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18035 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18037 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18038 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18039 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18040 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18041 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
18043 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
18044 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
18045 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
18046 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
18048 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
18049 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
18050 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
18051 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
18053 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
18054 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
18055 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
18056 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
18057 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
18059 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
18060 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
18061 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
18063 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
18064 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
18065 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
18066 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
18069 @node Home Score File
18070 @section Home Score File
18072 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
18073 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
18074 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
18075 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
18077 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
18078 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
18079 could perhaps use the same home score file.
18081 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
18082 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
18087 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
18091 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
18092 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
18096 A list. The elements in this list can be:
18100 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
18101 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
18104 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
18105 the home score file.
18108 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
18111 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
18116 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
18119 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18120 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
18123 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
18124 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
18126 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
18128 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18129 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
18132 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
18133 Other functions include
18136 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
18137 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
18138 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
18139 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
18143 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
18144 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
18145 their own home score files:
18148 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18149 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
18150 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
18151 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
18152 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
18155 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
18156 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
18157 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
18158 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
18159 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
18161 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
18162 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
18163 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
18164 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
18165 precedence over this variable.
18168 @node Followups To Yourself
18169 @section Followups To Yourself
18171 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
18172 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
18173 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
18174 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
18175 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
18176 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
18180 @item gnus-score-followup-article
18181 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
18182 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
18185 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
18186 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
18187 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
18191 @vindex message-sent-hook
18192 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
18193 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
18195 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
18199 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
18200 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
18204 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18205 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18208 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
18209 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
18214 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
18218 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
18219 is system-dependent.
18222 @node Scoring On Other Headers
18223 @section Scoring On Other Headers
18224 @cindex scoring on other headers
18226 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
18227 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
18228 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
18229 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
18230 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
18232 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
18233 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
18234 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
18235 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
18236 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
18238 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18241 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
18242 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
18245 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
18246 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
18247 time if you have much mail.
18249 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
18250 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
18256 @section Scoring Tips
18257 @cindex scoring tips
18263 @cindex scoring crossposts
18264 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
18265 the @code{Xref} header.
18267 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
18270 @item Multiple crossposts
18271 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
18272 more than, say, 3 groups:
18275 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
18279 @item Matching on the body
18280 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
18281 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
18282 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
18283 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
18284 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
18285 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
18286 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
18289 @item Marking as read
18290 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
18291 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
18292 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
18296 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
18298 @item Negated character classes
18299 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
18300 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
18301 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
18305 @node Reverse Scoring
18306 @section Reverse Scoring
18307 @cindex reverse scoring
18309 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
18310 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
18311 like this in your score file:
18315 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
18320 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
18321 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
18324 @node Global Score Files
18325 @section Global Score Files
18326 @cindex global score files
18328 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
18329 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
18330 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
18332 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
18333 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
18334 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
18336 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
18337 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
18338 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
18339 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
18340 files are applicable to which group.
18342 To use the score file
18343 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
18344 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
18348 (setq gnus-global-score-files
18349 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
18350 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
18353 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
18355 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
18356 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
18357 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
18358 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
18360 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
18361 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
18363 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
18364 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
18365 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
18366 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
18367 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
18368 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
18370 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
18376 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
18378 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
18380 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
18382 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
18383 lowered out of existence.
18385 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
18386 articles completely.
18389 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
18390 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
18391 old articles for a long time.
18394 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
18395 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
18396 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
18397 holding our breath yet?
18401 @section Kill Files
18404 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
18405 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
18406 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
18408 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
18409 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
18410 files into score files.
18412 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
18413 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
18414 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
18415 that isn't a very good idea.
18417 Normal kill files look like this:
18420 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18421 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
18425 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
18426 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
18428 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
18429 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
18432 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
18437 @kindex M-k (Summary)
18438 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
18439 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
18442 @kindex M-K (Summary)
18443 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
18444 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
18447 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
18452 @kindex M-k (Group)
18453 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
18454 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
18457 @kindex M-K (Group)
18458 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
18459 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
18462 Kill file variables:
18465 @item gnus-kill-file-name
18466 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
18467 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
18468 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
18469 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
18470 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
18471 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
18473 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18474 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18475 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
18476 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
18479 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
18480 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
18481 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
18482 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
18483 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
18484 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
18485 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
18486 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
18487 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
18489 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18490 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18491 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
18496 @node Converting Kill Files
18497 @section Converting Kill Files
18499 @cindex converting kill files
18501 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
18502 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
18503 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
18506 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
18507 You can fetch it from
18508 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
18510 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
18511 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
18512 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
18520 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
18521 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
18522 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
18523 news articles generated every day.
18525 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
18526 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
18527 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
18528 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
18529 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
18530 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
18531 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
18532 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
18535 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
18536 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
18539 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
18540 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
18541 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
18542 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
18546 @node Using GroupLens
18547 @subsection Using GroupLens
18549 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
18551 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
18552 better bit in town at the moment.
18554 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
18558 @item gnus-use-grouplens
18559 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
18560 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
18561 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
18563 @item grouplens-pseudonym
18564 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
18565 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
18566 with the Better Bit Bureau.
18568 @item grouplens-newsgroups
18569 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
18570 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
18574 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
18575 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
18576 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
18577 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
18578 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
18579 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
18582 @node Rating Articles
18583 @subsection Rating Articles
18585 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
18586 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
18587 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
18588 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
18591 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
18596 @kindex r (GroupLens)
18597 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
18598 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
18601 @kindex k (GroupLens)
18602 @findex grouplens-score-thread
18603 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
18604 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
18605 threads in rec.humor.
18609 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
18610 the score of the article you're reading.
18615 @kindex n (GroupLens)
18616 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
18617 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
18620 @kindex , (GroupLens)
18621 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
18622 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
18626 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
18627 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
18630 @node Displaying Predictions
18631 @subsection Displaying Predictions
18633 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
18634 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
18635 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
18636 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
18637 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
18639 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
18640 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
18641 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
18642 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
18643 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
18644 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
18645 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
18646 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
18647 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
18648 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
18649 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
18650 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
18651 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
18653 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
18654 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
18655 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
18656 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
18658 The following are valid values for that variable.
18661 @item prediction-spot
18662 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
18665 @item confidence-interval
18666 A numeric confidence interval.
18668 @item prediction-bar
18669 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
18671 @item confidence-bar
18672 Numerical confidence.
18674 @item confidence-spot
18675 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
18677 @item prediction-num
18678 Plain-old numeric value.
18680 @item confidence-plus-minus
18681 Prediction +/- confidence.
18686 @node GroupLens Variables
18687 @subsection GroupLens Variables
18691 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
18692 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
18693 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
18694 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
18697 @item grouplens-bbb-host
18698 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
18701 @item grouplens-bbb-port
18702 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
18704 @item grouplens-score-offset
18705 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
18706 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
18709 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
18710 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
18711 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
18716 @node Advanced Scoring
18717 @section Advanced Scoring
18719 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
18720 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
18721 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
18722 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
18723 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
18725 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
18729 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
18730 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
18731 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
18735 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
18736 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
18738 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
18739 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
18740 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
18741 non-@code{nil} value.
18743 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
18744 operator, and various match operators.
18751 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18752 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
18753 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
18758 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18759 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
18760 then this operator will return @code{false}.
18765 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
18766 logical negation of the value of its argument.
18770 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
18771 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
18772 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
18773 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
18774 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
18775 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
18776 the ancestry you want to go.
18778 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
18779 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
18780 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
18781 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
18782 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
18785 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
18786 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
18788 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
18789 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
18792 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
18793 when he's talking about Gnus:
18797 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18798 ("subject" "Gnus"))
18804 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
18808 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18815 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
18816 really don't want to read what he's written:
18820 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18821 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
18825 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
18826 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
18827 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
18834 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
18835 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
18836 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
18837 ("body" "white.*socks"))
18841 The possibilities are endless.
18844 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
18845 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
18847 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
18848 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
18849 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
18850 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
18851 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
18852 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
18853 @samp{subject}) first.
18855 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
18856 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
18867 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
18868 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
18874 ("subject" "Gnus")))
18881 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
18882 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
18887 @section Score Decays
18888 @cindex score decays
18891 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
18892 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
18893 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
18894 use them in any sensible way.
18896 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
18897 @findex gnus-decay-score
18898 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
18899 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
18900 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
18901 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
18902 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
18903 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
18904 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
18905 definition of that function:
18908 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
18910 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
18911 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
18914 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
18916 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
18918 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
18921 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
18922 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
18923 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
18924 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
18928 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
18931 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
18934 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
18938 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
18939 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
18940 the new score, which should be an integer.
18942 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
18943 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
18948 @include message.texi
18949 @chapter Emacs MIME
18950 @include emacs-mime.texi
18952 @include sieve.texi
18960 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
18961 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
18962 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
18963 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
18964 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
18965 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
18966 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
18967 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
18968 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
18969 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
18970 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
18971 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
18972 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
18973 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
18974 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
18975 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
18976 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
18977 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
18978 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
18982 @node Process/Prefix
18983 @section Process/Prefix
18984 @cindex process/prefix convention
18986 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
18987 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
18989 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
18990 command to be performed on.
18994 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
18995 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
18996 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
18997 with the current one.
18999 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19000 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19001 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19003 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19004 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19007 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19008 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19010 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19013 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19014 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19015 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19016 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19018 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19019 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19020 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19021 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19022 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19023 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19024 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19025 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19027 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19028 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19029 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19030 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19031 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
19035 @section Interactive
19036 @cindex interaction
19040 @item gnus-novice-user
19041 @vindex gnus-novice-user
19042 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
19043 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
19044 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
19045 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
19048 @item gnus-expert-user
19049 @vindex gnus-expert-user
19050 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
19051 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
19052 matter how strange.
19054 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
19055 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
19056 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
19057 is @code{t} by default.
19059 @item gnus-interactive-exit
19060 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
19061 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19066 @node Symbolic Prefixes
19067 @section Symbolic Prefixes
19068 @cindex symbolic prefixes
19070 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
19071 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
19072 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
19073 rule of 900 to the current article.
19075 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
19076 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
19077 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
19078 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
19079 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
19080 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
19081 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
19083 @kindex M-i (Summary)
19084 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
19085 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
19086 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
19087 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
19088 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
19089 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
19090 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
19091 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
19093 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
19094 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
19095 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
19097 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
19101 @node Formatting Variables
19102 @section Formatting Variables
19103 @cindex formatting variables
19105 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
19106 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
19107 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
19108 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
19109 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
19112 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
19113 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
19114 lots of percentages everywhere.
19117 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
19118 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
19119 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
19120 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
19121 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
19122 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
19123 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
19124 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
19127 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
19128 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
19129 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
19130 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
19131 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
19132 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
19133 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
19134 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
19136 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
19137 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
19139 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
19140 @findex gnus-update-format
19141 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
19142 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
19143 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
19144 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
19148 @node Formatting Basics
19149 @subsection Formatting Basics
19151 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
19152 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
19153 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
19155 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
19156 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
19157 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
19158 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
19159 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
19162 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
19163 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
19164 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
19165 less than 4 characters wide.
19167 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
19168 @samp{%&user-date;}.
19171 @node Mode Line Formatting
19172 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
19174 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
19175 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
19176 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
19177 with the following two differences:
19182 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
19185 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
19186 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
19187 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
19188 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
19189 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
19190 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
19191 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
19196 @node Advanced Formatting
19197 @subsection Advanced Formatting
19199 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
19200 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
19201 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
19202 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
19204 These are the valid modifiers:
19209 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
19213 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
19218 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
19221 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
19226 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
19229 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
19232 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
19235 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
19241 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
19246 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
19247 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
19248 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
19249 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
19250 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
19251 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
19252 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
19254 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
19255 last operation, padding.
19257 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
19258 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
19259 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
19260 @xref{Compilation}.
19263 @node User-Defined Specs
19264 @subsection User-Defined Specs
19266 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
19267 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
19268 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
19269 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
19270 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
19271 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
19272 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
19273 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
19274 should protect against that.
19276 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
19277 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
19279 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
19280 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
19281 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
19282 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
19286 @node Formatting Fonts
19287 @subsection Formatting Fonts
19289 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
19290 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
19291 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
19292 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
19295 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
19296 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
19297 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
19298 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
19299 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
19300 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
19302 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
19303 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
19304 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
19305 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
19306 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
19307 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
19308 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
19309 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
19311 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
19314 ;; Create three face types.
19315 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
19316 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
19318 ;; We want the article count to be in
19319 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
19320 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
19321 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
19323 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
19324 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
19326 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
19327 (setq gnus-group-line-format
19328 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
19331 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
19332 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
19334 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
19335 mode-line variables.
19337 @node Positioning Point
19338 @subsection Positioning Point
19340 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
19341 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
19342 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
19344 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
19346 @findex gnus-goto-colon
19347 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
19348 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
19350 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
19351 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
19352 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
19357 @subsection Tabulation
19359 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
19360 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
19361 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
19362 about lining up the following text afterwards.
19364 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
19365 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
19367 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19368 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
19369 This is the soft tabulator.
19371 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19372 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
19373 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
19376 @node Wide Characters
19377 @subsection Wide Characters
19379 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
19380 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
19381 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
19383 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
19384 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
19385 these coutries, that's not true.
19387 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
19388 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
19389 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
19390 prettieer. The default value is @code{t}.
19394 @node Window Layout
19395 @section Window Layout
19396 @cindex window layout
19398 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
19400 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
19401 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
19402 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
19403 @code{t} by default.
19405 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
19406 glitches. Use at your own peril.
19408 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
19409 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
19410 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
19413 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
19414 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
19415 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19419 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
19420 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
19421 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
19422 possible names is listed below.
19424 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
19425 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
19428 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19432 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
19433 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
19434 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
19435 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
19436 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
19437 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
19438 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
19439 size spec per split.
19441 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
19442 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
19443 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
19444 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
19445 present) gets focus.
19447 Here's a more complicated example:
19450 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
19451 (summary 0.25 point)
19452 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
19456 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
19457 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
19458 occupy, not a percentage.
19460 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
19461 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
19462 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
19463 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
19464 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
19467 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
19470 (article (horizontal 1.0
19475 (summary 0.25 point)
19480 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
19481 @code{horizontal} thingie?
19483 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
19484 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
19485 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
19486 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
19487 the screen is to be given to this strip.
19489 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
19490 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
19491 lines from the splits.
19493 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
19497 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
19498 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
19499 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
19500 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
19501 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
19502 size = number | frame-params
19503 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
19506 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
19507 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
19508 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
19509 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
19511 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
19512 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
19513 @cindex window height
19514 @cindex window width
19515 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
19516 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
19517 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
19518 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
19519 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
19520 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
19522 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
19523 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
19524 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
19525 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
19527 @findex gnus-configure-frame
19528 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
19529 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
19530 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
19531 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
19532 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
19533 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
19534 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
19535 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
19536 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
19537 configuration list.
19540 (gnus-configure-frame
19544 (article 0.3 point))
19552 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
19553 @code{frame} split:
19556 (gnus-configure-frame
19559 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
19561 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
19562 (user-position . t)
19563 (left . -1) (top . 1))
19568 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
19569 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
19570 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
19571 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
19572 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
19573 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
19574 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
19575 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
19577 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
19578 be found in its default value.
19580 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
19581 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
19582 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
19586 (message (horizontal 1.0
19587 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
19589 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
19594 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
19595 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
19596 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
19601 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
19602 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
19603 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
19604 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
19605 (name . "Message"))
19606 (message 1.0 point))))
19609 @findex gnus-add-configuration
19610 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
19611 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
19612 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
19613 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
19616 (gnus-add-configuration
19617 '(article (vertical 1.0
19619 (summary .25 point)
19623 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
19624 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
19625 Gnus has been loaded.
19627 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
19628 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
19629 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
19630 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
19631 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
19633 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
19634 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
19635 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
19638 @subsection Example Window Configurations
19642 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
19643 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
19658 (gnus-add-configuration
19661 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19663 (summary 0.16 point)
19666 (gnus-add-configuration
19669 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19670 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
19676 @node Faces and Fonts
19677 @section Faces and Fonts
19682 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
19683 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
19684 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
19689 @section Compilation
19690 @cindex compilation
19691 @cindex byte-compilation
19693 @findex gnus-compile
19695 Remember all those line format specification variables?
19696 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
19697 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
19698 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
19699 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
19700 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
19703 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
19704 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
19705 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
19706 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
19707 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
19708 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
19709 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
19713 @section Mode Lines
19716 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
19717 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
19718 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
19719 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
19720 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
19721 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
19722 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
19725 @cindex display-time
19727 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
19728 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
19729 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
19730 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
19731 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
19732 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
19733 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
19734 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
19737 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
19739 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
19740 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
19742 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
19743 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
19744 (length display-time-string)))))
19747 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
19748 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
19749 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
19750 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
19751 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
19754 @node Highlighting and Menus
19755 @section Highlighting and Menus
19757 @cindex highlighting
19760 @vindex gnus-visual
19761 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
19762 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
19763 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
19766 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
19767 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
19770 @item group-highlight
19771 Do highlights in the group buffer.
19772 @item summary-highlight
19773 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
19774 @item article-highlight
19775 Do highlights in the article buffer.
19777 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
19779 Create menus in the group buffer.
19781 Create menus in the summary buffers.
19783 Create menus in the article buffer.
19785 Create menus in the browse buffer.
19787 Create menus in the server buffer.
19789 Create menus in the score buffers.
19791 Create menus in all buffers.
19794 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
19795 buffers, you could say something like:
19798 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
19801 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
19804 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
19807 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
19808 in all Gnus buffers.
19810 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
19813 @item gnus-mouse-face
19814 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
19815 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
19816 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
19820 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
19824 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
19825 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
19826 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
19828 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
19829 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
19830 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
19832 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
19833 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
19834 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
19836 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
19837 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
19838 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
19840 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
19841 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
19842 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
19844 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
19845 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
19846 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
19857 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
19858 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
19859 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
19860 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
19861 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
19865 @vindex gnus-carpal
19866 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
19867 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
19868 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
19873 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19874 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19875 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
19877 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
19878 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
19879 Face used on buttons.
19881 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
19882 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
19883 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
19885 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19886 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19887 Buttons in the group buffer.
19889 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19890 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19891 Buttons in the summary buffer.
19893 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19894 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19895 Buttons in the server buffer.
19897 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19898 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19899 Buttons in the browse buffer.
19902 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
19903 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
19904 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
19912 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
19913 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
19914 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
19915 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
19916 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
19918 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
19919 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
19920 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
19922 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
19923 been idle for thirty minutes:
19926 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
19929 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
19933 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
19936 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
19937 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
19938 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19940 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
19941 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
19942 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
19943 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19945 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
19946 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
19947 @var{idle} minutes.
19949 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
19950 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
19953 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
19954 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
19955 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
19957 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
19958 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
19959 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
19960 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
19962 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
19963 your @file{.gnus} file:
19965 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
19967 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
19970 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
19971 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
19972 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
19973 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
19974 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
19975 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
19976 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
19977 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
19978 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
19979 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
19980 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
19982 @findex gnus-demon-init
19983 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
19984 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
19985 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
19986 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
19987 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
19989 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
19990 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
19991 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20000 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20001 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20003 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20004 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20005 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20006 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20009 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20010 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20011 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20012 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20014 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20015 this will make spam disappear.
20017 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20020 @item gnus-use-nocem
20021 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20022 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20025 @item gnus-nocem-groups
20026 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
20027 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
20028 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
20029 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
20031 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
20032 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
20033 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
20034 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
20035 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
20036 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
20038 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
20039 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
20041 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
20042 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
20043 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
20044 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
20045 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
20046 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
20047 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
20048 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
20049 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
20050 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
20052 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
20053 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
20056 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
20059 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
20060 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
20063 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
20066 The specs are applied left-to-right.
20069 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
20070 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
20072 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
20073 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
20074 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
20075 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
20077 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
20078 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
20081 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
20083 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
20091 This might be dangerous, though.
20093 @item gnus-nocem-directory
20094 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
20095 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
20096 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
20098 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20099 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20100 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
20101 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
20102 might then see old spam.
20104 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
20105 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
20106 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
20107 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
20108 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
20111 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20112 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20113 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
20114 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
20118 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
20119 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
20120 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
20121 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
20128 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
20129 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
20130 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
20132 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
20133 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
20134 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
20135 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
20136 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
20137 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
20138 @code{undo} function.
20140 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
20141 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
20142 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
20143 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
20144 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
20145 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
20146 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
20147 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
20148 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
20149 never be totally undoable.
20151 @findex gnus-undo-mode
20152 @vindex gnus-use-undo
20154 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
20155 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
20156 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
20157 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
20161 @node Predicate Specifiers
20162 @section Predicate Specifiers
20163 @cindex predicate specifiers
20165 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
20166 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
20167 to type all that much.
20169 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
20174 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
20175 gnus-article-unread-p)
20178 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
20179 functions all take one parameter.
20181 @findex gnus-make-predicate
20182 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
20183 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
20184 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
20189 @section Moderation
20192 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
20193 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
20194 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
20197 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
20201 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
20204 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
20206 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
20211 You split your incoming mail by matching on
20212 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
20213 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
20216 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
20217 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
20220 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
20221 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
20225 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
20228 (setq gnus-moderated-list
20229 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
20233 @node Image Enhancements
20234 @section Image Enhancements
20236 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
20237 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
20240 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
20241 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
20242 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
20243 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
20244 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
20257 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
20258 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
20259 over your shoulder as you read news.
20262 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
20263 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
20264 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
20265 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
20266 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
20271 @subsubsection Picon Basics
20273 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
20282 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
20283 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
20284 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
20285 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
20286 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
20287 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
20288 @code{GIF} formats.
20291 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20292 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
20293 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
20294 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
20295 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
20297 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20298 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
20299 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
20300 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
20301 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
20302 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20304 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
20305 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
20308 @node Picon Requirements
20309 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
20311 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
20312 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
20313 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
20314 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
20316 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20317 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
20318 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
20319 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
20320 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
20321 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20324 @subsubsection Easy Picons
20326 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
20327 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
20330 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
20331 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
20334 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
20335 containing the Picons databases.
20337 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
20340 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20341 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
20346 @subsubsection Hard Picons
20354 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
20355 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
20356 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
20357 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
20358 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
20363 @item gnus-picons-database
20364 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20365 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
20366 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
20367 subdirectories. This is only useful if
20368 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
20369 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
20371 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20372 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20373 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
20374 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
20375 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
20376 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
20377 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20379 @item gnus-picons-display-where
20380 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20381 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
20382 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
20383 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
20384 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
20385 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
20386 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
20388 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20389 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20390 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
20395 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
20396 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
20398 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
20399 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
20402 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20404 @item gnus-article-display-picons
20405 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
20406 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
20407 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
20409 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20410 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20411 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
20412 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
20418 @node Picon Useless Configuration
20419 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
20427 The following variables offer further control over how things are
20428 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
20429 don't need to worry about.
20433 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
20434 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
20435 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20436 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
20438 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
20439 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
20440 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
20441 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
20443 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
20444 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
20445 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20446 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
20447 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
20449 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20450 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20451 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
20452 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
20453 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
20454 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
20455 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
20456 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20458 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20459 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20460 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
20461 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
20462 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20464 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20465 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20466 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
20467 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
20468 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
20469 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
20470 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
20472 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20473 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20474 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
20475 Defaults to @code{nil}.
20477 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
20478 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
20479 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
20480 Defaults to @code{t}.
20482 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20483 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20484 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
20485 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
20487 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
20488 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
20489 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
20491 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20492 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20493 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
20494 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
20496 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
20497 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
20499 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20500 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20501 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
20502 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
20503 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
20504 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
20505 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
20506 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
20517 @subsection Smileys
20522 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
20527 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
20528 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
20530 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
20531 @file{.gnus.el} file:
20534 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
20537 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
20538 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20539 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20540 text and maps that to file names.
20542 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
20543 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
20544 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
20545 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
20546 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
20547 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
20549 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
20550 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
20552 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
20553 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
20554 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
20556 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20557 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
20561 @item smiley-data-directory
20562 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20563 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20565 @item smiley-flesh-color
20566 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
20567 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
20569 @item smiley-features-color
20570 @vindex smiley-features-color
20571 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20573 @item smiley-tongue-color
20574 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
20575 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
20577 @item smiley-circle-color
20578 @vindex smiley-circle-color
20579 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20581 @item smiley-mouse-face
20582 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
20583 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
20592 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20593 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20594 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
20598 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
20599 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
20600 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
20601 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
20609 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
20610 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
20611 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
20612 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
20614 The variable that controls this is the
20615 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
20616 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
20617 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
20618 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
20619 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
20621 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
20622 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
20623 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
20624 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
20627 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
20628 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
20629 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
20630 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
20631 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
20632 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
20633 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
20634 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
20636 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
20639 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
20640 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
20642 @findex gnus-random-x-face
20643 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files
20644 in @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
20645 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
20646 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
20647 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big.
20649 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a file as the parameter, and then
20650 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
20651 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
20653 Here's how you would typically use the former function. Put something
20654 like the folllowing in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20657 (setq message-required-news-headers
20658 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20659 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
20662 Using the latter function would be something like this:
20665 (setq message-required-news-headers
20666 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20667 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
20668 (gnus-x-face-from-file
20669 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
20674 @subsection Toolbar
20684 @item gnus-use-toolbar
20685 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
20686 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
20687 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
20688 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
20690 @item gnus-group-toolbar
20691 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
20692 The toolbar in the group buffer.
20694 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
20695 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
20696 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
20698 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20699 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20700 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
20706 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
20709 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20710 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20711 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
20712 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
20713 unusual directory structure.
20715 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20716 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20717 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
20718 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
20720 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20721 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20722 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
20723 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
20724 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
20725 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
20727 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20728 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20729 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
20743 @node Fuzzy Matching
20744 @section Fuzzy Matching
20745 @cindex fuzzy matching
20747 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
20748 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
20750 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
20751 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
20752 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
20754 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
20755 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
20756 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
20757 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
20758 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
20761 @node Thwarting Email Spam
20762 @section Thwarting Email Spam
20766 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
20768 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
20769 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
20770 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
20771 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
20772 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
20773 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
20774 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
20775 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
20778 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
20779 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
20780 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
20781 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
20782 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
20783 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
20788 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
20789 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
20790 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
20793 @node Anti-Spam Basics
20794 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
20798 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
20800 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
20801 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
20803 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
20804 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
20805 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
20806 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
20807 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
20808 part of the mail address.)
20811 (setq message-default-news-headers
20812 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
20815 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
20816 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
20821 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
20822 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
20823 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
20829 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
20830 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
20831 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
20832 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
20834 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
20835 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
20836 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
20837 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
20838 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
20839 your fancy split rule in this way:
20844 (to "larsi" "misc")
20848 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
20849 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
20850 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
20851 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
20852 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
20854 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
20855 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
20856 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
20857 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
20858 cosmic balance somewhat.
20860 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
20861 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
20862 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
20863 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
20868 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
20869 @cindex SpamAssassin
20870 @cindex Vipul's Razor
20873 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
20874 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
20875 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
20876 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
20877 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
20878 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
20879 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
20881 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
20882 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
20883 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
20884 Specifiers}) follows.
20888 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
20891 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
20894 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
20895 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
20896 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
20899 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
20903 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
20906 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
20907 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
20911 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
20912 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
20913 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
20914 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
20917 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
20919 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
20921 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
20922 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
20924 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
20926 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
20927 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
20931 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
20932 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
20933 spam. And here is the nifty function:
20936 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
20937 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
20939 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
20940 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
20941 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
20945 @subsection Hashcash
20948 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
20949 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
20950 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
20951 since it is not part of the internet standards, but it may be useful
20952 in smaller communities.
20954 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
20955 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
20956 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
20957 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
20958 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
20959 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
20960 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
20961 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
20962 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
20963 one of them separately.
20966 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
20967 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
20968 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
20969 header. For more details, and for the external application
20970 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
20971 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
20972 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
20974 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
20978 (require 'hashcash)
20979 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
20982 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
20983 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
20984 development contrib directory.
20986 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
20990 @item hashcash-default-payment
20991 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
20992 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
20993 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
20994 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
20996 @item hashcash-payment-alist
20997 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
20998 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
20999 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(ADDR AMOUNT)} cells,
21000 where ADDR is the receiver (email address or newsgroup) and AMOUNT is
21001 the number of bits in the collision that is needed. It can also
21002 contain @samp{(ADDR STRING AMOUNT)} cells, where the STRING is the
21003 string to use (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21007 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21011 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21012 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21013 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21014 a useful contribution, however.
21016 @node Various Various
21017 @section Various Various
21023 @item gnus-home-directory
21024 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
21025 defaults to @file{~/}.
21027 @item gnus-directory
21028 @vindex gnus-directory
21029 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
21030 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
21031 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
21033 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
21034 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
21035 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
21036 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
21038 @item gnus-default-directory
21039 @vindex gnus-default-directory
21040 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
21041 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
21042 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
21043 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
21044 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
21045 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
21048 @vindex gnus-verbose
21049 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
21050 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
21051 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
21052 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
21053 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
21055 @item gnus-verbose-backends
21056 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
21057 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
21058 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
21060 @item nnheader-max-head-length
21061 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
21062 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
21063 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
21064 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
21065 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
21066 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
21067 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
21068 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
21069 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
21071 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
21072 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
21073 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
21074 read when doing the operation described above.
21076 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21077 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21079 @cindex invalid characters in file names
21080 @cindex characters in file names
21081 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
21082 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
21083 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
21086 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21090 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
21091 Windows (phooey) systems.
21093 @item gnus-hidden-properties
21094 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
21095 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
21096 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
21097 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
21099 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
21100 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
21101 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
21102 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
21103 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
21105 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
21106 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
21107 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
21109 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
21110 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
21112 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
21113 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
21114 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
21115 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
21118 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
21126 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
21127 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
21129 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
21131 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
21137 Not because of victories @*
21140 but for the common sunshine,@*
21142 the largess of the spring.
21146 but for the day's work done@*
21147 as well as I was able;@*
21148 not for a seat upon the dais@*
21149 but at the common table.@*
21154 @chapter Appendices
21157 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
21158 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
21159 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
21160 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
21161 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
21162 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
21163 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
21164 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
21165 * Frequently Asked Questions::
21172 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
21174 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
21175 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
21176 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
21177 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
21178 @samp{xemacs-base}, and @samp{fsf-compat}.
21185 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
21186 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
21188 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
21189 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
21190 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
21191 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
21192 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
21194 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
21195 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
21196 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
21197 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
21198 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
21199 appropriate name, don't you think?)
21201 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
21202 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
21203 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
21204 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
21207 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
21208 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
21209 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
21210 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
21211 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
21212 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
21213 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
21214 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
21215 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
21219 @node Gnus Versions
21220 @subsection Gnus Versions
21222 @cindex September Gnus
21224 @cindex Quassia Gnus
21225 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
21229 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
21230 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
21231 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
21233 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
21234 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
21236 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
21237 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
21239 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
21240 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
21242 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
21243 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
21246 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
21248 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
21249 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
21250 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
21251 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
21252 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
21253 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
21256 @node Other Gnus Versions
21257 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
21260 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
21261 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
21262 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
21263 @sc{mime} capabilities.
21265 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
21266 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
21267 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
21268 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
21275 What's the point of Gnus?
21277 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
21278 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
21279 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
21280 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
21281 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
21282 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
21283 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
21284 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
21285 keep track of millions of people who post?
21287 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
21288 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
21289 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
21290 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
21291 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
21292 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
21293 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
21294 every one of you to explore and invent.
21296 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
21297 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
21300 @node Compatibility
21301 @subsection Compatibility
21303 @cindex compatibility
21304 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
21305 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
21306 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
21311 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
21315 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
21318 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
21321 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
21322 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
21323 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
21324 important variables have their values copied into their global
21325 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
21326 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
21328 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
21329 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
21330 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
21331 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
21332 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
21336 @cindex highlighting
21337 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
21338 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
21339 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
21340 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
21341 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
21342 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
21345 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
21346 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
21347 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
21348 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
21350 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
21351 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
21352 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
21353 to stop doing it the old way.
21355 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
21357 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21359 @cindex reporting bugs
21361 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
21362 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
21363 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
21365 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
21366 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
21367 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
21368 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
21373 @subsection Conformity
21375 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
21376 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
21384 There are no known breaches of this standard.
21388 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
21390 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
21391 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
21392 We do have some breaches to this one.
21398 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
21399 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
21400 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
21401 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
21402 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
21407 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
21408 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
21409 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
21410 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
21412 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
21414 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
21416 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
21417 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
21419 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
21422 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
21423 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
21424 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
21425 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
21426 decoding (verification and decryption).
21428 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
21429 RFC 2015 (superceded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
21430 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
21431 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
21433 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
21434 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
21436 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
21437 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
21438 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
21439 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
21440 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
21441 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
21442 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
21446 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
21447 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
21452 @subsection Emacsen
21458 Gnus should work on :
21466 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
21470 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
21471 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
21474 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
21475 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
21476 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
21480 @node Gnus Development
21481 @subsection Gnus Development
21483 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
21484 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
21485 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
21486 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
21487 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
21488 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
21489 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
21490 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
21492 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
21493 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
21494 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
21495 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
21496 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
21499 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
21500 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
21501 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
21502 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
21503 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
21505 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
21506 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
21507 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
21508 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
21509 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
21510 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
21511 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
21512 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
21513 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
21514 can't be assumed to do so.
21519 @subsection Contributors
21520 @cindex contributors
21522 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
21523 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
21524 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
21525 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
21526 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
21527 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
21528 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
21529 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
21530 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
21531 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
21533 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
21539 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
21542 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
21543 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
21544 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
21545 functionality and stuff.
21548 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
21549 well as numerous other things).
21552 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
21555 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
21558 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
21561 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
21564 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
21565 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
21568 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
21571 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
21572 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
21575 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
21578 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
21581 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
21584 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
21587 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
21588 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
21591 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
21594 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
21597 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
21600 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
21604 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
21607 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
21610 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
21613 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
21614 well as autoconf support.
21618 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
21619 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
21621 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
21630 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
21634 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
21644 Alexei V. Barantsev,
21659 Massimo Campostrini,
21664 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
21665 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
21669 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
21672 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
21678 Michael Welsh Duggan,
21683 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
21687 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
21695 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
21697 Michelangelo Grigni,
21701 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
21703 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
21705 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
21712 François Felix Ingrand,
21713 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
21714 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
21716 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
21727 Peter Skov Knudsen,
21728 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
21730 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
21731 Thor Kristoffersen,
21734 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
21752 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
21753 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
21760 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
21765 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
21769 John McClary Prevost,
21775 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
21780 Christian von Roques,
21783 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
21790 Philippe Schnoebelen,
21792 Randal L. Schwartz,
21806 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
21811 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
21827 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
21832 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
21833 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
21834 (550kB and counting).
21836 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
21839 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
21840 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
21844 @subsection New Features
21845 @cindex new features
21848 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
21849 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
21850 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
21851 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
21852 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
21855 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
21856 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
21857 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
21860 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
21862 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
21867 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
21868 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
21871 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
21872 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
21875 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
21878 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
21879 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
21880 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
21883 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
21884 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
21885 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
21886 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
21889 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
21890 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21893 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
21894 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
21895 (@pxref{The Active File}).
21898 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
21899 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
21902 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
21903 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
21904 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21907 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
21908 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
21909 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
21912 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
21913 the @file{.emacs} file.
21916 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
21917 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
21920 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
21921 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
21924 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
21925 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21928 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
21929 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
21932 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
21933 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
21936 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
21939 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
21940 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
21943 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
21944 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
21947 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
21948 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
21951 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
21954 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
21955 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
21958 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
21962 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
21966 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
21967 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
21970 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
21976 @node September Gnus
21977 @subsubsection September Gnus
21981 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
21985 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
21990 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
21991 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
21995 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
21996 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
22000 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
22004 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
22005 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
22008 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
22012 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22015 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
22018 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
22021 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
22025 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
22026 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
22029 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
22033 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
22037 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
22041 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
22045 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
22048 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
22049 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
22052 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
22056 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
22057 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
22060 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
22063 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
22064 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
22065 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
22068 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
22072 The Gnus cache is much faster.
22075 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
22079 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
22080 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
22083 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
22084 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
22087 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
22088 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22091 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
22092 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
22093 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
22096 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
22097 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
22100 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
22103 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
22106 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
22109 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
22112 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
22113 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
22116 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
22120 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
22123 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
22128 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
22131 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
22135 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
22138 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
22142 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
22145 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
22148 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
22149 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
22152 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
22153 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
22157 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
22158 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
22161 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
22165 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
22166 buffer to allow easier treatment.
22169 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
22172 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
22176 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
22180 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
22181 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
22184 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
22188 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
22189 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
22192 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
22193 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
22196 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
22200 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
22203 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
22206 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
22212 @subsubsection Red Gnus
22214 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
22218 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
22225 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
22228 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
22229 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
22232 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
22233 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
22237 Article washing status can be displayed in the
22238 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
22241 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
22244 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
22245 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
22248 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
22252 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
22253 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
22257 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
22258 Server Internals}).
22261 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
22265 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
22268 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
22269 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
22272 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
22273 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
22274 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
22277 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
22278 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
22281 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
22282 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
22285 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
22289 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
22290 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22293 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
22294 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
22297 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
22301 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
22304 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
22308 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
22309 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22312 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
22313 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
22316 A new command for reading collections of documents
22317 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
22318 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
22321 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
22325 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
22326 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
22329 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
22330 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
22331 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
22334 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
22335 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
22339 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
22343 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
22347 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
22352 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
22356 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
22360 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
22361 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
22364 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
22370 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
22372 New features in Gnus 5.6:
22377 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
22378 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
22379 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
22382 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
22383 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
22384 group, which is created automatically.
22387 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
22391 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
22394 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
22395 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
22398 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
22402 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
22405 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
22406 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
22409 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
22412 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
22413 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
22416 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
22417 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
22420 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
22421 control over simplification.
22424 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
22427 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
22431 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
22434 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
22437 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
22438 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
22439 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
22442 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
22443 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
22446 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
22450 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
22451 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
22454 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
22455 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
22458 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
22462 A history of where mails have been split is available.
22465 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
22468 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
22469 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
22472 A new function for citing in Message has been
22473 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
22476 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
22479 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
22483 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
22484 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
22487 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
22488 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
22491 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
22494 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
22498 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
22499 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
22501 New features in Gnus 5.8:
22506 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
22507 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
22509 If you used procmail like in
22512 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
22513 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
22514 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
22515 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
22518 this now has changed to
22522 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
22526 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
22527 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
22530 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
22531 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
22534 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
22535 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
22538 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
22539 called to position point.
22542 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
22543 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
22546 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
22547 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
22550 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
22551 subtly different manner.
22554 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
22555 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
22556 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
22559 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
22567 @section The Manual
22571 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
22572 either @code{texi2dvi}
22574 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
22575 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
22577 to get what you hold in your hands now.
22579 The following conventions have been used:
22584 This is a @samp{string}
22587 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
22590 This is a @file{file}
22593 This is a @code{symbol}
22597 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
22601 (setq flargnoze "yes")
22604 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
22607 (setq flumphel 'yes)
22610 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
22611 ever get them confused.
22615 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
22616 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
22617 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
22618 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
22619 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
22620 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
22621 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
22627 @node On Writing Manuals
22628 @section On Writing Manuals
22630 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
22631 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
22632 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
22633 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
22634 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
22635 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
22638 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
22639 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
22640 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
22643 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
22644 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
22649 @section Terminology
22651 @cindex terminology
22656 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
22657 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
22658 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
22659 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
22660 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
22664 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
22665 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
22666 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
22667 not posting, and replying is not following up.
22671 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
22675 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
22680 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of back ends, both news and mail
22681 back ends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
22682 is all done by the back ends.
22686 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
22687 default, way of getting news.
22691 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
22692 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
22697 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
22698 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
22702 A message that has been posted as news.
22705 @cindex mail message
22706 A message that has been mailed.
22710 A mail message or news article
22714 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
22719 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
22724 A line from the head of an article.
22728 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
22729 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
22733 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
22734 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
22735 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
22736 normal @sc{head} format.
22740 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
22741 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
22742 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
22743 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
22744 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
22745 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
22747 @item killed groups
22748 @cindex killed groups
22749 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
22750 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
22752 @item zombie groups
22753 @cindex zombie groups
22754 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
22757 @cindex active file
22758 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
22759 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
22760 is rather large, as you might surmise.
22763 @cindex bogus groups
22764 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
22765 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
22766 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
22769 @cindex activating groups
22770 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
22771 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
22772 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
22776 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
22778 @item select method
22779 @cindex select method
22780 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
22783 @item virtual server
22784 @cindex virtual server
22785 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
22786 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
22787 whole is a virtual server.
22791 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
22792 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
22795 @item ephemeral groups
22796 @cindex ephemeral groups
22797 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
22798 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
22799 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
22802 @cindex solid groups
22803 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
22804 group buffer are solid groups.
22806 @item sparse articles
22807 @cindex sparse articles
22808 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
22809 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
22813 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
22814 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
22818 @cindex thread root
22819 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
22820 articles in the thread.
22824 An article that has responses.
22828 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
22832 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
22833 specified by RFC 1153.
22839 @node Customization
22840 @section Customization
22841 @cindex general customization
22843 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
22844 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
22845 for some quite common situations.
22848 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
22849 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
22850 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
22851 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
22855 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
22856 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
22858 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
22859 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
22860 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
22864 @item gnus-read-active-file
22865 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
22866 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
22867 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
22868 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
22869 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
22871 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
22872 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
22873 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
22874 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
22878 @node Slow Terminal Connection
22879 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
22881 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
22882 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
22883 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
22887 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
22888 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
22889 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
22890 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
22891 horizontal and vertical recentering.
22893 @item gnus-visible-headers
22894 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
22895 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
22896 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
22897 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
22899 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
22901 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
22902 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
22903 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
22906 @item gnus-use-full-window
22907 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
22908 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
22909 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
22910 want to read them anyway.
22912 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
22913 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
22917 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
22918 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
22919 lines, which might save some time.
22923 @node Little Disk Space
22924 @subsection Little Disk Space
22927 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
22928 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
22932 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
22933 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
22934 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
22935 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22938 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
22939 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
22940 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
22941 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22944 @item gnus-save-killed-list
22945 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
22946 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
22947 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
22948 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
22954 @subsection Slow Machine
22955 @cindex slow machine
22957 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
22958 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
22960 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
22961 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
22963 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
22964 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
22965 summary buffer faster.
22969 @node Troubleshooting
22970 @section Troubleshooting
22971 @cindex troubleshooting
22973 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
22981 Make sure your computer is switched on.
22984 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
22985 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
22989 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
22990 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
22991 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
22992 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
22995 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
22999 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
23000 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
23001 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
23002 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
23003 something like that.
23006 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
23009 @cindex reporting bugs
23011 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23013 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
23014 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
23015 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
23016 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
23018 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
23019 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
23020 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
23021 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
23024 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
23025 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
23026 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
23027 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
23028 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
23029 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
23031 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
23032 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
23033 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
23037 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
23038 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
23040 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
23041 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
23043 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
23044 @cindex ding mailing list
23045 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
23046 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
23050 @node Gnus Reference Guide
23051 @section Gnus Reference Guide
23053 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
23054 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
23055 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
23056 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
23059 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
23060 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
23061 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
23062 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
23063 and general methods of operation.
23066 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
23067 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
23068 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
23069 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
23070 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
23071 * Group Info:: The group info format.
23072 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
23073 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
23074 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
23078 @node Gnus Utility Functions
23079 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
23080 @cindex Gnus utility functions
23081 @cindex utility functions
23083 @cindex internal variables
23085 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
23086 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
23087 Below is a list of the most common ones.
23091 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
23092 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
23093 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
23095 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
23096 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
23097 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
23099 @item gnus-group-real-name
23100 @findex gnus-group-real-name
23101 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
23104 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
23105 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
23106 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
23107 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
23109 @item gnus-get-info
23110 @findex gnus-get-info
23111 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
23113 @item gnus-group-unread
23114 @findex gnus-group-unread
23115 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
23119 @findex gnus-active
23120 The active entry for @var{group}.
23122 @item gnus-set-active
23123 @findex gnus-set-active
23124 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
23126 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
23127 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
23128 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
23131 @item gnus-continuum-version
23132 @findex gnus-continuum-version
23133 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
23134 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
23137 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
23138 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
23139 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
23141 @item gnus-news-group-p
23142 @findex gnus-news-group-p
23143 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
23145 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
23146 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
23147 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
23149 @item gnus-server-to-method
23150 @findex gnus-server-to-method
23151 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
23153 @item gnus-server-equal
23154 @findex gnus-server-equal
23155 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
23157 @item gnus-group-native-p
23158 @findex gnus-group-native-p
23159 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
23161 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
23162 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
23163 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
23165 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
23166 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
23167 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
23169 @item group-group-find-parameter
23170 @findex group-group-find-parameter
23171 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
23172 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
23174 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
23175 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
23176 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
23178 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
23179 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
23180 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
23182 @item gnus-check-backend-function
23183 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
23184 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
23185 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
23188 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
23192 @item gnus-read-method
23193 @findex gnus-read-method
23194 Prompts the user for a select method.
23199 @node Back End Interface
23200 @subsection Back End Interface
23202 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
23203 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
23204 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
23205 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
23206 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
23207 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
23209 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
23210 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
23211 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
23212 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
23213 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
23214 been opened, the function should fail.
23216 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
23217 name. Take this example:
23221 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
23222 (nntp-port-number 4324))
23225 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
23226 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
23228 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
23229 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
23230 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
23232 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
23233 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
23234 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
23236 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
23237 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
23238 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
23239 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
23240 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
23241 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
23244 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
23245 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
23246 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
23247 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
23250 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
23251 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
23252 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
23253 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
23254 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
23255 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
23256 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
23257 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
23258 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
23259 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
23261 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
23262 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
23263 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
23264 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
23265 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
23266 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
23267 of numbers as long as possible.
23269 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
23272 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
23275 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
23276 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
23277 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
23278 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
23279 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
23280 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
23284 @node Required Back End Functions
23285 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
23289 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
23291 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
23292 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
23293 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
23294 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
23296 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
23297 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
23298 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
23299 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
23301 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
23302 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
23303 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
23304 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
23305 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
23306 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
23307 number, do maximum fetches.
23309 Here's an example HEAD:
23312 221 1056 Article retrieved.
23313 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
23314 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
23315 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
23316 Subject: Re: Something very droll
23317 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
23318 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
23320 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
23321 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
23322 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
23326 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
23327 these in the data buffer.
23329 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
23333 head = error / valid-head
23334 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
23335 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
23336 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
23337 header = <text> eol
23340 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
23341 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
23345 nov-buffer = *nov-line
23346 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
23347 field = <text except TAB>
23350 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
23354 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
23356 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
23357 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
23359 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
23360 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
23361 server. In fact, it should do so.
23363 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
23364 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
23367 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
23369 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
23370 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
23373 There should be no data returned.
23376 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
23378 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
23379 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
23380 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
23381 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
23383 There should be no data returned.
23386 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
23388 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
23389 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
23390 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
23391 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
23393 There should be no data returned.
23396 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
23398 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
23400 There should be no data returned.
23403 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
23405 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
23406 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
23407 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
23408 it would be nice if that were possible.
23410 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
23411 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
23412 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
23413 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
23414 into its article buffer.
23416 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
23417 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
23418 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
23419 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
23420 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
23421 on successful article retrieval.
23424 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
23426 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
23427 making @var{group} the current group.
23429 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
23432 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
23435 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
23438 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
23439 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
23440 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
23441 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
23442 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
23443 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
23444 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
23445 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
23446 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
23450 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
23451 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
23452 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
23456 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
23458 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
23459 a no-op on most back ends.
23461 There should be no data returned.
23464 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
23466 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
23469 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
23472 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
23473 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
23476 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
23477 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
23478 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
23479 and the highest as 0.
23482 active-file = *active-line
23483 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
23485 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
23488 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
23489 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
23490 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
23493 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
23495 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
23496 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
23497 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
23498 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
23499 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
23500 clear if the posting could not be completed.
23502 There should be no result data from this function.
23507 @node Optional Back End Functions
23508 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
23512 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
23514 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
23515 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
23516 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
23518 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
23519 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
23520 former is in the same format as the data from
23521 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
23522 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
23525 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
23529 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
23531 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
23532 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
23533 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
23534 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
23535 should return the (altered) group info.
23537 There should be no result data from this function.
23540 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
23542 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
23543 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
23544 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
23545 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
23546 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
23547 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
23548 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
23549 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
23551 There should be no result data from this function.
23554 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
23556 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
23557 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
23558 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
23559 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
23560 propagate the mark information to the server.
23562 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
23565 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
23568 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
23569 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
23570 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
23571 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
23572 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
23573 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
23574 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
23575 possible, not limit itself to these.
23577 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
23578 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
23579 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
23580 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
23582 An example action list:
23585 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
23586 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
23587 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
23590 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
23591 mark on (currently not used for anything).
23593 There should be no result data from this function.
23595 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
23597 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
23598 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
23599 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
23600 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
23601 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
23603 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
23604 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
23605 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
23608 There should be no result data from this function.
23611 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
23613 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
23614 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
23615 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
23616 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
23617 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
23618 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
23619 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
23621 There should be no result data from this function.
23624 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
23626 The result data from this function should be a description of
23630 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
23632 description = <text>
23635 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
23637 The result data from this function should be the description of all
23638 groups available on the server.
23641 description-buffer = *description-line
23645 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
23647 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
23648 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
23649 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
23650 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
23651 in the active buffer format.
23653 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
23654 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
23655 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
23656 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
23657 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
23658 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
23659 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
23662 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
23664 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
23666 There should be no return data.
23669 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
23671 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
23672 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
23673 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
23674 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
23675 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
23678 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
23681 There should be no result data returned.
23684 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
23687 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
23688 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
23690 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
23691 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
23692 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
23693 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
23694 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
23695 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
23697 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
23698 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
23701 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
23702 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
23704 There should be no data returned.
23707 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
23709 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
23710 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
23711 this function in short order.
23713 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
23714 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
23716 There should be no data returned.
23719 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
23721 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
23722 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
23724 There should be no data returned.
23727 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
23729 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
23730 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
23731 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
23733 There should be no data returned.
23736 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
23738 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
23739 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
23741 There should be no data returned.
23746 @node Error Messaging
23747 @subsubsection Error Messaging
23749 @findex nnheader-report
23750 @findex nnheader-get-report
23751 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
23752 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
23753 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
23754 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
23755 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
23756 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
23759 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
23761 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
23764 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
23765 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
23766 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
23767 takes one argument---the server symbol.
23769 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
23770 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
23771 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
23774 @node Writing New Back Ends
23775 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
23777 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
23778 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
23779 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
23780 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
23781 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
23784 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
23785 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
23786 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
23788 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
23789 package called @code{nnoo}.
23791 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
23792 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
23798 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
23799 parameters. For instance:
23802 (nnoo-declare nndir
23806 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
23807 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
23810 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
23811 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
23812 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
23814 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
23815 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
23816 a function in those back ends.
23819 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
23820 "Where nndir will look for groups."
23821 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
23824 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
23825 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
23826 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
23828 @item nnoo-define-basics
23829 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
23833 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
23837 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
23838 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
23839 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
23841 @item nnoo-map-functions
23842 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
23843 functions from the parent back ends.
23846 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
23847 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23848 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
23851 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
23852 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
23853 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
23854 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
23857 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
23858 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
23859 haven't already been defined.
23865 nnmh-request-newgroups)
23869 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
23870 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
23871 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
23876 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
23879 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
23880 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23884 (require 'nnheader)
23888 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
23890 (nnoo-declare nndir
23893 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
23894 "Where nndir will look for groups."
23895 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
23897 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
23898 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
23901 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
23903 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
23904 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
23905 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
23907 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
23908 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
23910 ;;; Interface functions.
23912 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
23914 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
23915 (setq nndir-directory
23916 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
23918 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
23919 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
23920 (push `(nndir-current-group
23921 ,(file-name-nondirectory
23922 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
23924 (push `(nndir-top-directory
23925 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
23927 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
23929 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
23930 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23931 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23932 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
23933 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
23937 nnmh-status-message
23939 nnmh-request-newgroups))
23945 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
23946 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
23948 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
23949 @findex gnus-declare-backend
23950 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
23951 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
23952 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
23954 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
23955 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
23960 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
23963 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
23965 The abilities can be:
23969 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
23971 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
23973 This back end supports both mail and news.
23975 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
23978 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
23979 articles and groups.
23981 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
23982 true for almost all back ends.
23983 @item prompt-address
23984 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
23985 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
23986 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
23990 @node Mail-like Back Ends
23991 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
23993 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
23994 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
23995 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
23996 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
23999 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
24000 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
24001 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
24004 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
24005 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
24008 This function takes four parameters.
24012 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
24015 @item exit-function
24016 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
24018 @item temp-directory
24019 Where the temporary files should be stored.
24022 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
24023 performed for one group only.
24026 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
24027 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
24028 find the article number assigned to this article.
24030 The function also uses the following variables:
24031 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
24032 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
24033 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
24034 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
24038 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
24039 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
24043 @node Score File Syntax
24044 @subsection Score File Syntax
24046 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
24047 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
24048 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
24050 Here's a typical score file:
24054 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
24061 BNF definition of a score file:
24064 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
24065 element = rule / atom
24066 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
24067 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
24068 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
24069 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
24071 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
24072 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
24073 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
24074 date-header = "date"
24075 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24076 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24077 score = "nil" / <integer>
24078 date = "nil" / <natural number>
24079 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
24080 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
24081 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
24082 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
24083 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24084 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24085 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
24086 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24087 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
24088 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
24089 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
24090 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
24091 exclude-files / read-only / touched
24092 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
24093 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
24094 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
24095 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
24096 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
24097 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
24098 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
24099 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
24100 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
24101 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
24102 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
24103 eval = "eval" space <form>
24104 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
24107 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
24110 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
24111 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
24112 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
24113 one looong line, then that's ok.
24115 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
24116 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24120 @subsection Headers
24122 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
24123 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
24124 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
24125 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
24127 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
24128 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
24129 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
24130 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
24131 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
24132 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
24133 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
24135 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
24136 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
24137 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
24138 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
24139 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
24141 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
24142 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
24148 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
24149 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
24151 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
24152 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
24153 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
24154 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
24156 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
24160 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
24163 is transformed into
24166 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
24169 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
24170 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
24173 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
24176 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
24177 is slightly tricky:
24180 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
24186 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
24189 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
24195 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
24202 and is equal to the previous range.
24204 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
24205 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
24206 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
24210 range = simple-range / normal-range
24211 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
24212 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
24213 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
24214 number *[ " " contents ]
24217 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
24218 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
24219 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
24220 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
24221 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
24226 @subsection Group Info
24228 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
24229 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
24230 describes the group.
24232 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
24233 second is a more complex one:
24236 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
24238 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
24239 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
24241 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
24244 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
24245 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
24246 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
24247 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
24248 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
24249 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
24250 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
24251 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
24252 this section is about.
24254 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
24255 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
24256 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
24258 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
24261 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
24262 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
24263 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24264 group = quote <string> quote
24265 ralevel = rank / level
24266 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
24267 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
24268 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
24270 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
24271 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
24272 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
24273 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
24276 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
24277 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
24280 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
24281 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
24284 @item gnus-info-group
24285 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
24286 @findex gnus-info-group
24287 @findex gnus-info-set-group
24288 Get/set the group name.
24290 @item gnus-info-rank
24291 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
24292 @findex gnus-info-rank
24293 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
24294 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
24296 @item gnus-info-level
24297 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
24298 @findex gnus-info-level
24299 @findex gnus-info-set-level
24300 Get/set the group level.
24302 @item gnus-info-score
24303 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
24304 @findex gnus-info-score
24305 @findex gnus-info-set-score
24306 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
24308 @item gnus-info-read
24309 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
24310 @findex gnus-info-read
24311 @findex gnus-info-set-read
24312 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
24314 @item gnus-info-marks
24315 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
24316 @findex gnus-info-marks
24317 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
24318 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
24320 @item gnus-info-method
24321 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
24322 @findex gnus-info-method
24323 @findex gnus-info-set-method
24324 Get/set the group select method.
24326 @item gnus-info-params
24327 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
24328 @findex gnus-info-params
24329 @findex gnus-info-set-params
24330 Get/set the group parameters.
24333 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
24334 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
24336 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
24337 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
24338 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
24339 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
24342 @node Extended Interactive
24343 @subsection Extended Interactive
24344 @cindex interactive
24345 @findex gnus-interactive
24347 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
24348 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
24349 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
24352 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
24353 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
24358 The best thing to do would have been to implement
24359 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
24360 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
24361 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
24362 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
24363 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
24364 @code{interactive}.
24366 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
24371 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
24372 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
24376 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
24377 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
24378 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
24381 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
24385 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
24389 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
24395 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
24396 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
24400 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
24401 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
24402 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
24404 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
24405 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
24406 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
24407 Gnus, that's very useful.
24409 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
24410 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
24411 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
24412 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
24413 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
24414 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
24415 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
24416 following function:
24419 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
24423 (,function ,@@args))
24427 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
24428 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
24429 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
24432 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
24433 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
24434 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
24436 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
24437 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
24438 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
24441 @node Various File Formats
24442 @subsection Various File Formats
24445 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
24446 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
24450 @node Active File Format
24451 @subsubsection Active File Format
24453 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
24454 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
24457 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
24460 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
24461 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
24462 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
24463 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
24464 no.general 1000 900 y
24467 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
24470 active = *group-line
24471 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
24472 group = <non-white-space string>
24474 high-number = <non-negative integer>
24475 low-number = <positive integer>
24476 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
24479 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
24480 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
24483 @node Newsgroups File Format
24484 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
24486 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
24487 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
24488 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
24491 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
24492 Here's the definition:
24496 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
24497 group = <non-white-space string>
24499 description = <string>
24504 @node Emacs for Heathens
24505 @section Emacs for Heathens
24507 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
24508 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
24509 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
24510 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
24511 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
24512 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
24513 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
24517 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
24518 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
24523 @subsection Keystrokes
24527 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
24530 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
24533 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
24534 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
24535 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
24536 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
24537 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
24538 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
24540 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
24541 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
24542 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
24543 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
24544 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
24545 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
24546 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
24548 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
24549 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
24550 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
24551 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
24552 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
24553 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
24554 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
24556 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
24557 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
24558 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
24559 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
24560 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
24566 @subsection Emacs Lisp
24568 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
24569 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
24570 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
24571 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
24573 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
24574 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
24575 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
24576 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
24577 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
24578 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
24579 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
24582 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
24583 write the following:
24586 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
24589 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
24590 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
24591 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
24594 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
24595 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
24596 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
24597 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
24598 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
24600 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
24601 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
24602 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
24606 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
24610 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
24613 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
24614 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
24617 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
24620 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
24621 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
24624 @include gnus-faq.texi
24644 @c Local Variables:
24646 @c coding: iso-8859-1
24648 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
24649 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
24650 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
24651 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
24652 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref