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10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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280 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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289 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
290 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
293 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
294 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
295 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
296 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
297 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
298 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
299 License'' in the Emacs manual.
301 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
302 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
303 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
305 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
306 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
307 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
308 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
316 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
318 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
319 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
321 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
322 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
323 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
324 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
325 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
326 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
327 License'' in the Emacs manual.
329 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
330 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
331 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
333 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
334 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
335 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
336 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
344 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
347 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
348 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
349 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
351 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
352 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
353 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
354 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
355 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
356 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
357 License'' in the Emacs manual.
359 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
360 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
361 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
363 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
364 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
365 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
366 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
375 @top The Gnus Newsreader
379 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
380 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
381 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
384 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v.
395 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
396 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
398 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
399 being accused of plagiarism:
401 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
402 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
403 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
404 can even read news with it!
406 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
407 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
408 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
409 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
410 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
416 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
417 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
418 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
419 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
420 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
421 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
422 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
423 * Various:: General purpose settings.
424 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
425 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
426 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
427 * Key Index:: Key Index.
430 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
434 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
435 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
436 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
437 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
438 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
439 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
440 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
441 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
442 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
443 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
444 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
448 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
449 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
450 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
454 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
455 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
456 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
457 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
458 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
459 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
460 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
461 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
462 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
463 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
464 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
465 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
466 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
467 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
468 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
469 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
470 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
474 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
475 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
476 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
480 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
481 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
482 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
483 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
484 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
488 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
489 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
490 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
491 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
495 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
496 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
497 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
498 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
499 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
501 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
502 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
503 * Threading:: How threads are made.
504 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
505 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
506 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
507 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
508 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
509 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
510 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
511 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
512 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
513 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
514 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
515 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
516 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
517 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
518 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
519 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
520 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
521 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
522 or reselecting the current group.
523 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
524 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
525 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
526 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
528 Summary Buffer Format
530 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
531 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
532 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
533 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
537 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
538 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
540 Reply, Followup and Post
542 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
543 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
544 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
545 * Canceling and Superseding::
549 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
550 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
551 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
553 * Generic Marking Commands::
554 * Setting Process Marks::
558 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
559 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
560 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
564 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
565 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
567 Customizing Threading
569 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
570 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
571 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
572 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
576 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
577 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
578 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
579 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
580 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
581 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
585 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
586 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
587 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
591 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
592 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
593 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
594 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
595 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
596 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
597 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
598 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
600 Alternative Approaches
602 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
603 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
605 Various Summary Stuff
607 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
608 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
609 * Summary Generation Commands::
610 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
614 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
615 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
616 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
617 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
618 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
622 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
623 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
624 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
625 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
626 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
627 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
628 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
629 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
633 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
634 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
635 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
636 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
637 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
638 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
639 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
640 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
644 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
645 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
646 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
647 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
648 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
649 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
650 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
654 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
655 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
659 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
660 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
661 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
665 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
666 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
667 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
668 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
669 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
670 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
671 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
672 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
673 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
674 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
675 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
676 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
677 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
678 * Archiving Mail:: How to backup your mail.
682 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
683 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
684 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
686 Choosing a Mail Back End
688 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
689 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
690 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
691 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
692 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
693 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
697 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
698 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
699 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
700 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
701 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
702 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
706 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
707 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
708 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
712 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
713 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
714 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
715 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
716 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
720 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
724 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
725 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
726 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
730 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
731 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
735 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
736 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
737 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
738 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
739 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
740 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
741 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
742 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
743 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
744 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
748 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
749 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
750 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
754 * Group Agent Commands::
755 * Summary Agent Commands::
756 * Server Agent Commands::
760 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
761 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
762 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
763 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
764 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
765 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
766 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
767 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
768 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
769 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
770 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
771 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
772 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
773 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
774 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
775 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
776 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
780 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
781 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
782 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
783 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
787 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
788 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
789 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
793 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
794 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
795 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
796 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
797 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
798 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
799 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
800 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
801 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
802 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
803 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
804 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
805 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
806 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
807 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
808 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
809 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
810 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
814 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
815 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
816 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
817 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
818 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
819 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
820 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
821 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
825 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
826 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
827 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
828 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
832 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
833 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
834 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
835 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
836 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
840 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
841 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
842 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
843 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
844 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
845 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
846 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
850 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
851 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
852 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
853 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
854 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
855 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
856 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
857 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
858 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
862 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
863 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
864 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
865 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
866 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
870 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
871 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
872 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
873 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
877 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
878 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
879 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
880 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
881 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
882 * Group Info:: The group info format.
883 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
884 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
885 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
889 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
890 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
891 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
892 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
893 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
894 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
898 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
899 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
903 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
904 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
910 @chapter Starting Gnus
915 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
916 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
919 @findex gnus-other-frame
920 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
921 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
922 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
924 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
925 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
926 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
928 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
929 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
932 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
933 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
934 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
935 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
936 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
937 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
938 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
939 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
940 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
941 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
942 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
946 @node Finding the News
947 @section Finding the News
950 @vindex gnus-select-method
952 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
953 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
954 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
955 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
958 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
959 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
962 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
965 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
968 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
971 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
972 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
973 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
975 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
977 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
978 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
979 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
980 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
981 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
982 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
984 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
985 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
986 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
987 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
989 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
990 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
991 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
992 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
993 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
994 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
995 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
996 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
997 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1000 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1002 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1003 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1004 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1005 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1006 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1007 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1009 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1011 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1012 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1013 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1014 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1015 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1016 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1019 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1020 you would typically set this variable to
1023 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1027 @node The First Time
1028 @section The First Time
1029 @cindex first time usage
1031 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1032 be subscribed by default.
1034 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1035 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1036 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1037 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1040 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1041 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1042 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1044 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1045 help you with most common problems.
1047 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1048 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1052 @node The Server is Down
1053 @section The Server is Down
1054 @cindex server errors
1056 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1057 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1058 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1060 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1061 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1062 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1063 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1064 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1065 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1066 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1068 @findex gnus-no-server
1069 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1071 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1072 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1073 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1074 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1075 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1076 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1077 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1081 @section Slave Gnusae
1084 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1085 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1086 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1087 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1089 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1090 @code{.newsrc} file.
1092 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1093 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1094 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1095 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1096 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1097 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1098 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1100 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1101 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1102 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1103 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1104 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1105 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1106 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1107 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1109 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1110 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1113 @node Fetching a Group
1114 @section Fetching a Group
1115 @cindex fetching a group
1117 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1118 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1119 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1120 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1121 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1122 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1128 @cindex subscription
1130 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1131 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1132 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1133 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1134 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1135 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1136 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1137 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1138 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1141 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1142 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1143 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1147 @node Checking New Groups
1148 @subsection Checking New Groups
1150 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1151 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1152 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1153 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1154 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1155 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1156 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1157 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1158 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1159 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1161 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1162 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1163 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1164 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1165 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1166 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1167 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1168 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1169 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1170 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1171 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1173 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1174 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1175 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1176 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1177 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1178 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1181 @node Subscription Methods
1182 @subsection Subscription Methods
1184 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1185 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1186 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1188 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1189 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1191 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1195 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1196 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1197 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1198 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1199 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1201 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1202 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1203 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1204 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1206 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1207 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1208 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1210 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1211 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1212 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1213 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1214 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1215 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1216 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1217 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1218 up. Or something like that.
1220 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1221 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1222 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1223 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1224 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1226 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1227 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1228 Kill all new groups.
1230 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1231 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1232 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1233 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1234 topic parameter that looks like
1240 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1243 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1248 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1249 A closely related variable is
1250 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1251 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1252 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1253 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1256 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1257 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1258 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1259 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1262 @node Filtering New Groups
1263 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1265 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1266 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1267 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1270 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1273 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1274 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1275 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1276 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1277 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1278 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1279 subscribing these groups.
1280 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1281 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1283 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1284 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1285 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1286 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1287 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1288 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1289 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1290 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1292 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1293 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1294 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1295 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1296 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1297 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1298 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1299 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1300 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1301 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1303 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1304 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1307 @node Changing Servers
1308 @section Changing Servers
1309 @cindex changing servers
1311 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1312 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1313 very flaky and you want to use another.
1315 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1316 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1320 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1321 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1322 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1323 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1326 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1327 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1328 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1329 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1331 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1332 @findex gnus-change-server
1333 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1334 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1335 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1336 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1337 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1339 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1340 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1341 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1342 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1343 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1345 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1346 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1347 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1348 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1349 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1350 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1352 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1353 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1354 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1358 @section Startup Files
1359 @cindex startup files
1364 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1365 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1367 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1368 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1369 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1370 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1371 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1372 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1373 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1375 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1376 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1377 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1378 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1379 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1380 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1382 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1383 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1384 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1385 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1386 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1387 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1388 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1389 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1390 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1391 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1393 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1394 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1395 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1396 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1397 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1398 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1399 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1400 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1401 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1402 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1403 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1404 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1406 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1407 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1408 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1409 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1411 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1412 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1413 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1414 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1415 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1416 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1417 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1418 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1419 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1420 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1423 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1424 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1426 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1427 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1430 @vindex gnus-init-file
1431 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1432 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1433 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1434 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1435 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1436 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1437 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1438 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1439 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1445 @cindex dribble file
1448 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1449 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1450 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1451 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1452 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1455 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1456 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1459 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1460 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1461 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1463 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1464 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1465 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1466 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1467 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1468 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1470 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1471 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1472 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1475 @node The Active File
1476 @section The Active File
1478 @cindex ignored groups
1480 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1481 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1482 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1484 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1485 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1486 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1487 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1488 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1489 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1490 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1493 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1494 @c if you set it to anything else.
1496 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1498 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1499 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1500 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1502 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1503 you actually subscribe to.
1505 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1506 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1507 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1508 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1510 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1511 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1512 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1513 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1514 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1515 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1517 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1518 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1519 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1522 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1523 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1524 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1525 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1526 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1527 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1529 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1530 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1532 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1533 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1535 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1536 secondary select methods.
1539 @node Startup Variables
1540 @section Startup Variables
1544 @item gnus-load-hook
1545 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1546 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1547 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1548 times you start Gnus.
1550 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1551 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1552 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1554 @item gnus-startup-hook
1555 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1556 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1558 @item gnus-started-hook
1559 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1560 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1563 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1564 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1565 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1566 generating the group buffer.
1568 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1569 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1570 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1571 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1572 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1573 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1574 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1575 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1577 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1578 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1579 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1580 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1581 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1582 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1584 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1585 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1586 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1588 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1589 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1590 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1592 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1593 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1594 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1595 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1601 @chapter Group Buffer
1602 @cindex group buffer
1604 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1606 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1607 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1608 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1609 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1610 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1611 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1612 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1613 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1614 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1615 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1616 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1617 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1618 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1619 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1620 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1621 @c human rights at 9...
1624 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1625 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1626 long as Gnus is active.
1630 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1631 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1632 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1633 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1634 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1635 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1636 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1637 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1643 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1644 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1645 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1646 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1647 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1648 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1649 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1650 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1651 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1652 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1653 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1654 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1655 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1656 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1657 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1658 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1659 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1663 @node Group Buffer Format
1664 @section Group Buffer Format
1667 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1668 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1669 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1673 @node Group Line Specification
1674 @subsection Group Line Specification
1675 @cindex group buffer format
1677 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1678 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1680 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1683 25: news.announce.newusers
1684 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1689 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1690 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1691 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1692 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1694 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1695 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1696 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1697 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1698 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1699 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1701 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1703 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1704 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1705 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1706 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1709 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1710 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1711 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1713 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1718 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1721 Whether the group is subscribed.
1724 Level of subscribedness.
1727 Number of unread articles.
1730 Number of dormant articles.
1733 Number of ticked articles.
1736 Number of read articles.
1739 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1740 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1742 Gnus uses this estimation because the NNTP protocol provides efficient
1743 access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting the true
1744 unread message count is not possible efficiently. For hysterical
1745 raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of unread
1746 messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1747 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the
1748 back end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1749 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1752 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1755 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1764 Newsgroup description.
1767 @samp{m} if moderated.
1770 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1779 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1783 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1786 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1787 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1788 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1789 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1790 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1793 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1795 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1799 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1802 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1806 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1807 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1808 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1809 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1810 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1811 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1816 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1817 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1818 group, or a bogus native group.
1821 @node Group Modeline Specification
1822 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1823 @cindex group modeline
1825 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1826 The mode line can be changed by setting
1827 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1828 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1832 The native news server.
1834 The native select method.
1838 @node Group Highlighting
1839 @subsection Group Highlighting
1840 @cindex highlighting
1841 @cindex group highlighting
1843 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1844 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1845 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1846 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1847 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1849 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1853 (cond (window-system
1854 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1855 (defface my-group-face-1
1856 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1857 (defface my-group-face-2
1858 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1859 (defface my-group-face-3
1860 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1861 (defface my-group-face-4
1862 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1863 (defface my-group-face-5
1864 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1866 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1867 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1868 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1869 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1870 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1871 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1874 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1876 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1883 The number of unread articles in the group.
1887 Whether the group is a mail group.
1889 The level of the group.
1891 The score of the group.
1893 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1895 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1896 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1898 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1899 topic being inserted.
1902 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1903 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1904 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1906 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1907 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1908 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1909 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1910 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1913 @node Group Maneuvering
1914 @section Group Maneuvering
1915 @cindex group movement
1917 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1918 expected, hopefully.
1924 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1925 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1926 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1932 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1933 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1934 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1938 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1939 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1943 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1944 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1948 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1949 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1950 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1954 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1955 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1956 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1959 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1965 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1966 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1967 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1972 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1973 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1974 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1978 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1979 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1980 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1983 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1984 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1985 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1986 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1990 @node Selecting a Group
1991 @section Selecting a Group
1992 @cindex group selection
1997 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1998 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1999 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2000 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2001 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2002 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2003 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2004 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2005 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2006 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2008 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2009 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2010 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2012 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2013 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2018 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2019 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2020 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2021 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2022 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2026 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2027 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2028 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2029 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2030 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2031 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2032 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2033 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2034 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2035 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2038 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2039 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2040 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2041 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2042 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2045 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
2046 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2047 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2048 doing any processing of its contents
2049 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2050 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2051 manner will have no permanent effects.
2055 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2056 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
2057 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2058 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2059 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2060 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2061 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2062 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2065 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2066 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2067 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
2068 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2073 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
2074 full summary buffer.
2077 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
2080 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
2085 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2086 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
2087 Useful functions include:
2090 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2091 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2092 don't select the article.
2094 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2095 Select the first unread article.
2097 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2098 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2102 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2103 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2104 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2108 @node Subscription Commands
2109 @section Subscription Commands
2110 @cindex subscription
2118 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2119 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2120 Toggle subscription to the current group
2121 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2127 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2128 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2129 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2130 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2136 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2137 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2138 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2144 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2145 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2148 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2149 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2150 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2151 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2152 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2158 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2159 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2163 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2164 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2167 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2168 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2169 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2170 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2171 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2172 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2173 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2174 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2175 @file{.newsrc} file.
2179 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2189 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2190 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2191 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2192 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2193 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2194 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2199 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2200 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2201 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2205 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2206 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2207 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2209 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2210 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2211 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2212 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2213 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2214 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2221 @section Group Levels
2225 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2226 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2227 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2228 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2229 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2231 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2237 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2238 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2239 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2240 prompted for a level.
2243 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2244 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2245 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2246 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2247 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2248 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2249 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2250 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2251 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2252 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2253 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2254 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2255 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2256 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2257 reasons of efficiency.
2259 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2260 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2262 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2263 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2264 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2265 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2266 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2267 groups are hidden, in a way.
2269 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2270 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2271 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2272 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2273 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2274 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2276 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2277 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2278 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2279 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2280 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2281 list of killed groups.)
2283 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2284 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2285 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2287 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2288 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2289 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2290 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2291 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2292 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2293 relevant valid ranges.
2295 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2296 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2297 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2298 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2299 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2300 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2303 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2304 one with the best level.
2306 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2307 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2308 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2311 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2312 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2313 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2314 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2317 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2318 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2319 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2320 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2322 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2323 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2324 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2325 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2326 to 5. The default is 6.
2330 @section Group Score
2335 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2336 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2337 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2340 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2341 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2342 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2343 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2344 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2345 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2346 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2347 least significant part.))
2349 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2350 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2351 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2352 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2353 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2354 action after each summary exit, you can add
2355 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2356 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2357 slow things down somewhat.
2360 @node Marking Groups
2361 @section Marking Groups
2362 @cindex marking groups
2364 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2365 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2366 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2367 bidding on those groups.
2369 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2370 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2371 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2379 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2380 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2386 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2387 Remove the mark from the current group
2388 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2392 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2393 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2397 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2398 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2402 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2403 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2407 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2408 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2409 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2412 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2414 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2415 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2416 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2417 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2418 the command to be executed.
2421 @node Foreign Groups
2422 @section Foreign Groups
2423 @cindex foreign groups
2425 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2426 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2427 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2428 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2435 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2436 @cindex making groups
2437 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2438 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2439 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2443 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2444 @cindex renaming groups
2445 Rename the current group to something else
2446 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2447 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2453 @findex gnus-group-customize
2454 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2458 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2459 @cindex renaming groups
2460 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2461 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2465 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2466 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2467 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2471 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2472 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2473 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2477 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2479 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2480 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2485 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2486 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2490 @cindex (ding) archive
2491 @cindex archive group
2492 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2493 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2494 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2495 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2496 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2497 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2498 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2502 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2504 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2505 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2506 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2507 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2511 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2513 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2514 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2515 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2519 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2520 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2522 Make a group based on some file or other
2523 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2524 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2525 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2526 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2527 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2528 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2529 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2530 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2531 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2535 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2536 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2537 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2538 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2542 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2547 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2548 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2549 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2550 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2551 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2552 @xref{Web Searches}.
2554 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2555 to a particular group by using a match string like
2556 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2559 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2560 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2561 This function will delete the current group
2562 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2563 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2564 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2565 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2566 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2570 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2571 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2572 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2576 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2577 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2578 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2581 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2584 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2585 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2586 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2587 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2588 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2589 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2593 @node Group Parameters
2594 @section Group Parameters
2595 @cindex group parameters
2597 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2598 Here's an example group parameter list:
2601 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2605 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2606 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2607 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2608 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2610 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2611 is an alist of regexps and values.
2613 The following group parameters can be used:
2618 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2621 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2624 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2625 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2626 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2627 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2628 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2630 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2631 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2632 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2633 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2634 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2635 list address instead.
2637 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2641 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2644 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2647 It is totally ignored
2648 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2649 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2651 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2652 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2653 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2654 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2655 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2657 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2658 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2659 sending the message.
2661 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2662 @cindex Mail List Groups
2663 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2664 entering summary buffer.
2666 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2670 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2671 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2672 of whether it has any unread articles.
2674 @item broken-reply-to
2675 @cindex broken-reply-to
2676 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2677 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2678 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2679 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2680 broken behavior. So there!
2684 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2685 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2689 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2690 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2691 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2696 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2697 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2698 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2699 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2700 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2701 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2702 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2706 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2707 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2708 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2710 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2713 @cindex total-expire
2714 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2715 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2716 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2717 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2720 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2724 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2725 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2726 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2727 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2728 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2729 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2732 @cindex score file group parameter
2733 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2734 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2735 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2738 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2739 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2740 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2741 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2744 @cindex admin-address
2745 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2746 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2747 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2748 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2752 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2753 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2757 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2760 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2761 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2764 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2768 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2770 Here are some examples:
2774 Display only read articles.
2777 Display everything except expirable articles.
2779 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2780 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2784 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2785 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2786 @code{read}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2787 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2788 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{seen} and @code{recent}.
2792 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2793 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2794 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2798 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2799 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2800 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2805 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2806 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2807 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2809 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2811 @item ignored-charsets
2812 @cindex ignored-charset
2813 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2814 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2815 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2817 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2820 @cindex posting-style
2821 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2822 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2823 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2824 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2825 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2827 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2828 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2829 like this in the group parameters:
2834 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2839 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2840 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2844 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2845 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2846 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2847 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2848 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2850 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2851 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2852 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2853 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2854 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2855 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2856 @code{eval}ed there.
2858 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2859 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2860 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2861 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2862 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2866 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2867 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2868 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2869 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2870 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2872 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2873 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2877 (setq gnus-parameters
2879 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2880 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2881 (gnus-summary-line-format
2882 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2886 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2890 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2894 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2897 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2898 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2901 @node Listing Groups
2902 @section Listing Groups
2903 @cindex group listing
2905 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2913 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2914 List all groups that have unread articles
2915 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2916 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2917 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2918 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2925 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2926 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2927 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2928 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2929 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2930 unsubscribed groups).
2934 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2935 List all unread groups on a specific level
2936 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2937 with no unread articles.
2941 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2942 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2943 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2944 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2949 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2950 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2954 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2955 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2956 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2960 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2961 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2965 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2966 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2967 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2968 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2969 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2970 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2971 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2972 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2976 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2977 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2978 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2982 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2983 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2984 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2988 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
2989 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
2993 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
2994 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
2998 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
2999 List groups limited within the current selection
3000 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3004 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3005 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3009 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3010 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3014 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3015 @cindex visible group parameter
3016 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3017 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3018 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3019 get the same effect.
3021 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3022 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3023 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3024 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3025 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3028 @node Sorting Groups
3029 @section Sorting Groups
3030 @cindex sorting groups
3032 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3033 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3034 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3035 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3036 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3037 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3042 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3043 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3044 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3046 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3047 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3048 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3050 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3051 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3052 Sort by group level.
3054 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3055 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3056 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3058 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3059 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3060 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3061 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3063 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3064 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3065 Sort by number of unread articles.
3067 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3068 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3069 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3071 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3072 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3073 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3078 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3079 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3083 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3084 some sorting criteria:
3088 @kindex G S a (Group)
3089 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3090 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3091 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3094 @kindex G S u (Group)
3095 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3096 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3097 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3100 @kindex G S l (Group)
3101 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3102 Sort the group buffer by group level
3103 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3106 @kindex G S v (Group)
3107 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3108 Sort the group buffer by group score
3109 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3112 @kindex G S r (Group)
3113 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3114 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3115 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3118 @kindex G S m (Group)
3119 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3120 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3121 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3125 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3126 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3128 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3129 commands will sort in reverse order.
3131 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3135 @kindex G P a (Group)
3136 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3137 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3138 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3141 @kindex G P u (Group)
3142 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3143 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3144 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3147 @kindex G P l (Group)
3148 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3149 Sort the groups by group level
3150 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3153 @kindex G P v (Group)
3154 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3155 Sort the groups by group score
3156 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3159 @kindex G P r (Group)
3160 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3161 Sort the groups by group rank
3162 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3165 @kindex G P m (Group)
3166 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3167 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3168 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3172 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3176 @node Group Maintenance
3177 @section Group Maintenance
3178 @cindex bogus groups
3183 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3184 Find bogus groups and delete them
3185 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3189 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3190 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3191 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3192 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3193 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3197 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3198 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3199 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3200 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3201 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3202 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3205 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
3206 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3207 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3208 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3213 @node Browse Foreign Server
3214 @section Browse Foreign Server
3215 @cindex foreign servers
3216 @cindex browsing servers
3221 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3222 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3223 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3224 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3227 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3228 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3229 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3230 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3232 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3237 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3238 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3242 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3243 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3246 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3247 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3248 Enter the current group and display the first article
3249 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3252 @kindex RET (Browse)
3253 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3254 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3258 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3259 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3260 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3266 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3267 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3271 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3272 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3273 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3278 @section Exiting Gnus
3279 @cindex exiting Gnus
3281 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3286 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3287 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3288 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3289 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3293 @findex gnus-group-exit
3294 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3295 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3299 @findex gnus-group-quit
3300 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3301 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3304 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3305 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3306 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3307 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3308 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3313 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3314 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3315 trying to customize meta-variables.
3320 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3321 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3322 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3328 @section Group Topics
3331 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3332 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3333 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3334 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3335 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3336 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3340 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3341 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3352 2: alt.religion.emacs
3355 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3357 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3358 13: comp.sources.unix
3361 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3363 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3364 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3365 is a toggling command.)
3367 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3368 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3369 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3370 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3373 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3374 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3375 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3378 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3382 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3383 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3384 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3385 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3386 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3390 @node Topic Commands
3391 @subsection Topic Commands
3392 @cindex topic commands
3394 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3395 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3396 definitions slightly.
3398 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3399 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3400 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3401 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3402 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3403 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3405 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3412 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3413 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3414 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3418 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3420 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3421 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3422 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3423 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3426 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3427 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3428 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3429 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3433 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3434 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3435 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3436 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3442 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3443 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3444 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3448 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3449 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3450 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3453 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3454 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3455 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3456 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3457 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3459 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3460 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3464 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3465 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3472 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3474 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3475 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3476 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3477 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3478 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3479 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3483 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3489 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3490 Move the current group to some other topic
3491 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3492 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3496 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3497 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3501 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3502 Copy the current group to some other topic
3503 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3504 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3508 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3509 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3510 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3514 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3515 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3516 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3520 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3521 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3522 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3523 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3524 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3525 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3526 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3529 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3530 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3534 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3535 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3536 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3540 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3541 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3542 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3546 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3547 Toggle hiding empty topics
3548 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3552 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3553 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3554 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3557 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3558 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3559 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3560 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3563 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3564 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3565 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3566 expiry process (if any)
3567 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3571 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3572 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3575 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3576 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3577 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3581 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3582 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3583 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3587 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3588 @cindex group parameters
3589 @cindex topic parameters
3591 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3592 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3597 @node Topic Variables
3598 @subsection Topic Variables
3599 @cindex topic variables
3601 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3602 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3604 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3605 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3606 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3619 Number of groups in the topic.
3621 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3623 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3626 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3627 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3628 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3631 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3632 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3634 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3635 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3636 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3640 @subsection Topic Sorting
3641 @cindex topic sorting
3643 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3649 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3650 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3651 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3652 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3655 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3656 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3657 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3658 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3661 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3662 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3663 Sort the current topic by group level
3664 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3667 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3668 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3669 Sort the current topic by group score
3670 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3673 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3674 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3675 Sort the current topic by group rank
3676 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3679 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3680 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3681 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3682 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3685 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3686 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3687 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3688 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3692 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3695 @node Topic Topology
3696 @subsection Topic Topology
3697 @cindex topic topology
3700 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3706 2: alt.religion.emacs
3709 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3711 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3712 13: comp.sources.unix
3715 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3716 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3717 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3722 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3723 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3727 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3728 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3729 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3730 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3731 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3732 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3734 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3735 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3736 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3739 @node Topic Parameters
3740 @subsection Topic Parameters
3741 @cindex topic parameters
3743 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3744 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3745 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3747 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3752 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3753 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3754 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3759 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3760 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3761 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3762 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3768 2: alt.religion.emacs
3772 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3774 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3775 13: comp.sources.unix
3779 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3780 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3781 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3782 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3783 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3784 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3786 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3787 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3788 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3789 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3790 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3792 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3793 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3794 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3795 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3796 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3797 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3798 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3799 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3802 @node Misc Group Stuff
3803 @section Misc Group Stuff
3806 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3807 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3808 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3809 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3816 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3817 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3818 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3822 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3823 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3824 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3828 @findex gnus-group-mail
3829 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3833 Variables for the group buffer:
3837 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3838 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3839 is called after the group buffer has been
3842 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3843 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3844 is called after the group buffer is
3845 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3848 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3849 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3850 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3851 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3853 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3854 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3855 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3856 whether they are empty or not.
3858 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3859 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3860 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3861 non-ASCII group names.
3865 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3866 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3869 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3870 @cindex UTF-8 group names
3871 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3872 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
3873 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
3874 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
3878 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3879 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3884 @node Scanning New Messages
3885 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3886 @cindex new messages
3887 @cindex scanning new news
3893 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3894 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3895 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3896 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3897 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3898 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3903 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3904 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3905 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3906 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3907 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3908 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3909 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3911 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3912 @cindex activating groups
3914 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3915 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3920 @findex gnus-group-restart
3921 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3922 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3923 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3927 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3928 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3930 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3931 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3935 @node Group Information
3936 @subsection Group Information
3937 @cindex group information
3938 @cindex information on groups
3945 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3946 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3949 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3950 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3951 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3952 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3953 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3954 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3955 for fetching the file.
3957 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3958 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3962 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3964 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3965 @cindex describing groups
3966 @cindex group description
3967 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3968 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3969 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3973 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3974 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3975 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3982 @findex gnus-version
3983 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3987 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3988 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3991 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3994 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3995 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3999 @node Group Timestamp
4000 @subsection Group Timestamp
4002 @cindex group timestamps
4004 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4005 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4006 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4009 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4012 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4014 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4015 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4018 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4019 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4022 This will result in lines looking like:
4025 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4026 0: custom 19961002T012713
4029 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4030 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4034 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4035 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4040 @subsection File Commands
4041 @cindex file commands
4047 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4048 @vindex gnus-init-file
4049 @cindex reading init file
4050 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4051 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4055 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4056 @cindex saving .newsrc
4057 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4058 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4059 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4062 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4063 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4064 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4069 @node Summary Buffer
4070 @chapter Summary Buffer
4071 @cindex summary buffer
4073 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4074 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4076 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4077 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4079 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4082 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4083 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4084 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4085 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4086 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4087 * Delayed Articles::
4088 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4089 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4090 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4091 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4092 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4093 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4094 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4095 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4096 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4097 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4098 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4099 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4100 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4101 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4102 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4103 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4104 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4105 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4106 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4107 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4108 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4109 or reselecting the current group.
4110 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4111 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4112 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4113 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4117 @node Summary Buffer Format
4118 @section Summary Buffer Format
4119 @cindex summary buffer format
4123 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4124 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4125 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4131 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4132 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4133 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4134 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4137 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4138 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4139 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4140 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4141 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4142 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4143 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4144 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4145 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4146 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4147 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4150 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4151 'mail-extract-address-components)
4154 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4155 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4156 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4157 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4160 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4161 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4163 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4164 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4165 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4166 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4167 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4169 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4170 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4171 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4172 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4173 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4175 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%) %s\n}.
4177 The following format specification characters and extended format
4178 specification(s) are understood:
4184 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4185 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4187 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4188 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4189 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4191 Full @code{From} header.
4193 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4195 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
4196 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
4198 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4199 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4200 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4201 may be more thorough.
4203 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4206 Number of lines in the article.
4208 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4209 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4211 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4213 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4216 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4217 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4219 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4220 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4222 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4223 for adopted articles.
4225 One space for each thread level.
4227 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4232 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4233 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4237 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4239 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4240 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4241 default level. If the difference between
4242 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4243 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4251 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4253 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4259 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4260 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4262 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4263 article has any children.
4269 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4270 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4272 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4273 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4274 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4275 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4276 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4277 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4280 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4281 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4282 There can only be one such area.
4284 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4285 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4286 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4287 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4288 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4289 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4291 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4292 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4294 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4297 @node To From Newsgroups
4298 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4302 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4303 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4304 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4305 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4306 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4310 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4311 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4312 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4316 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4317 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4320 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4321 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4324 @findex gnus-extra-header
4325 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4326 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4327 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4330 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4334 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4335 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4336 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4337 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4338 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4339 headers are used instead.
4343 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4344 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4345 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4346 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4349 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4350 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4351 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4352 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4354 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4358 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4360 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4361 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4362 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4363 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4367 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4368 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4375 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4376 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4379 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4380 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4382 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4383 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4384 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4385 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4387 Here are the elements you can play with:
4393 Unprefixed group name.
4395 Current article number.
4397 Current article score.
4401 Number of unread articles in this group.
4403 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4406 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4407 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4408 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4409 and no unselected ones.
4411 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4412 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4414 Subject of the current article.
4416 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4418 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4420 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4422 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4424 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4426 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4430 @node Summary Highlighting
4431 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4435 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4436 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4437 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4438 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4439 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4441 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4442 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4443 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4444 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4446 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4447 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4448 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4449 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4451 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4452 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4453 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4454 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4455 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4456 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4459 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4460 ((> score default) . bold))
4462 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4463 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4467 @node Summary Maneuvering
4468 @section Summary Maneuvering
4469 @cindex summary movement
4471 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4472 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4474 None of these commands select articles.
4479 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4480 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4481 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4482 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4483 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4487 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4488 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4489 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4490 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4491 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4494 @kindex G g (Summary)
4495 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4496 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4497 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4500 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4501 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4502 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4503 to the group buffer.
4505 Variables related to summary movement:
4509 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4510 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4511 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4512 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4513 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4514 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4515 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4516 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4517 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4518 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4519 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4520 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4521 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4522 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4524 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4525 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4526 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4527 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4528 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4529 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4530 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4532 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4534 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4535 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4536 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4537 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4538 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4540 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4541 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4542 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4543 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4544 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4545 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4546 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4547 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4550 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4551 the given number of lines from the top.
4556 @node Choosing Articles
4557 @section Choosing Articles
4558 @cindex selecting articles
4561 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4562 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4566 @node Choosing Commands
4567 @subsection Choosing Commands
4569 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4570 and they all select and display an article.
4572 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4573 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4577 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4578 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4579 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4580 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4585 @kindex G n (Summary)
4586 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4587 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4588 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4593 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4594 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4595 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4600 @kindex G N (Summary)
4601 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4602 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4607 @kindex G P (Summary)
4608 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4609 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4612 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4613 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4614 Go to the next article with the same subject
4615 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4618 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4619 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4620 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4621 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4625 @kindex G f (Summary)
4627 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4628 Go to the first unread article
4629 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4633 @kindex G b (Summary)
4635 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4636 Go to the article with the highest score
4637 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4642 @kindex G l (Summary)
4643 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4644 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4647 @kindex G o (Summary)
4648 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4650 @cindex article history
4651 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4652 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4653 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4654 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4655 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4656 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4661 @kindex G j (Summary)
4662 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4663 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4664 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4669 @node Choosing Variables
4670 @subsection Choosing Variables
4672 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4675 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4676 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4677 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4678 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4679 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4680 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4682 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4683 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4684 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4685 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4687 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4688 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4689 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4690 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4691 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4692 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4693 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4694 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4695 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4696 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4697 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4698 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4699 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4700 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4705 @node Paging the Article
4706 @section Scrolling the Article
4707 @cindex article scrolling
4712 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4713 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4714 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4715 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4716 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4719 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4720 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4721 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4724 @kindex RET (Summary)
4725 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4726 Scroll the current article one line forward
4727 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4730 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4731 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4732 Scroll the current article one line backward
4733 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4737 @kindex A g (Summary)
4739 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4740 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4741 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4742 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4743 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4744 the way it came from the server.
4746 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4747 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4748 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4751 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4756 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4761 @kindex A < (Summary)
4762 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4763 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4764 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4769 @kindex A > (Summary)
4770 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4771 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4775 @kindex A s (Summary)
4777 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4778 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4779 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4783 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4784 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4789 @node Reply Followup and Post
4790 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4793 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4794 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4795 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4796 * Canceling and Superseding::
4800 @node Summary Mail Commands
4801 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4803 @cindex composing mail
4805 Commands for composing a mail message:
4811 @kindex S r (Summary)
4813 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4814 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4815 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4816 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4817 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4822 @kindex S R (Summary)
4823 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4824 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4825 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4826 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4827 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4830 @kindex S w (Summary)
4831 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4832 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4833 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4834 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4835 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4838 @kindex S W (Summary)
4839 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4840 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4841 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4842 the process/prefix convention.
4845 @kindex S v (Summary)
4846 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
4847 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
4848 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
4849 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4850 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
4851 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
4855 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4856 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4857 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4858 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4859 Forward the current article to some other person
4860 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
4861 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
4862 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4863 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4864 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4865 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
4866 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4867 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4868 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4873 @kindex S m (Summary)
4874 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4875 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4876 Send a mail to some other person
4877 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4880 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4881 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4882 @cindex bouncing mail
4883 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4884 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4885 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4886 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4887 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4888 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4889 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4890 very well fail, though.
4893 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4894 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4895 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4896 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4897 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4898 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4899 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4900 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4901 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4902 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4904 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4905 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4906 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4907 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4908 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4910 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4911 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4914 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4915 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4916 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4917 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4918 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4921 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4922 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4923 @cindex crossposting
4924 @cindex excessive crossposting
4925 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4926 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4928 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4929 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4930 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4931 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4932 command understands the process/prefix convention
4933 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4937 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
4938 Manual}, for more information.
4941 @node Summary Post Commands
4942 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4944 @cindex composing news
4946 Commands for posting a news article:
4952 @kindex S p (Summary)
4953 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4954 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4955 Post an article to the current group
4956 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4961 @kindex S f (Summary)
4962 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4963 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4964 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4968 @kindex S F (Summary)
4970 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4971 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4972 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4973 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4974 process/prefix convention.
4977 @kindex S n (Summary)
4978 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4979 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4980 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4983 @kindex S N (Summary)
4984 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4985 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4986 message through mail and include the original message
4987 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4988 the process/prefix convention.
4991 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4992 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4993 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4994 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
4995 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
4996 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
4997 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4998 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4999 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5000 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5001 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5002 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5003 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
5006 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5007 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5009 @cindex making digests
5010 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5011 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5012 process/prefix convention.
5015 @kindex S u (Summary)
5016 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5017 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5018 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5019 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5022 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5023 Manual}, for more information.
5026 @node Summary Message Commands
5027 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5031 @kindex S y (Summary)
5032 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5033 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5034 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5035 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5036 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5041 @node Canceling and Superseding
5042 @subsection Canceling Articles
5043 @cindex canceling articles
5044 @cindex superseding articles
5046 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5047 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5049 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5051 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5053 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5054 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5055 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5056 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5057 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5058 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5060 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5061 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5064 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5065 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5066 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5068 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5069 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5070 your original article.
5072 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5074 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5075 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5076 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5079 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5080 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5081 have posted almost the same article twice.
5083 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5084 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5085 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5086 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5087 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5088 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5089 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5090 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5091 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5092 canceled/superseded.
5094 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5096 @node Delayed Articles
5097 @section Delayed Articles
5098 @cindex delayed sending
5099 @cindex send delayed
5101 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5102 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5103 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5104 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5107 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5110 @findex gnus-delay-article
5111 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5112 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5113 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5114 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5118 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5119 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5120 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5121 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5124 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5125 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5126 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5129 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5130 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5131 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5132 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5133 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5134 that means a time tomorrow.
5137 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5138 couple of variables:
5141 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5142 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5143 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5144 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5146 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5147 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5148 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5149 formats described above.
5151 @item gnus-delay-group
5152 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5153 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5154 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5155 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5157 @item gnus-delay-header
5158 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5159 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5160 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5161 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5164 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5165 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5166 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5167 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5168 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5170 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5171 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-drafts}
5172 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5173 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5174 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5175 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-drafts} function.
5178 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5179 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5180 By default, this function installs the @kbd{C-c C-j} key binding in
5181 Message mode and @code{gnus-delay-send-drafts} in
5182 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts two optional arguments,
5183 @code{no-keymap} and @code{no-check}. If @code{no-keymap} is non-nil,
5184 the @kbd{C-c C-j} binding is not intalled. If @code{no-check} is
5185 non-nil, @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed.
5187 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to change the
5188 keymap but not to change @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. Presumably, you
5189 want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles. Just don't
5190 forget to set that up :-)
5194 @node Marking Articles
5195 @section Marking Articles
5196 @cindex article marking
5197 @cindex article ticking
5200 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5202 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5203 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5204 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5206 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5209 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5210 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5211 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5215 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5219 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5220 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5221 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5225 @node Unread Articles
5226 @subsection Unread Articles
5228 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5233 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5234 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5236 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5237 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5238 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5239 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5240 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5241 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5242 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5245 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5246 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5248 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5249 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5250 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5251 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5255 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5256 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5258 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5263 @subsection Read Articles
5264 @cindex expirable mark
5266 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5271 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5272 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5273 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5276 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5277 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5280 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5281 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5282 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5285 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5286 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5289 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5290 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5293 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5294 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5297 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5298 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5301 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5302 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5305 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5306 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5309 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5310 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5314 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5315 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5316 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5320 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5321 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5323 One more special mark, though:
5327 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5328 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5330 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5331 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5332 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5333 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5339 @subsection Other Marks
5340 @cindex process mark
5343 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5349 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5350 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5351 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5352 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5353 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5356 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5357 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5358 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5359 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5361 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5362 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5363 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5365 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5366 Articles that are ``recently'' arrived in the group will be marked
5367 with an @samp{N} in the second column (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Most
5368 back end doesn't support the mark, in which case it's not shown.
5371 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5372 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5373 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5376 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5377 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5378 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5379 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5382 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5383 Articles that according to the back end haven't been seen by the user
5384 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5385 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all back ends support this
5386 mark, in which case it simply never appear.
5389 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5390 Articles that haven't been seen by the user before are marked with a
5391 @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5394 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5395 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5396 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5397 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5398 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5401 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5402 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5403 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5404 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5405 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5406 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5410 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5411 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5412 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5414 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5415 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5416 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5420 @subsection Setting Marks
5421 @cindex setting marks
5423 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5428 @kindex M c (Summary)
5429 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5430 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5431 @cindex mark as unread
5432 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5433 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5439 @kindex M t (Summary)
5440 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5441 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5442 @xref{Article Caching}.
5447 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5448 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5449 Mark the current article as dormant
5450 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5454 @kindex M d (Summary)
5456 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5457 Mark the current article as read
5458 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5462 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5463 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5464 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5469 @kindex M k (Summary)
5470 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5471 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5472 and then select the next unread article
5473 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5477 @kindex M K (Summary)
5478 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5479 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5480 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5481 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5484 @kindex M C (Summary)
5485 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5486 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5487 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5490 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5491 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5492 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5493 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5496 @kindex M H (Summary)
5497 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5498 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5499 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5502 @kindex M h (Summary)
5503 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5504 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5505 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5508 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5509 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5510 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5511 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5514 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5515 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5516 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5517 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5521 @kindex M e (Summary)
5523 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5524 Mark the current article as expirable
5525 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5528 @kindex M b (Summary)
5529 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5530 Set a bookmark in the current article
5531 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5534 @kindex M B (Summary)
5535 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5536 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5537 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5540 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5541 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5542 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5543 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5546 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5547 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5548 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5549 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5552 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5553 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5554 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5555 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5556 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5559 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5560 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5561 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5562 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5563 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5564 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5565 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5566 The default is @code{t}.
5569 @node Generic Marking Commands
5570 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5572 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5573 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5574 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5575 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5576 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5579 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5580 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5583 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5584 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5585 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5586 to list in this manual.
5588 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5589 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5590 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5591 article, you could say something like:
5594 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5595 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5596 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5602 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5603 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5607 @node Setting Process Marks
5608 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5609 @cindex setting process marks
5616 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5617 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5618 Mark the current article with the process mark
5619 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5620 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5624 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5625 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5626 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5627 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5630 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5631 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5632 Remove the process mark from all articles
5633 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5636 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5637 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5638 Invert the list of process marked articles
5639 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5642 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5643 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5644 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5645 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5648 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5649 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5650 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5651 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5654 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5655 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5656 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5659 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5660 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5661 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5662 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5665 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5666 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5667 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5668 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5671 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5672 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5673 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5674 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5677 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5678 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5679 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5682 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5683 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5684 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5685 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5688 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5689 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5690 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5693 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5694 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5695 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5696 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5699 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5700 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5701 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5702 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5705 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5706 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5707 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5708 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5711 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5712 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5713 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5714 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5718 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5719 set process marks based on article body contents.
5726 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5727 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5728 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5731 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5732 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5733 additional articles.
5739 @kindex / / (Summary)
5740 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5741 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5742 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5745 @kindex / a (Summary)
5746 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5747 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5748 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5751 @kindex / x (Summary)
5752 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5753 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5754 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5755 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5759 @kindex / u (Summary)
5761 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5762 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5763 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5764 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5765 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5768 @kindex / m (Summary)
5769 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5770 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5771 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5774 @kindex / t (Summary)
5775 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5776 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5777 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5778 articles younger than that number of days.
5781 @kindex / n (Summary)
5782 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5783 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5784 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5785 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5788 @kindex / w (Summary)
5789 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5790 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5791 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5795 @kindex / v (Summary)
5796 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5797 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5798 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5801 @kindex / p (Summary)
5802 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter
5803 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
5804 group parameter predicate
5805 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter}). See @pxref{Group
5806 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
5810 @kindex M S (Summary)
5811 @kindex / E (Summary)
5812 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5813 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5814 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5817 @kindex / D (Summary)
5818 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5819 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5820 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5823 @kindex / * (Summary)
5824 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5825 Include all cached articles in the limit
5826 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5829 @kindex / d (Summary)
5830 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5831 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5832 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5835 @kindex / M (Summary)
5836 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5837 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5840 @kindex / T (Summary)
5841 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5842 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5845 @kindex / c (Summary)
5846 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5847 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5848 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5851 @kindex / C (Summary)
5852 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5853 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5854 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5855 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5858 @kindex / N (Summary)
5859 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
5860 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
5861 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
5864 @kindex / o (Summary)
5865 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
5866 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
5867 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
5875 @cindex article threading
5877 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5878 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5879 hierarchical fashion.
5881 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5882 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5883 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5884 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
5885 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5886 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5887 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5889 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5893 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5896 A tree-like article structure.
5899 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5902 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5903 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5904 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5905 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5906 called loose threads.
5908 @item thread gathering
5909 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5911 @item sparse threads
5912 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5913 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5919 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5920 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5924 @node Customizing Threading
5925 @subsection Customizing Threading
5926 @cindex customizing threading
5929 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5930 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5931 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5932 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5937 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5940 @cindex loose threads
5943 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5944 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5945 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5946 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5947 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5948 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5950 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
5951 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
5952 There are four possible values:
5956 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5957 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
5958 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
5959 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
5960 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
5965 @cindex adopting articles
5970 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5971 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5972 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5973 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5976 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5977 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5978 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5979 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5980 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5981 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5982 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5985 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5986 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5987 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5991 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5992 display them after one another.
5995 Don't gather loose threads.
5998 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5999 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6000 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6001 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6002 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6003 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6004 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6005 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6006 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6007 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6008 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6010 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6011 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6012 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6015 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6016 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6017 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6018 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6019 simplification is used.
6021 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6022 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6023 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6024 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6026 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6028 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6034 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6035 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6036 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6037 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6042 (mapconcat 'identity
6043 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6045 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6048 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6051 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6052 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6053 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6054 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6055 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6056 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6058 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6061 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6062 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6063 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6065 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6066 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6069 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6070 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6071 Remove excessive whitespace.
6074 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6077 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6078 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6079 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6080 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6081 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6082 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6083 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6084 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6086 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6087 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6088 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6089 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6090 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6091 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6092 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6093 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6094 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6098 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6099 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6100 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6101 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6103 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6104 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6105 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6108 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6112 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6113 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6119 @node Filling In Threads
6120 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6123 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6124 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6125 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6126 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6127 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6128 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6129 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6130 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6131 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6132 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
6133 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
6134 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
6136 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6137 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6138 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6140 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6141 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6142 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6143 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6144 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6145 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6146 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6147 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6148 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6149 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6150 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6151 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6152 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6153 @code{nil} by default.
6155 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6156 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6157 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6158 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6159 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6160 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6161 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6163 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6164 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6165 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6170 @node More Threading
6171 @subsubsection More Threading
6174 @item gnus-show-threads
6175 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6176 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6177 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6178 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6179 slower and more awkward.
6181 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6182 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6183 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6186 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6187 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6188 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6189 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6190 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6191 threads are expunged.
6193 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6194 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6195 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6198 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6199 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6200 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6201 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6202 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6203 result in a new thread.
6205 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6206 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6207 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6210 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6211 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6212 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6213 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6214 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6215 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6216 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6217 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6218 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6219 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6220 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6225 @node Low-Level Threading
6226 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6230 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6231 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6232 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6234 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6235 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6236 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6237 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6238 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6239 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6240 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6241 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6242 meaningful. Here's one example:
6245 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6247 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6248 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6250 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6252 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6259 @node Thread Commands
6260 @subsection Thread Commands
6261 @cindex thread commands
6267 @kindex T k (Summary)
6268 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
6269 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6270 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6271 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6272 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6277 @kindex T l (Summary)
6278 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
6279 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6280 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6281 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6284 @kindex T i (Summary)
6285 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6286 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6287 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6290 @kindex T # (Summary)
6291 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6292 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6293 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6296 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6297 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6298 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6299 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6302 @kindex T T (Summary)
6303 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6304 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6307 @kindex T s (Summary)
6308 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6309 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6310 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6313 @kindex T h (Summary)
6314 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6315 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6318 @kindex T S (Summary)
6319 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6320 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6323 @kindex T H (Summary)
6324 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6325 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6328 @kindex T t (Summary)
6329 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6330 Re-thread the current article's thread
6331 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6332 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6335 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6336 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6337 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6338 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6342 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6343 understand the numeric prefix.
6348 @kindex T n (Summary)
6350 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
6352 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6353 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6354 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6357 @kindex T p (Summary)
6359 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
6361 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6362 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6363 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6366 @kindex T d (Summary)
6367 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6368 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6371 @kindex T u (Summary)
6372 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6373 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6376 @kindex T o (Summary)
6377 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6378 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6381 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6382 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6383 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6384 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6385 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6386 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6387 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6388 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6389 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6390 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6391 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6392 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6396 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6397 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6399 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6400 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6401 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6402 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6403 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6404 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6405 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6406 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6407 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6408 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6409 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6411 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6412 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6413 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6414 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
6415 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6417 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6418 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6419 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6421 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6422 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6423 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6424 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6425 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6426 ascending article order.
6428 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6429 by number, you could do something like:
6432 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6433 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6434 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6435 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6438 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6439 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6440 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6441 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6442 which the articles arrived.
6444 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6448 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6450 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6451 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6454 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6455 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6456 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6457 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6460 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6461 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6462 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6463 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6464 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6465 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6466 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6467 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6468 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6469 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6470 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6471 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6472 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6474 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6478 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6479 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6480 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6485 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6486 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6487 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6488 @cindex article pre-fetch
6491 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6492 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6493 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6494 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6495 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6497 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6498 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6500 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6501 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6502 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6503 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6504 connection is blocked.
6506 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6507 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6508 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6509 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6511 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6512 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6513 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6514 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6517 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6520 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6521 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6522 happen automatically.
6524 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6525 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6526 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6527 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6528 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6529 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6530 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6532 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6533 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6534 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6535 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6536 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6537 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6538 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6539 data structure as the only parameter.
6541 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6544 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6545 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6546 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6547 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6550 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6553 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6554 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6555 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6557 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6558 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6559 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6560 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6564 Remove articles when they are read.
6567 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6570 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6572 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6573 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6574 @c from the next group.
6577 @node Article Caching
6578 @section Article Caching
6579 @cindex article caching
6582 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6583 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6584 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6585 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6586 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6588 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6590 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6591 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6592 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6593 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6594 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6595 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6596 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6597 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6599 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6600 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6601 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6602 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6603 as dormant, and don't worry.
6605 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6607 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6608 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6609 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6610 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6611 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6612 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6613 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6614 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6615 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6616 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6618 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6619 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6620 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6621 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6622 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6623 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6624 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6625 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6626 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6627 not then be downloaded by this command.
6629 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6630 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6631 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6632 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6633 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6634 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6636 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6637 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6638 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6639 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6640 variables, the group is not cached.
6642 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6643 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6644 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6645 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6646 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6647 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6648 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6649 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6650 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6654 @node Persistent Articles
6655 @section Persistent Articles
6656 @cindex persistent articles
6658 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6659 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6660 useful in my opinion.
6662 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6663 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6664 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6665 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6666 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6667 the expiry going on at the news server.
6669 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6670 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6671 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6677 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6678 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6681 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6682 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6683 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6684 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6688 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6690 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6691 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6692 interested in persistent articles:
6695 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6699 @node Article Backlog
6700 @section Article Backlog
6702 @cindex article backlog
6704 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6705 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6706 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6707 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6708 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6709 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6710 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6711 increase memory usage some.
6713 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6714 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6715 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6716 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6717 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6718 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6719 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6721 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6724 @node Saving Articles
6725 @section Saving Articles
6726 @cindex saving articles
6728 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6729 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6730 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6731 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6732 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6734 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6735 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6736 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6738 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6739 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6740 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6741 deleted before saving.
6747 @kindex O o (Summary)
6749 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6750 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6751 Save the current article using the default article saver
6752 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6755 @kindex O m (Summary)
6756 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6757 Save the current article in mail format
6758 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6761 @kindex O r (Summary)
6762 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6763 Save the current article in rmail format
6764 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6767 @kindex O f (Summary)
6768 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6769 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6770 Save the current article in plain file format
6771 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6774 @kindex O F (Summary)
6775 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6776 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6777 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6780 @kindex O b (Summary)
6781 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6782 Save the current article body in plain file format
6783 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6786 @kindex O h (Summary)
6787 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6788 Save the current article in mh folder format
6789 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6792 @kindex O v (Summary)
6793 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6794 Save the current article in a VM folder
6795 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6799 @kindex O p (Summary)
6801 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6802 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6803 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6806 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6807 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6808 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6809 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6810 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6811 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6812 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6813 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6814 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6815 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6816 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6817 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6821 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6822 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6823 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6824 functions below, or you can create your own.
6828 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6829 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6830 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6831 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6832 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6833 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6834 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6836 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6837 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6838 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6839 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6840 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6841 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6843 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6844 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6845 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6846 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6847 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6848 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6849 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6851 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6852 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6853 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6854 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6855 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6857 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6858 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6859 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6860 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6861 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6864 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6865 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6866 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6867 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6868 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6870 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6871 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6872 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6873 reader to use this setting.
6876 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6877 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6878 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6879 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6882 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6883 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6884 available functions that generate names:
6888 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6889 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6890 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6892 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6893 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6894 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6896 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6897 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6898 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6900 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6901 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6902 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6904 @item gnus-sender-save-name
6905 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
6906 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
6909 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6910 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6911 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6912 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6913 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6917 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6918 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6919 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6920 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6923 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6924 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6925 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6926 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6927 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6928 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6929 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6930 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6931 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6933 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6934 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6935 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6936 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6938 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6939 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6940 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6943 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6944 lots of mail groups called things like
6945 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6946 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6947 following will do just that:
6950 (defun my-save-name (group)
6951 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6952 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6954 (setq gnus-split-methods
6955 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6960 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6961 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6962 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6963 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6964 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6965 all the files in the top level directory
6966 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6967 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6968 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6969 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6971 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6972 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6973 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6974 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6975 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6978 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6982 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6983 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
6984 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6987 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6988 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6989 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6990 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6993 @node Decoding Articles
6994 @section Decoding Articles
6995 @cindex decoding articles
6997 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6998 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7001 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7002 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7003 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7004 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7005 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7006 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7010 @cindex article series
7011 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7012 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7013 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7014 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7015 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7017 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7018 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7019 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7021 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7022 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7023 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7025 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7026 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7027 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7030 @node Uuencoded Articles
7031 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7033 @cindex uuencoded articles
7038 @kindex X u (Summary)
7039 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7040 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7041 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7044 @kindex X U (Summary)
7045 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7046 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7047 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7050 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7051 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7052 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7055 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7056 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7057 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7058 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7062 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7063 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7064 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7065 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7066 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7068 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7069 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7070 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7071 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7074 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7075 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7076 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7077 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7078 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7079 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7083 @node Shell Archives
7084 @subsection Shell Archives
7086 @cindex shell archives
7087 @cindex shared articles
7089 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7090 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7091 some commands to deal with these:
7096 @kindex X s (Summary)
7097 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7098 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7101 @kindex X S (Summary)
7102 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7103 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7106 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7107 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7108 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7111 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7112 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7113 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7114 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7118 @node PostScript Files
7119 @subsection PostScript Files
7125 @kindex X p (Summary)
7126 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7127 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7130 @kindex X P (Summary)
7131 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7132 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7133 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7136 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7137 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7138 View the current PostScript series
7139 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7142 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7143 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7144 View and save the current PostScript series
7145 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7150 @subsection Other Files
7154 @kindex X o (Summary)
7155 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7156 Save the current series
7157 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7160 @kindex X b (Summary)
7161 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7162 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7163 doesn't really work yet.
7167 @node Decoding Variables
7168 @subsection Decoding Variables
7170 Adjective, not verb.
7173 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7174 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7175 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7179 @node Rule Variables
7180 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7181 @cindex rule variables
7183 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7184 variables are of the form
7187 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7194 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7195 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7197 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7198 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7201 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7202 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7205 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7206 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7207 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7208 user and default view rules.
7210 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7211 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7212 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7217 @node Other Decode Variables
7218 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7221 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7223 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7224 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7225 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7226 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7227 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7231 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7232 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7235 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7236 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7237 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7240 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7241 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7242 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7243 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7244 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7247 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7248 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7249 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7251 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7252 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7253 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7254 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7255 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7258 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7259 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7260 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7262 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7263 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7264 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7265 looking for files to display.
7267 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7268 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7269 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7272 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7273 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7274 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7277 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7278 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7279 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7282 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7283 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7284 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7287 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7288 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7289 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7290 decoded articles as unread.
7292 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7293 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7294 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7295 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7297 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7298 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7299 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7301 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7302 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7304 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7305 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7306 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7307 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7309 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7310 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7311 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7312 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7313 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7314 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7315 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7316 simply dropped them.
7321 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7322 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7326 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7327 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7328 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7329 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7330 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7331 for you when you post the article.
7333 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7334 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7335 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7336 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7338 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7339 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7340 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7341 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7342 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7343 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7344 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7346 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7347 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7348 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7349 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7350 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7351 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7352 Default is @code{t}.
7358 @subsection Viewing Files
7359 @cindex viewing files
7360 @cindex pseudo-articles
7362 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7363 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7364 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7365 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7366 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7367 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7368 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7370 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7371 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7372 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7373 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7375 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7376 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7377 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7379 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7380 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7381 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7382 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7383 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7385 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7386 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7387 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7388 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7389 a list of parameters to that command.
7391 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7392 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7393 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7395 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7396 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7397 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7400 @node Article Treatment
7401 @section Article Treatment
7403 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7404 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7405 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7406 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7407 these articles easier.
7410 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7411 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7412 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7413 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7414 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7415 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7416 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7417 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7421 @node Article Highlighting
7422 @subsection Article Highlighting
7423 @cindex highlighting
7425 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7426 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7431 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7432 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7433 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7434 Do much highlighting of the current article
7435 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7436 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7439 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7440 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7441 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7442 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7443 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7444 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7445 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7446 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7447 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7448 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7449 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7450 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7453 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7454 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7455 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7457 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7460 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7462 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7463 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7464 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7466 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7467 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7468 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7470 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7471 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7472 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7473 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7474 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7475 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7477 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7478 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7479 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7481 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7482 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7483 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7485 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7486 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7487 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7488 that it's a citation.
7490 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7491 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7492 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7494 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7495 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7496 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7498 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7499 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7500 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7501 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7507 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7508 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7509 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7510 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7511 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7512 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7513 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7514 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7519 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7522 @node Article Fontisizing
7523 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7525 @cindex article emphasis
7527 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7528 @kindex W e (Summary)
7529 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7530 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7531 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7532 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7534 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7535 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7536 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7537 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7538 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7539 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7540 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7541 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7545 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7546 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7547 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7556 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7557 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7558 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7559 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7560 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7561 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7562 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7563 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7564 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7565 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7566 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7567 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7568 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7570 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7571 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7572 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7576 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7579 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7581 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7582 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7583 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7584 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7586 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7589 @node Article Hiding
7590 @subsection Article Hiding
7591 @cindex article hiding
7593 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7594 too much cruft in most articles.
7599 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7600 @findex gnus-article-hide
7601 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7602 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7603 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7606 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7607 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7608 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7612 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7613 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7614 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7615 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7618 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7619 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7620 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7624 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7625 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7626 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7627 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7628 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7629 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7630 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7631 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7635 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7636 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7637 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7638 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7643 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7644 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7645 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7646 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7647 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7648 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7649 articles that have signatures in them do:
7651 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7653 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7655 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7656 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7658 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7661 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7666 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7667 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7668 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7669 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7672 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7673 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7676 @cindex stripping advertisements
7677 @cindex advertisements
7678 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7679 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7680 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7681 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7682 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7683 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7684 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7685 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7686 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7687 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7691 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7692 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7693 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7694 customizing the hiding:
7698 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7699 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7700 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7701 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7702 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7703 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7704 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7709 Starting point of the hidden text.
7711 Ending point of the hidden text.
7713 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7715 Number of lines of hidden text.
7718 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7719 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7720 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7721 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7722 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7727 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7728 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7730 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7731 following two variables:
7734 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7735 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7736 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7737 50), hide the cited text.
7739 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7740 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7741 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7746 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7747 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7748 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7749 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7750 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7751 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7755 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7756 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7757 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7759 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7760 citation customization.
7762 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7766 @node Article Washing
7767 @subsection Article Washing
7769 @cindex article washing
7771 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7772 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7774 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7775 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7778 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
7779 articles by default.
7784 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
7785 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
7789 @kindex W l (Summary)
7790 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7791 Remove page breaks from the current article
7792 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7796 @kindex W r (Summary)
7797 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7798 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7799 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7800 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7801 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7802 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7804 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7805 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7806 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7807 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7811 @kindex W t (Summary)
7813 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7814 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7815 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7818 @kindex W v (Summary)
7819 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7820 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7821 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7824 @kindex W o (Summary)
7825 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7826 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7829 @kindex W d (Summary)
7830 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7831 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7833 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
7835 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7836 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7837 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7838 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7841 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
7842 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
7843 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
7844 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
7847 @kindex W w (Summary)
7848 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7849 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7851 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7855 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7856 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7857 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7860 @kindex W C (Summary)
7861 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7862 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7863 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7866 @kindex W c (Summary)
7867 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7868 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7869 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7870 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7871 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7874 @kindex W q (Summary)
7875 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
7876 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
7877 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
7878 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
7879 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
7880 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
7881 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
7882 header that says that this encoding has been done.
7883 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
7886 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
7887 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
7888 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
7889 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
7890 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
7891 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
7892 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
7894 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
7897 @kindex W Z (Summary)
7898 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
7899 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
7900 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
7901 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
7904 @kindex W h (Summary)
7905 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
7906 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
7907 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
7908 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
7910 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
7913 @kindex W f (Summary)
7915 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7916 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7917 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7918 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7925 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7926 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7927 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7928 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7929 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7930 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7931 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7932 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
7933 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For the
7934 @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
7935 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.}
7936 to view the face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image
7937 support, the default action is to display the face before the
7938 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7939 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7940 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7941 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
7942 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
7943 like @code{netpbm} or @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you
7944 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7948 @kindex W b (Summary)
7949 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7950 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7951 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7954 @kindex W B (Summary)
7955 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7956 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7957 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7960 @kindex W p (Summary)
7961 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
7962 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
7963 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
7964 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
7965 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
7966 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
7967 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
7970 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7971 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7972 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7973 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7976 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7977 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7978 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7979 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7982 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7983 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7984 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7985 lines with a single empty line.
7986 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7989 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7990 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7991 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7992 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7995 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7996 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7997 Do all the three commands above
7998 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8001 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8002 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8003 Remove all blank lines
8004 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8007 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8008 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8009 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8010 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8013 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8014 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8015 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8016 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8020 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8023 @node Article Buttons
8024 @subsection Article Buttons
8027 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8028 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8029 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8030 button on these references.
8032 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8033 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
8034 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
8039 @item gnus-button-alist
8040 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8041 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8044 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8050 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
8051 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
8052 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
8055 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8056 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8057 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8060 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8061 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8062 avoid false matches.
8065 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8068 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8069 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8073 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8076 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8079 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8080 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8081 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8082 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8083 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8086 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8089 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8091 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8092 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8093 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8094 default values of the variables above.
8096 @item gnus-article-button-face
8097 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8098 Face used on buttons.
8100 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8101 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8102 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8106 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8110 @subsection Article Date
8112 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8113 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8114 when the article was sent.
8119 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8120 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8121 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8122 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8125 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8126 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8128 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8129 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8132 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8133 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8134 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8137 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8138 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8139 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8140 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8143 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8144 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8145 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8146 @findex format-time-string
8147 Display the date using a user-defined format
8148 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8149 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8150 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8151 for a list of possible format specs.
8154 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8155 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8156 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8157 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8158 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8159 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8162 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8165 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8166 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8169 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8170 into wonderful absurdities.
8172 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8175 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8178 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8179 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8183 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8184 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8185 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8186 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8187 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8188 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8189 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8193 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8194 preferred format automatically.
8197 @node Article Signature
8198 @subsection Article Signature
8200 @cindex article signature
8202 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8203 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8204 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8205 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8206 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8207 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8208 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8209 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8210 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8213 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8214 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8215 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8216 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8217 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8218 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8219 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8220 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8223 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8226 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8227 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8228 signature when displaying articles.
8232 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8235 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8238 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8239 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8241 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8242 in question is not a signature.
8245 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8246 listed above. Here's an example:
8249 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8250 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8253 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8254 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8255 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8256 signature after all.
8259 @node Article Miscellania
8260 @subsection Article Miscellania
8264 @kindex A t (Summary)
8265 @findex gnus-article-babel
8266 Translate the article from one language to another
8267 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8273 @section @sc{mime} Commands
8274 @cindex MIME decoding
8276 @cindex viewing attachments
8278 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8279 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8285 @kindex K v (Summary)
8286 View the @sc{mime} part.
8289 @kindex K o (Summary)
8290 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8293 @kindex K c (Summary)
8294 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8297 @kindex K e (Summary)
8298 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8301 @kindex K i (Summary)
8302 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8305 @kindex K | (Summary)
8306 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8309 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8314 @kindex K b (Summary)
8315 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8316 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8320 @kindex K m (Summary)
8321 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8322 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8323 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8324 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8325 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8328 @kindex X m (Summary)
8329 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8330 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8331 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8332 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8335 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8336 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
8337 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8338 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8341 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8342 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8343 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8346 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8347 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8348 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8350 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8351 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8352 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8353 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
8354 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
8355 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8358 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8359 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8360 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8367 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8368 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8369 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8370 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8373 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8376 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8380 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8381 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8382 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8383 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8384 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8385 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8388 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8389 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8390 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8391 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8392 displayed. This variable overrides
8393 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8395 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8396 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8397 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} to the default value.
8399 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8400 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8401 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8402 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8403 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8404 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8405 save all jpegs into some directory).
8407 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8410 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8411 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8413 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8414 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8415 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8416 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8417 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8420 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8421 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8422 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8424 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8425 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8426 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8427 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8429 Ready-made functions include@*
8430 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8431 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8432 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8433 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8434 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8435 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8436 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8437 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8438 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8439 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8440 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8441 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8443 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8444 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8446 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8447 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8448 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
8451 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8452 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8453 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8454 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
8458 to your @file{.gnus} file.
8467 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8468 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8469 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8470 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8471 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8472 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8473 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8475 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8476 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8477 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
8478 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8480 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8481 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
8482 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8483 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8484 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
8485 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8486 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
8487 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
8489 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8490 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8491 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8492 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8493 quoted-printable header encoding.
8495 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8496 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8497 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8501 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8504 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8505 means encode all charsets),
8507 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8508 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8509 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8516 @cindex coding system aliases
8517 @cindex preferred charset
8519 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8521 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8522 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8525 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8526 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8529 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8530 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8532 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8535 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8538 This will almost do the right thing.
8540 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8544 (codepage-setup 1251)
8545 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8549 @node Article Commands
8550 @section Article Commands
8557 @kindex A P (Summary)
8558 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8559 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8560 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8561 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
8562 run just before printing the buffer.
8567 @node Summary Sorting
8568 @section Summary Sorting
8569 @cindex summary sorting
8571 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8572 can't really see why you'd want that.
8577 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8578 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8579 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8582 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8583 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8584 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8587 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8588 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8589 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8592 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8593 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8594 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8597 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8598 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8599 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8602 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8603 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8604 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8607 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8608 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8609 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8612 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
8613 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
8614 Sort using the default sorting method
8615 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
8618 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8619 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8620 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8621 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8622 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8626 @node Finding the Parent
8627 @section Finding the Parent
8628 @cindex parent articles
8629 @cindex referring articles
8634 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8635 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8636 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8637 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8638 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8639 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8640 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8641 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8642 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8644 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8645 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8646 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
8647 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8648 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8652 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8653 @kindex A R (Summary)
8654 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8655 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8658 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8659 @kindex A T (Summary)
8660 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8661 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8662 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8663 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8664 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8665 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8666 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8668 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8669 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8670 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8671 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8672 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8673 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8676 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8677 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8679 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8680 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8681 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8682 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8683 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8684 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8685 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8688 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8689 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8690 by giving this command a prefix.
8692 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8693 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
8694 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8695 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8696 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8697 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8700 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8701 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8702 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8705 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8706 then ask Deja if that fails:
8709 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8711 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8714 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
8715 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox}
8716 and @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8717 @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder} and @code{nnimap}1 are only able to locate
8718 articles that have been posted to the current group. (Anything else
8719 would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at
8723 @node Alternative Approaches
8724 @section Alternative Approaches
8726 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8727 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8730 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8731 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8736 @subsection Pick and Read
8737 @cindex pick and read
8739 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8740 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8741 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8742 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8744 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8745 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8746 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8747 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8748 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8749 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8751 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8756 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8757 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8758 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8759 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8760 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8761 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8762 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8763 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8766 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8767 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8768 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8769 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8773 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8774 Unpick the thread or article
8775 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8776 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8777 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8778 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8779 the thread or article at that line.
8783 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8784 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8785 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8786 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8787 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8788 will still be visible when you are reading.
8792 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8793 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8794 which is mapped to the same function
8795 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8797 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8800 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8803 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8804 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8806 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8807 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8808 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8810 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8811 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8812 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8813 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8814 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8815 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8816 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8820 @subsection Binary Groups
8821 @cindex binary groups
8823 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8824 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8825 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8826 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8827 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8828 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8829 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8832 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8833 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8834 command, when you have turned on this mode
8835 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8837 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8838 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8842 @section Tree Display
8845 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8846 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
8847 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8848 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8851 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8854 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8855 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8856 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8858 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8859 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8860 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8861 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8862 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8864 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8865 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8866 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8867 default is @code{modeline}.
8869 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8870 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8871 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8872 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8873 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8874 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8875 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8881 The name of the poster.
8883 The @code{From} header.
8885 The number of the article.
8887 The opening bracket.
8889 The closing bracket.
8894 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8896 Variables related to the display are:
8899 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8900 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8901 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8902 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8903 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8904 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8906 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8907 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8908 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8909 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8913 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8914 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8915 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
8916 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
8917 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8918 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8919 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8920 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8921 other windows displayed next to it.
8923 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8924 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8925 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8926 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8927 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8928 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8929 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8933 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8936 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8946 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8950 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8951 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8953 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8955 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8960 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8961 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8962 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8965 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8966 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8967 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8968 (gnus-add-configuration
8972 (summary 0.75 point)
8977 @xref{Window Layout}.
8980 @node Mail Group Commands
8981 @section Mail Group Commands
8982 @cindex mail group commands
8984 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8985 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8987 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8988 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8993 @kindex B e (Summary)
8994 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8995 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
8996 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
8997 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
8998 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9001 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
9002 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9003 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9004 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9005 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9006 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9009 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9010 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9011 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9012 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9013 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9014 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9017 @kindex B m (Summary)
9019 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9020 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9021 Move the article from one mail group to another
9022 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9023 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9026 @kindex B c (Summary)
9028 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9029 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9030 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9031 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9032 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9035 @kindex B B (Summary)
9036 @cindex crosspost mail
9037 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9038 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9039 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9040 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9041 be properly updated.
9044 @kindex B i (Summary)
9045 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9046 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9047 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9048 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9051 @kindex B r (Summary)
9052 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9053 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9054 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9055 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9056 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9057 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9058 (which is the default).
9062 @kindex B w (Summary)
9064 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9065 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9066 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9067 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9068 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9069 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9072 @kindex B q (Summary)
9073 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9074 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9075 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9076 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9079 @kindex B t (Summary)
9080 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9081 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9082 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9085 @kindex B p (Summary)
9086 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9087 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9088 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9089 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9090 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9091 article from your news server (or rather, from
9092 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9093 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9094 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9095 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9096 just not have arrived yet.
9100 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9101 @cindex moving articles
9102 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
9103 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9104 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9105 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9106 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9107 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9108 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9111 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9112 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9113 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9114 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9118 @node Various Summary Stuff
9119 @section Various Summary Stuff
9122 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9123 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9124 * Summary Generation Commands::
9125 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9129 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9130 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9131 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9133 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9134 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9135 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9136 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9137 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9138 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9141 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9142 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9143 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9144 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9145 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9147 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9148 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9149 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9152 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9153 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9154 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9155 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9156 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9157 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9158 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
9159 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9160 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9161 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9163 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9164 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9165 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9166 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9167 list of articles to be selected.
9169 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9170 the list in one particular group:
9173 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9174 (if (string= group "some.group")
9175 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9182 @node Summary Group Information
9183 @subsection Summary Group Information
9188 @kindex H f (Summary)
9189 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9190 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9191 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9192 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9193 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9194 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9195 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9196 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9197 be used for fetching the file.
9200 @kindex H d (Summary)
9201 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9202 Give a brief description of the current group
9203 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9204 rereading the description from the server.
9207 @kindex H h (Summary)
9208 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9209 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9210 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9213 @kindex H i (Summary)
9214 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9215 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9219 @node Searching for Articles
9220 @subsection Searching for Articles
9225 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9226 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9227 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9228 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9231 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9232 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9233 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9234 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9238 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9239 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9240 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9241 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9242 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9243 search backward instead.
9245 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9246 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9249 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9250 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9251 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9252 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9255 @node Summary Generation Commands
9256 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9261 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9262 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9263 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9266 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9267 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9268 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9269 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9274 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9275 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9281 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9282 @kindex A D (Summary)
9283 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9284 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9285 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9286 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9287 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9288 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9289 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9290 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9294 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
9295 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9296 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9297 several documents into one biiig group
9298 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9299 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9300 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9301 command understands the process/prefix convention
9302 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9305 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9306 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9307 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9308 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9309 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9310 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9314 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9315 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9316 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9319 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
9320 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9321 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9322 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9325 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
9326 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9327 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9328 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9333 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9334 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9335 @cindex summary exit
9336 @cindex exiting groups
9338 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9339 group and return you to the group buffer.
9345 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9347 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9348 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9349 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9350 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9351 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9352 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9353 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9354 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9355 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9356 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9357 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9361 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9363 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9364 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9365 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9369 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9371 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9372 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9373 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9374 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9377 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9378 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9379 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9380 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9383 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9384 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9385 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9386 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9389 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9390 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9391 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9392 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9393 all articles, both read and unread.
9397 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9398 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9399 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9400 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9401 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9402 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9403 articles, both read and unread.
9406 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9407 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9408 Exit the group and go to the next group
9409 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9412 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9413 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9414 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9415 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9418 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9419 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9420 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9421 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9422 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9423 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9426 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9427 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9428 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9429 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9431 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9432 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9433 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9434 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9435 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9436 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9437 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9438 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9439 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9440 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9441 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9442 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9444 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9446 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9447 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9448 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9449 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9450 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9451 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9452 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9453 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9454 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9457 @node Crosspost Handling
9458 @section Crosspost Handling
9462 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9463 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9464 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9465 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9466 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9467 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9470 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9471 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9472 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9473 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9474 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9476 @cindex cross-posting
9479 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9480 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9481 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9482 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9483 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9484 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9485 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9486 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9487 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9488 the cross reference mechanism.
9490 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9491 @cindex overview.fmt
9492 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9493 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9494 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9495 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9496 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9497 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9500 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9501 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9502 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9507 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9510 @node Duplicate Suppression
9511 @section Duplicate Suppression
9513 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9514 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9515 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9516 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9521 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9522 is evil and not very common.
9525 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9526 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9529 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9530 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9533 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9536 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9537 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9539 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9540 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9541 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9542 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9543 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9544 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9545 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9548 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9549 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9550 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9551 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9552 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9556 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9557 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9558 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9560 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9561 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9562 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9563 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9564 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
9565 session are suppressed.
9567 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9568 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9569 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9570 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9572 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9573 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9574 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9575 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9578 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
9579 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9580 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9581 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9582 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
9583 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9584 to you to figure out, I think.
9589 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
9590 The formats that are supported are PGP and S/MIME, however you need
9591 some external programs to get things to work:
9595 To verify or decrypt PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or
9596 gpg.el as well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG). @xref{Using GPG}.
9599 To verify or decrypt S/MIME message, you need to install OpenSSL.
9600 OpenSSL 0.9.6 or newer is recommended.
9604 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
9605 manual. @xref{Security, ,Security, message, The Message Manual}.
9608 @item mm-verify-option
9609 @vindex mm-verify-option
9610 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
9611 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
9612 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9614 @item mm-decrypt-option
9615 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
9616 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
9617 @code{always}, always decrypt @code{known}, only decrypt known
9618 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9623 @section Mailing List
9625 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
9626 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
9627 possibly using @kbd{A M} in the summary buffer, or say:
9630 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
9633 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
9638 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
9639 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
9640 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
9643 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
9644 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
9645 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
9648 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
9649 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
9650 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
9654 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
9655 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
9656 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
9659 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
9660 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9661 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
9664 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
9665 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9666 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
9670 @node Article Buffer
9671 @chapter Article Buffer
9672 @cindex article buffer
9674 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9675 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9676 tell Gnus otherwise.
9679 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9680 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9681 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9682 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9683 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9687 @node Hiding Headers
9688 @section Hiding Headers
9689 @cindex hiding headers
9690 @cindex deleting headers
9692 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9693 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9695 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9696 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9697 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9698 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9699 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9700 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9701 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9702 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9703 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9705 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9709 @item gnus-visible-headers
9710 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9711 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9712 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9713 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9715 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9716 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9719 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9722 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9725 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9726 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9727 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9728 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9729 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9730 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9732 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
9733 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
9736 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9739 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9742 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9743 variable will have no effect.
9747 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9748 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9749 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9750 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9751 the headers are to be displayed.
9753 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9754 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9757 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9760 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9761 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9763 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9764 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9765 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9766 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
9767 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9768 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9769 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9772 These conditions are:
9775 Remove all empty headers.
9777 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9778 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9780 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9783 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9786 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
9787 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
9789 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9792 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9794 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9797 To include these three elements, you could say something like;
9800 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9801 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9804 This is also the default value for this variable.
9811 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9812 while people stand around yawning.
9814 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9815 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9817 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9818 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9819 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9821 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
9822 @findex gnus-display-mime
9823 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
9824 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
9825 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
9826 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
9828 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
9832 @findex gnus-article-press-button
9834 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
9835 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
9836 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
9838 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
9839 @item M-RET (Article)
9841 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9842 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
9844 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
9846 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
9847 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
9849 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
9851 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9852 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
9854 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
9856 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
9857 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
9859 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
9861 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
9862 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
9863 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
9864 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
9865 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
9866 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
9868 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
9870 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
9871 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
9873 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
9875 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
9876 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
9877 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
9878 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
9879 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
9882 @findex gnus-mime-internalize-part
9884 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
9885 viewer is available, use an external viewer
9886 (@code{gnus-mime-internalize-part}).
9888 @findex gnus-mime-externalize-part
9890 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
9891 (@code{gnus-mime-externalize-part}).
9893 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
9895 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
9897 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
9899 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
9900 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
9904 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
9905 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
9908 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
9909 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
9910 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
9911 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
9912 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
9913 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
9914 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
9915 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
9916 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
9918 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9920 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9923 @node Customizing Articles
9924 @section Customizing Articles
9925 @cindex article customization
9927 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9928 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9929 called automatically when you select the articles.
9931 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9932 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9933 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9934 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9936 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9937 for sensible values.
9941 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9944 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9947 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9950 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9953 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9957 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9958 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9959 regexps in the list.
9962 A list where the first element is not a string:
9964 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9965 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9966 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9970 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9975 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9976 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9977 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9978 considered to contain just a single part.
9980 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9981 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9982 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9983 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9984 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9985 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9986 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9988 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9989 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9990 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9991 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9994 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9995 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9996 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9997 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
9998 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
9999 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10000 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10001 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10002 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10003 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10004 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
10005 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10006 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10007 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10008 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10009 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10010 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10011 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10012 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10013 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10014 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10015 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10016 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10017 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10018 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10019 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10020 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10021 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10022 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10023 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10024 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10025 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10026 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10027 @item gnus-treat-translate
10028 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10031 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10032 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10033 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10034 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10035 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10039 @node Article Keymap
10040 @section Article Keymap
10042 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10043 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10044 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10045 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10048 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10053 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10054 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10055 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10058 @kindex DEL (Article)
10059 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10060 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10063 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10064 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10065 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10066 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10067 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10070 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10071 @findex gnus-article-mail
10072 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10073 given a prefix, include the mail.
10076 @kindex s (Article)
10077 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10078 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10079 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10082 @kindex ? (Article)
10083 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10084 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10085 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10088 @kindex TAB (Article)
10089 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10090 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10091 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10094 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10095 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10096 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10102 @section Misc Article
10106 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10107 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10108 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10109 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10112 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10113 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10115 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10116 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10118 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10119 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10120 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10121 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10122 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10123 the contents of the article buffer.
10125 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10126 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10127 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10129 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10130 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10131 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10132 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10134 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10135 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10136 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10137 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10138 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10144 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10145 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10146 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10151 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10154 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10157 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10158 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10159 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10162 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10165 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10168 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10173 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10177 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10179 @item gnus-break-pages
10180 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10181 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10182 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10183 paging will not be done.
10185 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10186 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10187 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10192 @node Composing Messages
10193 @chapter Composing Messages
10194 @cindex composing messages
10197 @cindex sending mail
10203 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10204 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10205 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10206 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
10207 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10208 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10211 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10212 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
10213 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10214 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10215 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10216 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10217 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10218 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
10221 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10222 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10228 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10231 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10232 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10233 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10234 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
10236 @item gnus-add-to-list
10237 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10238 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10239 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10244 @node Posting Server
10245 @section Posting Server
10247 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10248 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10250 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10252 @vindex gnus-post-method
10254 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will post using the same
10255 select method as you're reading from (which might be convenient if
10256 you're reading lots of groups from different private servers).
10257 However. If the server you're reading from doesn't allow posting,
10258 just reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
10259 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
10260 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10263 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10266 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10267 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10268 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10269 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10271 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10272 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10274 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10275 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10278 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10279 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10282 @node Mail and Post
10283 @section Mail and Post
10285 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
10289 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
10290 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
10291 @cindex mailing lists
10293 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
10294 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
10295 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
10296 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
10297 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
10298 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
10299 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
10300 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
10301 still a pain, though.
10305 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
10306 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
10307 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
10310 @findex ispell-message
10312 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
10315 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
10316 you're in, you could say something like the following:
10319 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
10323 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
10324 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
10326 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
10329 Modify to suit your needs.
10332 @node Archived Messages
10333 @section Archived Messages
10334 @cindex archived messages
10335 @cindex sent messages
10337 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
10338 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
10339 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
10340 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
10343 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
10344 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
10345 use to store sent messages. The default is:
10348 (nnfolder "archive"
10349 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
10350 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
10351 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
10352 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
10355 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
10356 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
10357 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
10358 directory chosen, you could say something like:
10361 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
10362 '(nnfolder "archive"
10363 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
10364 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
10365 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
10368 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
10370 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
10371 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
10372 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
10374 This variable can be used to do the following:
10379 Messages will be saved in that group.
10381 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
10382 message will not be stored in the select method given by
10383 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
10384 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
10385 has the default value shown above. Then setting
10386 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
10387 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
10388 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
10392 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
10394 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
10395 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
10398 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
10403 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
10405 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
10408 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
10410 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
10413 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
10415 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10416 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
10417 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
10418 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
10421 More complex stuff:
10423 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10424 '((if (message-news-p)
10429 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
10430 messages in one file per month:
10433 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10434 '((if (message-news-p)
10436 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
10439 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
10440 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
10442 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
10443 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
10444 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
10445 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
10446 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
10447 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
10448 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
10449 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
10450 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
10451 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
10453 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
10454 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
10455 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
10456 this will disable archiving.
10459 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
10460 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
10461 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
10462 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
10463 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
10466 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
10467 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
10468 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
10471 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
10472 but the latter is the preferred method.
10474 @item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10475 @vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10476 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
10481 @node Posting Styles
10482 @section Posting Styles
10483 @cindex posting styles
10486 All them variables, they make my head swim.
10488 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
10489 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
10490 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
10493 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
10494 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
10495 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
10496 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
10497 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
10502 (signature "Peace and happiness")
10503 (organization "What me?"))
10505 (signature "Death to everybody"))
10506 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
10507 (organization "Emacs is it")))
10510 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
10511 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
10512 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
10513 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
10514 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
10515 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
10516 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
10517 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
10519 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
10520 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
10521 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header (the
10522 next element in the match) in the original article , and compare that to
10523 the last regexp in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function
10524 will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the
10525 variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be
10526 @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value,
10527 then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
10529 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
10530 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
10531 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
10532 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
10533 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
10534 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
10535 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
10536 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
10537 result is thrown away.
10539 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
10540 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
10541 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
10542 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
10543 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
10544 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
10546 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
10547 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
10548 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
10550 @findex message-mail-p
10551 @findex message-news-p
10553 So here's a new example:
10556 (setq gnus-posting-styles
10558 (signature-file "~/.signature")
10560 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
10561 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
10563 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
10564 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
10565 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
10567 (signature my-news-signature))
10568 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
10569 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
10570 ((posting-from-work-p)
10571 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
10572 (address "user@@bar.foo")
10573 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
10574 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
10576 (From (save-excursion
10577 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
10578 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
10580 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
10583 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
10584 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
10585 if you fill many roles.
10592 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
10593 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
10594 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
10595 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
10596 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
10598 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
10599 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
10600 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
10601 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
10602 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
10606 @vindex nndraft-directory
10607 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
10608 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
10609 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
10610 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
10611 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
10612 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
10614 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
10615 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
10618 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
10619 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
10620 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
10621 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
10622 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
10623 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
10624 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
10625 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
10626 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
10627 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
10628 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
10629 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
10630 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
10631 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
10633 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
10634 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
10635 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
10637 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
10638 @kindex D e (Draft)
10639 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
10640 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
10641 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
10643 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
10646 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
10647 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
10648 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
10649 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
10650 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
10651 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
10652 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
10655 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
10656 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
10657 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
10660 @node Rejected Articles
10661 @section Rejected Articles
10662 @cindex rejected articles
10664 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
10665 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
10666 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
10667 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
10669 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
10670 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
10671 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
10672 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
10673 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
10675 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
10676 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
10677 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
10683 Gnus has an ALPHA support to GPG that's provided by @file{gpg.el}. See
10684 @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} to enable Gnus to
10685 verify or decrypt messages accordingly.
10687 To use this correctly with GPG, you'll need the following lisp code in your
10688 @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10692 (setq mml2015-use 'gpg)
10693 (setq gpg-temp-directory (expand-file-name "~/.gnupg/tmp"))
10696 The @code{gpg-temp-directory} need to point to a directory with permissions set
10697 to 700, for your own safety.
10699 If you want to benefit of PGP2.6 compatibility, you might create a script named
10700 @file{gpg-2comp} with these instructions:
10704 exec gpg --rfc1991 "$@@"
10707 If you don't want to use such compatibility, you can add the following line to
10708 your @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10711 (setq gpg-command-default-alist (quote ((gpg . "gpg") (gpg-2comp . "gpg"))))
10714 To sign or encrypt your message you may choose to use the MML Security
10715 menu or @kbd{C-c C-m s p} to sign your message using PGP/MIME,
10716 @kbd{C-c C-m s s} to sign your message using S/MIME. There's also
10717 @kbd{C-c C-m c p} to encrypt your message with PGP/MIME and @kbd{C-c
10718 C-m c s} to encrypt using S/MIME. @xref{Security, ,Security, message,
10719 The Message Manual}.
10721 Gnus will ask for your passphrase and then it will send your message, if
10722 you've typed it correctly.
10724 @node Select Methods
10725 @chapter Select Methods
10726 @cindex foreign groups
10727 @cindex select methods
10729 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
10730 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
10731 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
10732 personal mail group.
10734 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
10735 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
10736 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
10737 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
10738 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
10739 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
10741 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
10742 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
10744 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
10747 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
10748 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
10749 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
10750 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
10751 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
10753 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
10756 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
10757 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
10758 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
10759 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
10760 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
10761 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
10762 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
10763 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
10767 @node Server Buffer
10768 @section Server Buffer
10770 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
10771 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
10772 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
10773 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
10774 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
10775 back end represents a virtual server.
10777 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
10778 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
10779 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
10780 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
10782 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
10783 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
10784 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
10785 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
10786 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
10787 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
10788 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
10790 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
10791 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
10794 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
10795 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
10796 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
10797 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
10798 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
10799 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
10800 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
10803 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
10804 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
10807 @node Server Buffer Format
10808 @subsection Server Buffer Format
10809 @cindex server buffer format
10811 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
10812 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10813 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10814 variable, with some simple extensions:
10819 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
10822 The name of this server.
10825 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10828 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10831 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10832 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10833 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10834 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
10844 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
10847 @node Server Commands
10848 @subsection Server Commands
10849 @cindex server commands
10855 @findex gnus-server-add-server
10856 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
10860 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
10861 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10864 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10865 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10866 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
10870 @findex gnus-server-exit
10871 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
10875 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
10876 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
10880 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
10881 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
10885 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
10886 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
10890 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
10891 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
10895 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
10896 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
10897 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
10902 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10903 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10904 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10905 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
10910 @node Example Methods
10911 @subsection Example Methods
10913 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10916 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10919 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10925 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10926 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10929 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10930 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10932 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10933 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10937 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10940 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
10941 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10943 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10944 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10945 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10949 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10952 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10955 Here's the method for a public spool:
10959 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10960 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10966 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10967 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10968 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10969 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10970 should probably look something like this:
10974 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
10975 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
10976 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
10977 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
10980 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10981 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
10982 configuration to the example above:
10985 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
10988 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
10989 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
10990 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
10994 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
10995 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
10996 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
10997 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11000 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11001 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11002 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11003 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11006 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11007 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11009 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11010 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11012 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11013 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11014 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11016 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11018 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11019 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11020 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11021 will contain the following:
11031 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11032 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11033 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11036 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11037 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11038 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11041 @node Server Variables
11042 @subsection Server Variables
11044 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11045 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11046 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11047 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11048 won't change the "derived" variables.
11050 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11051 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11052 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11053 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11054 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11055 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11056 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11057 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11058 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11062 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11063 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11064 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11068 @node Servers and Methods
11069 @subsection Servers and Methods
11071 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11072 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11073 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11074 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11078 @node Unavailable Servers
11079 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11081 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11082 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11083 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11084 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11085 actually the case or not.
11087 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11088 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11089 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11090 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11091 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11092 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11093 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11094 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11096 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11097 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11099 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11100 with the following commands:
11106 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11107 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11108 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11112 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11113 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11114 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11118 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11119 Mark the current server as unreachable
11120 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11123 @kindex M-o (Server)
11124 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11125 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11126 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11129 @kindex M-c (Server)
11130 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11131 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11132 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11136 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11137 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11138 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11144 @section Getting News
11145 @cindex reading news
11146 @cindex news back ends
11148 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11149 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11150 or it can read from a local spool.
11153 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11154 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11159 @subsection @sc{nntp}
11162 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11163 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11164 server as the, uhm, address.
11166 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11167 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11168 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11169 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11171 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11172 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11173 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11175 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11180 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11181 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11182 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11184 @cindex authentification
11185 @cindex nntp authentification
11186 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11187 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11188 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11189 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11190 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11191 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11192 present in this hook.
11194 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11195 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11196 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11197 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11198 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11199 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11200 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11201 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11202 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11203 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11204 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11205 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11209 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11212 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11214 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11215 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11216 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11217 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11218 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11219 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
11220 @samp{force} is explained below.
11224 Here's an example file:
11227 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
11228 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
11231 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
11232 have to be first, for instance.
11234 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
11235 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
11236 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
11237 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
11238 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
11239 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
11240 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
11242 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
11243 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
11249 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
11250 previously mentioned.
11252 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
11254 @item nntp-server-action-alist
11255 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
11256 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
11257 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
11258 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
11261 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
11262 '(("innd" (ding))))
11265 You probably don't want to do that, though.
11267 The default value is
11270 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
11271 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
11272 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
11275 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
11276 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
11278 @item nntp-maximum-request
11279 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
11280 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
11281 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
11282 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
11283 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
11284 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
11285 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
11287 @item nntp-connection-timeout
11288 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
11289 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
11290 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
11291 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
11292 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
11293 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
11294 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
11295 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
11296 no timeouts are done.
11298 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
11299 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
11300 @c @cindex PPP connections
11301 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
11302 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
11303 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
11304 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
11305 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
11306 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
11307 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
11308 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
11309 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
11310 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
11312 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
11313 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
11314 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
11315 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
11316 @c described above.
11318 @item nntp-server-hook
11319 @vindex nntp-server-hook
11320 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
11323 @item nntp-buggy-select
11324 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
11325 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
11327 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
11328 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
11329 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
11330 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
11333 @item nntp-xover-commands
11334 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
11337 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
11338 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
11342 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
11343 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
11344 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
11345 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
11346 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
11347 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
11348 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
11349 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
11350 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
11351 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
11352 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
11354 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
11355 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
11356 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
11358 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11359 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11360 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
11361 server closes connection.
11363 @item nntp-record-commands
11364 @vindex nntp-record-commands
11365 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
11366 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
11367 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
11368 that doesn't seem to work.
11370 @item nntp-open-connection-function
11371 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
11372 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
11373 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
11374 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
11375 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
11376 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
11377 indirect ones (two pre-made).
11379 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
11380 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
11381 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
11382 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
11383 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
11384 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
11385 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
11388 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
11393 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
11394 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
11395 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
11399 @node Direct Functions
11400 @subsubsection Direct Functions
11401 @cindex direct connection functions
11403 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
11404 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
11405 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
11406 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11409 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
11410 @item nntp-open-network-stream
11411 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
11414 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
11415 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
11416 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
11417 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
11418 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
11419 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
11420 define a server as follows:
11423 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
11425 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
11427 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
11428 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
11429 (nntp-port-number "snews")
11430 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
11433 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
11434 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
11435 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
11436 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
11437 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
11438 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
11439 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
11440 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
11444 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11445 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
11446 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
11449 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
11450 session, which is not a good idea.
11454 @node Indirect Functions
11455 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
11456 @cindex indirect connection functions
11458 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
11459 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
11460 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
11461 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
11462 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
11463 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11466 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11467 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11468 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
11469 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
11470 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
11472 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11475 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
11476 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
11477 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
11478 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
11481 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11482 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11483 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
11484 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
11486 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11489 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
11490 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
11491 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
11494 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
11495 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
11496 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
11497 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
11499 @item nntp-via-user-password
11500 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
11501 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
11503 @item nntp-via-envuser
11504 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
11505 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
11506 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
11507 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
11509 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
11510 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
11511 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
11512 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
11519 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
11524 @item nntp-via-user-name
11525 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
11526 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
11528 @item nntp-via-address
11529 @vindex nntp-via-address
11530 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
11535 @node Common Variables
11536 @subsubsection Common Variables
11538 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
11539 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
11544 @item nntp-pre-command
11545 @vindex nntp-pre-command
11546 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
11547 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
11548 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
11549 wrapper for instance.
11552 @vindex nntp-address
11553 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
11555 @item nntp-port-number
11556 @vindex nntp-port-number
11557 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
11559 @item nntp-end-of-line
11560 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
11561 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
11562 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
11563 using a non native connection function.
11565 @item nntp-telnet-command
11566 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
11567 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
11568 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
11569 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
11571 @item nntp-telnet-switches
11572 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
11573 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
11580 @subsection News Spool
11584 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
11585 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
11586 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
11589 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
11590 anything else) as the address.
11592 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
11593 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
11594 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
11595 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
11599 @item nnspool-inews-program
11600 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
11601 Program used to post an article.
11603 @item nnspool-inews-switches
11604 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
11605 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
11607 @item nnspool-spool-directory
11608 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
11609 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
11610 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
11612 @item nnspool-nov-directory
11613 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
11614 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
11615 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
11617 @item nnspool-lib-dir
11618 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
11619 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
11621 @item nnspool-active-file
11622 @vindex nnspool-active-file
11623 The path to the active file.
11625 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
11626 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
11627 The path to the group descriptions file.
11629 @item nnspool-history-file
11630 @vindex nnspool-history-file
11631 The path to the news history file.
11633 @item nnspool-active-times-file
11634 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
11635 The path to the active date file.
11637 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
11638 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
11639 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
11642 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11643 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11645 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
11646 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
11647 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
11653 @section Getting Mail
11654 @cindex reading mail
11657 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
11661 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
11662 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
11663 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
11664 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
11665 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
11666 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
11667 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
11668 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
11669 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
11670 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
11671 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
11672 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
11673 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
11674 * Archiving Mail:: How to backup your mail.
11678 @node Mail in a Newsreader
11679 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
11681 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
11682 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
11683 of a culture shock.
11685 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
11686 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
11688 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
11689 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
11690 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
11691 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
11693 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
11695 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
11696 deleted? How awful!
11698 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
11699 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
11700 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
11701 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
11704 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
11705 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
11706 they want to treat a message.
11708 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
11709 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
11710 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
11711 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
11712 archived somewhere else.
11714 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
11715 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
11716 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
11717 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
11718 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
11720 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
11721 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
11722 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
11724 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
11725 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
11728 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
11729 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
11730 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
11731 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
11732 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
11734 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
11735 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
11736 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
11737 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
11738 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
11739 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
11743 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
11744 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
11746 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
11747 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
11748 and things will happen automatically.
11750 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
11751 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
11754 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
11757 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
11758 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
11759 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
11760 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
11761 like any other group.
11763 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
11766 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11767 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11768 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11772 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
11773 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
11774 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
11777 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
11778 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
11779 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
11782 @node Splitting Mail
11783 @subsection Splitting Mail
11784 @cindex splitting mail
11785 @cindex mail splitting
11787 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
11788 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
11789 to be split into groups.
11792 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11793 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11794 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11795 ("mail.other" "")))
11798 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
11799 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
11800 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
11801 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
11802 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
11803 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
11804 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
11807 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
11810 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
11811 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
11812 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
11813 mail belongs in that group.
11815 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
11816 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
11817 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
11818 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
11819 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
11820 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
11822 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
11823 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
11824 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
11825 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
11826 thinks should carry this mail message.
11828 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
11829 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
11830 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
11831 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
11833 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
11834 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
11835 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
11836 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
11837 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
11839 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
11842 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
11843 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
11844 links. If that's the case for you, set
11845 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
11846 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
11848 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
11849 @kindex nnmail-split-history
11850 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
11851 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
11852 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
11853 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
11856 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
11857 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
11858 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
11859 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
11860 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
11861 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
11862 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
11863 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
11864 month's rent money.
11868 @subsection Mail Sources
11870 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
11871 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
11875 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
11876 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
11877 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
11881 @node Mail Source Specifiers
11882 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
11884 @cindex mail server
11887 @cindex mail source
11889 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
11890 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
11895 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
11898 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
11899 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
11900 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
11903 The following mail source types are available:
11907 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
11913 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
11914 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
11917 An example file mail source:
11920 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
11923 Or using the default path:
11929 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
11930 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
11931 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
11934 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
11938 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
11941 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
11945 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
11948 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
11950 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
11953 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
11957 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
11958 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
11959 That is, mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in the
11960 group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
11961 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
11962 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus
11963 to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you
11964 want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
11970 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
11974 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
11978 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
11979 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
11980 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
11981 predicate are considered.
11985 Script run before/after fetching mail.
11989 An example directory mail source:
11992 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
11997 Get mail from a POP server.
12003 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12004 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12007 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12008 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12009 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12010 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12011 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12014 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12018 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12022 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12023 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12026 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12029 The valid format specifier characters are:
12033 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12034 included in this string.
12037 The name of the server.
12040 The port number of the server.
12043 The user name to use.
12046 The password to use.
12049 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12050 corresponding keywords.
12053 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12054 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12057 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12058 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12061 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12062 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12065 @item :authentication
12066 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12067 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12072 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12073 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12075 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12076 default user name, and default fetcher:
12082 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12085 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12086 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12089 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12092 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12096 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12097 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12098 contains exactly one mail.
12104 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12105 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12108 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12109 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12111 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12112 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12113 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12116 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12117 from locking problems).
12121 Two example maildir mail sources:
12124 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12125 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12129 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12134 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12135 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12136 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12137 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12140 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12141 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12147 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12148 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12151 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12152 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12155 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12159 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12163 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12164 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12165 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12166 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12168 @item :authentication
12169 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12170 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12171 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12172 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
12175 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
12176 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
12177 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
12183 The valid format specifier characters are:
12187 The name of the server.
12190 User name from `imap-default-user'.
12193 The port number of the server.
12196 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12197 corresponding keywords.
12200 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
12201 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
12204 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
12205 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
12206 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
12207 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
12208 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
12209 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
12212 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
12213 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
12214 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
12215 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
12218 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
12219 after finishing the fetch.
12223 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
12226 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
12228 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
12232 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
12233 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
12235 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
12238 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
12239 required for url "4.0pre.46".
12241 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
12247 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
12248 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
12251 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
12255 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
12259 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
12260 folder after finishing the fetch.
12264 An example webmail source:
12267 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
12269 :password "secret")
12274 @item Common Keywords
12275 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
12281 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
12282 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
12286 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
12291 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
12292 useful when you use local mail and news.
12297 @subsubsection Function Interface
12299 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
12300 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
12301 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
12302 consider the following mail-source setting:
12305 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
12306 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
12309 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
12310 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
12311 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
12312 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
12313 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
12315 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
12318 @node Mail Source Customization
12319 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
12321 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
12322 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
12326 @item mail-source-crash-box
12327 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
12328 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
12329 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
12331 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
12332 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
12333 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
12335 @item mail-source-directory
12336 @vindex mail-source-directory
12337 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
12338 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
12339 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
12342 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12343 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12344 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
12345 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
12346 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
12347 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
12349 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
12350 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
12351 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
12353 @item mail-source-movemail-program
12354 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
12355 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
12356 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
12361 @node Fetching Mail
12362 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
12364 @vindex mail-sources
12365 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
12366 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
12367 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
12368 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
12370 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
12371 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
12374 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
12375 mail server, you'd say something like:
12380 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12381 :password "secret")))
12384 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
12388 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
12389 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12392 :password "secret")))
12396 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
12397 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
12398 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
12399 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
12400 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
12401 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
12405 @node Mail Back End Variables
12406 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
12408 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
12412 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12413 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12414 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
12415 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
12417 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
12418 @item nnmail-split-hook
12419 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
12420 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
12421 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
12422 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
12423 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
12424 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
12425 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
12426 in the buffer will show up in any files.
12427 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
12430 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12431 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12432 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12433 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12434 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
12435 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
12436 starting to handle the new mail) and
12437 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
12438 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
12439 default file modes the new mail files get:
12442 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12443 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
12445 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12446 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
12449 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
12450 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
12451 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
12452 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
12453 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
12454 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
12455 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
12457 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
12458 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
12459 @findex delete-file
12460 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
12462 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12463 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12464 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
12465 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
12466 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
12471 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
12472 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
12473 @cindex mail splitting
12474 @cindex fancy mail splitting
12476 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
12477 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
12478 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
12479 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
12480 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
12481 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
12483 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
12486 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
12487 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
12488 ;; from real errors.
12489 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
12491 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
12492 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
12493 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
12494 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
12495 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
12496 ;; Other mailing lists...
12497 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
12498 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
12499 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
12500 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
12501 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
12502 ;; message was really cross-posted.
12503 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
12504 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
12506 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
12507 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
12511 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
12512 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
12513 the five possible split syntaxes:
12518 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
12519 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
12523 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
12524 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
12525 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
12526 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
12527 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
12528 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
12529 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
12530 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
12533 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12534 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
12535 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
12536 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
12539 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12540 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
12543 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
12544 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
12547 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
12548 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
12549 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
12550 function should return a @var{split}.
12553 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
12554 body of the messages:
12557 (defun split-on-body ()
12559 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
12560 (goto-char (point-min))
12561 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
12565 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
12566 when the @code{:} function is run.
12569 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12570 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
12571 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
12575 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
12579 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
12580 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
12581 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
12582 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
12583 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
12585 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
12586 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
12587 are expanded as specified by the variable
12588 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
12589 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
12592 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
12593 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
12594 when all this splitting is performed.
12596 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
12597 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
12598 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
12601 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
12604 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
12605 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
12607 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
12608 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
12609 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
12610 groupings 1 through 9.
12612 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
12613 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
12614 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
12615 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
12616 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
12617 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
12618 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
12619 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
12620 it once per thread.
12622 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
12623 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
12624 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
12627 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12628 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
12629 ;; other splits go here
12633 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
12634 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
12635 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
12636 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
12637 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
12638 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
12639 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
12640 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
12641 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
12642 unless the group name matches the regexp
12643 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
12644 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
12645 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
12646 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
12647 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12648 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
12649 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
12650 messages goes into the new group.
12653 @node Group Mail Splitting
12654 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
12655 @cindex mail splitting
12656 @cindex group mail splitting
12658 @findex gnus-group-split
12659 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
12660 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
12661 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
12662 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
12663 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
12664 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
12665 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
12666 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
12668 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
12669 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
12670 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
12671 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
12673 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
12674 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
12675 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
12676 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
12677 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
12678 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
12679 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
12681 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
12682 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
12683 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
12684 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
12685 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
12686 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
12687 @code{gnus-group-split}.
12689 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
12690 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
12691 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
12692 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
12693 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
12694 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
12695 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
12696 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
12697 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
12698 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
12699 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
12700 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
12701 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
12703 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
12708 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
12709 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
12711 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
12712 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
12713 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
12714 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
12716 ((split-spec . catch-all))
12719 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
12720 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
12721 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
12724 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
12725 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
12726 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
12730 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
12731 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
12732 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
12736 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
12739 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
12740 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
12741 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
12742 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
12743 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
12744 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
12745 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
12746 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
12747 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
12749 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
12750 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
12751 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
12752 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
12753 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
12754 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
12755 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
12756 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
12757 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
12759 @findex gnus-group-split-update
12760 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
12761 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
12762 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
12763 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
12764 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
12767 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
12770 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
12771 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
12772 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
12773 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
12774 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
12777 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
12778 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
12779 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
12780 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
12782 @node Incorporating Old Mail
12783 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
12784 @cindex incorporating old mail
12785 @cindex import old mail
12787 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
12788 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
12789 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
12792 Doing so can be quite easy.
12794 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
12795 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
12796 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
12797 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
12798 your @code{nnml} groups.
12804 Go to the group buffer.
12807 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
12808 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12811 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
12814 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
12815 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12818 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
12819 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12822 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
12823 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
12824 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
12825 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
12826 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
12828 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
12829 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
12830 using the new mail back end.
12833 @node Expiring Mail
12834 @subsection Expiring Mail
12835 @cindex article expiry
12837 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
12838 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
12839 different approach to mail reading.
12841 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
12842 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
12843 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
12844 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
12845 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
12846 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
12849 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
12850 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
12851 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
12852 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
12853 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
12854 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
12855 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
12856 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
12858 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12859 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
12860 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
12861 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
12862 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
12863 column in the summary buffer.
12865 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
12866 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
12867 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
12868 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
12871 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
12873 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
12874 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
12875 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
12878 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
12879 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
12880 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
12881 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
12882 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
12884 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
12885 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
12888 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12889 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
12892 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
12893 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
12895 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
12896 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
12897 don't really mix very well.
12899 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
12900 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
12901 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
12902 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
12905 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
12906 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
12907 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
12908 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
12911 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12913 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12915 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
12917 ((string= group "mail.junk")
12919 ((string= group "important")
12925 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
12926 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
12928 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
12929 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
12930 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
12933 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
12934 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
12936 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
12937 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
12938 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
12939 other groups instead of deleting them. The variable @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
12940 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
12941 variable supplies a default value for all groups, which can be
12942 overridden for specific groups by the group parameter.
12943 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
12944 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
12945 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
12946 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
12947 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
12950 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
12952 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
12956 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
12957 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
12958 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
12959 easier for procmail users.
12961 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
12962 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
12963 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
12964 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
12965 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
12966 caution. Even more dangerous is the
12967 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
12968 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
12969 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
12970 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
12971 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
12972 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
12973 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
12976 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
12978 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
12979 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
12980 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
12981 auto-expire turned on.
12985 @subsection Washing Mail
12986 @cindex mail washing
12987 @cindex list server brain damage
12988 @cindex incoming mail treatment
12990 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
12991 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
12992 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
12993 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
12994 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
12995 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
12997 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
12998 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
12999 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13002 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13003 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13004 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13005 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13008 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13009 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13010 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13011 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13012 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13015 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13016 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13017 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13018 Emacs running on MS machines.
13022 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13023 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13024 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13025 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13028 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13029 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13030 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13031 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13033 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13034 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13035 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13036 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13037 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13038 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13039 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13042 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13043 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13046 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13047 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13050 This can also be done non-destructively with
13051 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13053 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13054 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13055 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13057 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13058 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13060 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13061 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13062 @code{References} headers.
13066 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13067 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13068 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13072 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13073 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13074 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13081 @subsection Duplicates
13083 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13084 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13085 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13086 @cindex duplicate mails
13087 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13088 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13089 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13090 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13091 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13092 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13093 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13094 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13095 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13096 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13097 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13098 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13099 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13101 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13102 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13103 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13104 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
13106 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
13109 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
13110 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
13114 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
13115 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
13116 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
13117 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
13118 (any mail "mail.misc")
13125 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13126 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
13131 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
13132 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
13133 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
13134 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
13135 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
13138 @node Not Reading Mail
13139 @subsection Not Reading Mail
13141 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
13142 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
13143 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
13145 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
13146 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
13147 mail, which should help.
13149 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13150 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13151 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13152 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13153 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13154 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
13155 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
13156 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
13157 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
13158 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
13159 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
13161 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
13162 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
13166 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
13167 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
13169 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
13170 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
13171 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
13173 There are five different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
13174 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
13175 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
13176 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
13179 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
13180 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
13181 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
13182 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
13183 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
13184 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
13188 @node Unix Mail Box
13189 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
13191 @cindex unix mail box
13193 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13194 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13195 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
13196 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
13197 which group it belongs in.
13199 Virtual server settings:
13202 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
13203 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13204 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
13207 @item nnmbox-active-file
13208 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13209 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
13210 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
13212 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
13213 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13214 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
13215 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
13220 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
13224 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13225 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13226 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
13227 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
13228 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
13230 Virtual server settings:
13233 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
13234 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13235 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
13237 @item nnbabyl-active-file
13238 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13239 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
13240 @file{~/.rmail-active}
13242 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13243 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13244 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
13250 @subsubsection Mail Spool
13252 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
13254 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
13255 format. It should be used with some caution.
13257 @vindex nnml-directory
13258 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
13259 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
13260 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
13261 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
13263 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
13266 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
13267 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
13268 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
13269 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
13270 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
13271 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
13272 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
13273 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
13275 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
13276 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
13277 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
13278 back end when it comes to reading mail.
13280 @cindex self contained nnml servers
13281 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
13282 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13283 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13284 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
13285 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
13286 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
13287 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
13288 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
13291 Virtual server settings:
13294 @item nnml-directory
13295 @vindex nnml-directory
13296 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
13297 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
13300 @item nnml-active-file
13301 @vindex nnml-active-file
13302 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
13303 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
13305 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
13306 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
13307 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13308 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
13310 @item nnml-get-new-mail
13311 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13312 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
13315 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
13316 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
13317 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13318 default is @code{nil}.
13320 @item nnml-nov-file-name
13321 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
13322 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
13324 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13325 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13326 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
13328 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
13329 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
13330 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13331 default is @code{nil}.
13333 @item nnml-marks-file-name
13334 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
13335 The name of the @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
13339 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
13340 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
13341 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
13342 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
13343 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
13344 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
13345 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
13350 @subsubsection MH Spool
13352 @cindex mh-e mail spool
13354 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
13355 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
13356 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
13357 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
13359 Virtual server settings:
13362 @item nnmh-directory
13363 @vindex nnmh-directory
13364 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
13365 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13368 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
13369 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13370 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
13374 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
13375 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
13376 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
13377 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
13378 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
13379 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
13380 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
13385 @subsubsection Mail Folders
13387 @cindex mbox folders
13388 @cindex mail folders
13390 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
13391 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
13392 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
13395 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
13396 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
13397 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13398 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13399 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
13400 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
13401 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
13402 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
13403 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
13404 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
13405 @code{nnfolder} directory).
13407 Virtual server settings:
13410 @item nnfolder-directory
13411 @vindex nnfolder-directory
13412 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
13413 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13416 @item nnfolder-active-file
13417 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
13418 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
13420 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13421 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13422 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13423 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
13425 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
13426 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13427 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
13430 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13431 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13432 @cindex backup files
13433 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
13434 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
13435 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
13436 your @file{.emacs} file:
13439 (defun turn-off-backup ()
13440 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
13442 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
13445 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13446 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13447 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
13448 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
13449 extract some information from it before removing it.
13451 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13452 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13453 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13454 default is @code{nil}.
13456 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13457 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13458 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
13460 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
13461 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
13462 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
13463 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13465 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13466 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13467 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13468 default is @code{nil}.
13470 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13471 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13472 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
13474 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
13475 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
13476 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
13477 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13482 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
13483 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
13484 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
13485 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
13486 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
13487 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
13490 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
13491 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
13493 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
13494 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
13495 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
13496 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
13497 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
13499 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
13500 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
13501 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
13502 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
13503 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
13504 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
13505 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
13506 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
13509 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
13510 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
13511 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
13512 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
13517 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
13518 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
13519 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
13520 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
13521 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
13522 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
13523 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
13524 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
13525 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
13526 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
13527 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
13528 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
13529 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
13534 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
13535 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
13536 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
13537 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
13538 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
13539 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
13540 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
13541 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
13542 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
13543 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
13544 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
13545 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
13546 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
13547 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
13549 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
13550 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
13555 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
13556 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
13557 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
13558 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
13559 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
13560 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
13561 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
13562 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
13563 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
13564 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
13565 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
13566 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
13567 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
13568 provided by the active file and overviews.
13570 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
13571 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
13572 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
13573 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
13574 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
13577 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
13578 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
13583 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
13584 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
13585 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
13586 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
13587 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
13588 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
13589 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
13593 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
13594 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
13595 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
13596 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
13597 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
13598 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
13599 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
13600 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
13601 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
13603 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
13604 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
13605 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
13606 friendly mail back end all over.
13611 @node Browsing the Web
13612 @section Browsing the Web
13614 @cindex browsing the web
13618 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
13619 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
13620 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
13621 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
13622 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
13623 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
13624 even know what a news group is.
13626 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
13627 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
13628 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
13629 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
13630 you mad in the end.
13632 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
13635 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
13636 interfaces to these sources.
13639 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
13640 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
13641 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
13642 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
13643 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
13644 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
13647 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
13649 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
13650 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
13651 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
13652 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
13653 though, you should be ok.
13655 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
13656 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
13657 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
13658 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
13659 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
13661 @node Archiving Mail
13662 @subsection Archiving Mail
13663 @cindex archiving mail
13664 @cindex backup of mail
13666 Some of the back ends, notably nnml and nnfolder, now actually store
13667 the article marks with each group. For these servers, archiving and
13668 restoring a group while preserving marks is fairly simple.
13670 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
13671 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @code{.newsrc.eld} deity
13674 To archive an entire @code{nnml} or @code{nnfolder} server, take a
13675 recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need to shut down
13676 Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or similar. You
13677 restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and adding a server
13678 definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The @ref{Article
13679 Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things might interfer
13680 with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus before you
13683 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml} or
13684 @code{nnfolder} groups, while preserving marks. For @code{nnml}, you
13685 copy all files in the group's directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need
13686 to copy both the base folder file itself (@code{FOO}, say), and the
13687 marks file (@code{FOO.mrk} in this example). Restoring the group is
13688 done with @kbd{G m} from the Group buffer. The last step makes Gnus
13689 notice the new directory.
13692 @subsection Web Searches
13696 @cindex InReference
13697 @cindex Usenet searches
13698 @cindex searching the Usenet
13700 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
13701 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
13702 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
13703 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
13704 searches without having to use a browser.
13706 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
13707 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
13708 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
13709 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
13710 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
13712 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
13713 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
13714 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
13715 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
13716 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
13717 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
13718 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
13719 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
13720 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
13721 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
13724 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
13725 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
13726 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
13727 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
13728 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
13729 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
13731 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
13732 to use @code{nnweb}.
13734 Virtual server variables:
13739 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
13740 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
13744 @vindex nnweb-search
13745 The search string to feed to the search engine.
13747 @item nnweb-max-hits
13748 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
13749 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
13752 @item nnweb-type-definition
13753 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
13754 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
13755 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
13760 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
13764 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
13767 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
13770 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
13774 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
13781 @subsection Slashdot
13785 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
13786 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
13787 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
13789 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
13790 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
13793 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
13794 '((nnslashdot "")))
13797 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
13798 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
13799 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
13800 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
13801 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
13804 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
13805 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13807 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
13808 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
13809 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
13810 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
13811 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
13812 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
13815 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
13818 @item nnslashdot-threaded
13819 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
13820 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
13821 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
13822 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
13823 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
13824 but much, much slower than untreaded.
13826 @item nnslashdot-login-name
13827 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
13828 The login name to use when posting.
13830 @item nnslashdot-password
13831 @vindex nnslashdot-password
13832 The password to use when posting.
13834 @item nnslashdot-directory
13835 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
13836 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
13837 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
13839 @item nnslashdot-active-url
13840 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
13841 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
13842 news articles and comments. The default is
13843 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
13845 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
13846 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
13847 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
13849 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
13851 @item nnslashdot-article-url
13852 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
13853 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
13855 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
13857 @item nnslashdot-threshold
13858 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
13859 The score threshold. The default is -1.
13861 @item nnslashdot-group-number
13862 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
13863 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
13864 updated. The default is 0.
13871 @subsection Ultimate
13873 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
13875 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
13876 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
13877 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
13878 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
13880 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
13881 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
13882 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
13883 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
13884 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
13885 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
13886 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
13888 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
13891 @item nnultimate-directory
13892 @vindex nnultimate-directory
13893 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
13894 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
13899 @subsection Web Archive
13901 @cindex Web Archive
13903 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
13904 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
13905 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
13906 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13909 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
13910 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
13911 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
13912 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
13913 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
13914 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
13915 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
13917 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
13920 @item nnwarchive-directory
13921 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
13922 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
13923 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
13925 @item nnwarchive-login
13926 @vindex nnwarchive-login
13927 The account name on the web server.
13929 @item nnwarchive-passwd
13930 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
13931 The password for your account on the web server.
13939 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
13940 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
13941 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13944 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
13945 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
13948 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
13951 @item nnrss-directory
13952 @vindex nnrss-directory
13953 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
13954 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
13958 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
13959 the summary buffer.
13962 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
13963 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
13965 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
13967 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
13968 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
13971 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
13974 (require 'browse-url)
13976 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
13978 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
13981 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
13982 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
13984 (browse-url (cdr url))
13985 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
13987 (eval-after-load "gnus"
13988 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
13989 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
13990 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
13993 @node Customizing w3
13994 @subsection Customizing w3
14000 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14001 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14002 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14004 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14005 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14006 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14009 (eval-after-load "w3"
14011 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14012 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14013 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14014 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14016 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14019 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14020 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14028 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14029 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14030 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14031 specify the network address of the server.
14033 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14034 POP can, it can hence be viewed as POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14035 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14036 protocol. (@sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp} because news
14037 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.)
14039 If you want to use @sc{imap} as POP++, use an imap entry in
14040 mail-sources. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the @sc{imap}
14041 server and store them on the local disk. This is not the usage
14042 described in this section. @xref{Mail Sources}.
14044 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14045 entry in gnus-secondary-select-methods. With this, Gnus will
14046 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14047 usage explained in this section.
14049 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14050 might look something like this:
14053 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14054 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14055 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14057 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14058 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14059 ; a UW server running on localhost
14061 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14062 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14063 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14064 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14065 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14066 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14067 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14068 (nnimap-stream network))
14069 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14071 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14072 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14073 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14076 (Note that for SSL/TLS to work, you need the external library
14077 @samp{ssl.el}, see below.)
14079 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14084 @item nnimap-address
14085 @vindex nnimap-address
14087 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14088 server name if not specified.
14090 @item nnimap-server-port
14091 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14092 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14094 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
14097 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14098 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14101 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14102 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14103 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14104 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14105 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14106 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14107 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14109 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14110 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14111 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14114 Example server specification:
14117 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14118 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14119 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14122 @item nnimap-stream
14123 @vindex nnimap-stream
14124 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14125 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14126 of SSL/TLS. (IMAP over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
14127 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
14129 Example server specification:
14132 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14133 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14136 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14140 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Requires the
14141 @samp{imtest} program.
14143 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
14145 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14146 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14149 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
14150 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
14151 library @samp{ssl.el}.
14153 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14155 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14158 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14159 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
14160 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
14161 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
14162 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
14163 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
14164 restrictions on IMAP commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
14165 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
14166 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14169 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14170 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14171 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14172 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14173 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14174 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14175 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14176 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
14177 distribution, for instance).
14179 @vindex imap-shell-program
14180 @vindex imap-shell-host
14181 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14182 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14184 @item nnimap-authenticator
14185 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14187 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14188 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14190 Example server specification:
14193 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14194 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14197 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14201 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
14202 external program @code{imtest}.
14204 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
14207 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
14208 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14210 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14212 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14214 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14217 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14219 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14220 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14221 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14222 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14223 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14224 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14227 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14228 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14229 running in circles yet?
14231 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14232 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14235 The possible options are:
14240 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14243 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14244 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14245 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14246 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14248 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14253 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
14254 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
14256 If non-nil, marks dormant articles as ticked (as well), for other IMAP
14257 clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will naturally still (only) be
14258 marked as ticked. This is to make dormant articles stand out, just
14259 like ticked articles, in other IMAP clients. (In other words, Gnus has
14260 two ``Tick'' marks and IMAP has only one.)
14262 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
14263 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
14266 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
14267 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14268 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
14269 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14272 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
14273 as ticked for other users.
14275 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
14277 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
14279 This variable contain the IMAP search command sent to server when
14280 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
14281 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
14282 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
14284 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
14285 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
14286 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
14287 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
14289 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14290 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14292 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14293 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14294 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14300 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14301 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14302 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14307 @node Splitting in IMAP
14308 @subsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
14309 @cindex splitting imap mail
14311 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14312 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14313 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14314 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14315 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14319 Here are the variables of interest:
14323 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14324 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14326 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14328 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14329 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14331 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14333 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14334 @cindex splitting, inbox
14336 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14338 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
14339 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
14343 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
14344 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
14347 No nnmail equivalent.
14349 @item nnimap-split-rule
14350 @cindex Splitting, rules
14351 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
14353 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
14356 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
14357 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
14358 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
14359 Neither did I, we need examples.
14362 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14364 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
14365 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
14366 ("INBOX.private" "")))
14369 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
14370 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
14371 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
14373 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
14374 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
14378 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
14381 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14382 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
14383 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
14384 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
14386 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
14387 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
14388 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
14389 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
14390 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
14391 them every time you fetch new mail.)
14393 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
14394 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
14395 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
14397 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
14398 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
14399 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14401 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
14403 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
14404 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
14405 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
14408 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14409 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
14410 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
14411 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
14412 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
14413 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
14416 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
14417 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
14418 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
14419 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
14420 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
14421 group/function elements.
14423 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
14425 @item nnimap-split-predicate
14427 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
14429 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
14430 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
14432 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
14433 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
14434 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
14437 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14438 @cindex splitting, fancy
14439 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
14440 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
14442 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14443 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
14444 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14446 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
14447 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14448 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
14449 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14454 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
14455 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
14458 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14462 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
14463 @subsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14464 @cindex editing imap acls
14465 @cindex Access Control Lists
14466 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14468 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
14470 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
14471 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
14472 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
14475 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
14476 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
14477 editing window with detailed instructions.
14479 Some possible uses:
14483 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
14484 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
14485 follow the list without subscribing to it.
14487 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
14488 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
14489 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
14493 @node Expunging mailboxes
14494 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
14498 @cindex Manual expunging
14500 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
14502 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
14503 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
14504 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
14506 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
14511 @node Other Sources
14512 @section Other Sources
14514 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
14515 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
14519 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
14520 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
14521 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
14522 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
14523 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
14527 @node Directory Groups
14528 @subsection Directory Groups
14530 @cindex directory groups
14532 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
14533 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
14536 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
14537 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
14538 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
14539 back end to read directories. Big deal.
14541 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
14542 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
14543 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
14544 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
14545 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
14547 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
14549 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
14550 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
14551 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
14552 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
14555 @node Anything Groups
14556 @subsection Anything Groups
14559 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
14560 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
14561 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
14564 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
14565 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
14566 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
14567 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
14568 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
14569 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
14570 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
14571 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
14572 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
14573 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
14576 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
14577 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
14578 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
14579 in the article buffer, just as usual.
14581 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
14582 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
14583 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
14584 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
14586 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
14587 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
14588 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
14589 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
14590 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
14591 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
14592 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
14593 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
14598 @item nneething-map-file-directory
14599 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
14600 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
14601 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
14603 @item nneething-exclude-files
14604 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
14605 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
14606 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
14608 @item nneething-include-files
14609 @vindex nneething-include-files
14610 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
14611 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
14613 @item nneething-map-file
14614 @vindex nneething-map-file
14615 Name of the map files.
14619 @node Document Groups
14620 @subsection Document Groups
14622 @cindex documentation group
14625 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
14626 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
14633 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
14638 The standard Unix mbox file.
14640 @cindex MMDF mail box
14642 The MMDF mail box format.
14645 Several news articles appended into a file.
14648 @cindex rnews batch files
14649 The rnews batch transport format.
14650 @cindex forwarded messages
14653 Forwarded articles.
14656 Netscape mail boxes.
14659 MIME multipart messages.
14661 @item standard-digest
14662 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
14665 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
14668 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
14669 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
14670 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
14673 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
14674 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
14675 group. And that's it.
14677 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
14678 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
14679 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
14680 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
14681 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
14682 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
14683 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
14684 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
14685 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
14686 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
14688 Virtual server variables:
14691 @item nndoc-article-type
14692 @vindex nndoc-article-type
14693 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
14694 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
14695 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
14696 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail},
14697 @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman} or @code{guess}.
14699 @item nndoc-post-type
14700 @vindex nndoc-post-type
14701 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
14702 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
14707 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
14711 @node Document Server Internals
14712 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
14714 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
14715 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
14716 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
14717 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
14719 First, here's an example document type definition:
14723 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
14724 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
14727 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
14728 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
14729 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
14730 types can be defined with very few settings:
14733 @item first-article
14734 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
14735 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
14738 @item article-begin
14739 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
14740 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
14742 @item head-begin-function
14743 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
14746 @item nndoc-head-begin
14747 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
14750 @item nndoc-head-end
14751 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
14752 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
14754 @item body-begin-function
14755 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
14759 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
14762 @item body-end-function
14763 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
14767 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
14770 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
14771 regexp will be totally ignored.
14775 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
14776 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
14777 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
14778 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
14779 something that's palatable for Gnus:
14782 @item prepare-body-function
14783 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
14784 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
14785 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
14787 @item article-transform-function
14788 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
14789 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
14790 body of the article.
14792 @item generate-head-function
14793 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
14794 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
14795 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
14796 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
14800 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
14805 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
14806 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
14807 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
14808 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
14809 (head-end . "^ ?$")
14810 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
14811 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
14812 (subtype digest guess))
14815 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
14816 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
14817 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
14818 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
14819 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
14821 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
14822 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
14823 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
14824 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
14825 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
14826 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
14827 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
14828 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
14829 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
14830 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
14838 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
14839 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
14840 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
14842 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
14843 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
14844 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
14847 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
14848 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
14849 that interested in doing things properly.
14851 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
14852 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
14855 First some terminology:
14860 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
14861 get news and/or mail from.
14864 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
14865 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
14868 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
14872 @item message packets
14873 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
14874 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
14875 default, where @var{x} is a number.
14877 @item response packets
14878 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
14879 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
14880 default, where @var{x} is a number.
14890 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
14891 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
14892 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
14893 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
14896 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
14899 You put the packet in your home directory.
14902 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
14903 the native or secondary server.
14906 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
14907 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
14910 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
14914 You transfer this packet to the server.
14917 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
14920 You then repeat until you die.
14924 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
14925 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
14928 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
14929 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
14930 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
14934 @node SOUP Commands
14935 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
14937 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
14941 @kindex G s b (Group)
14942 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
14943 Pack all unread articles in the current group
14944 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
14945 process/prefix convention.
14948 @kindex G s w (Group)
14949 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
14950 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
14953 @kindex G s s (Group)
14954 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
14955 Send all replies from the replies packet
14956 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
14959 @kindex G s p (Group)
14960 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
14961 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
14964 @kindex G s r (Group)
14965 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
14966 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
14969 @kindex O s (Summary)
14970 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
14971 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
14972 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
14973 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14978 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
14983 @item gnus-soup-directory
14984 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
14985 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
14986 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
14988 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
14989 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
14990 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
14991 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
14993 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
14994 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
14995 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
14996 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
14998 @item gnus-soup-packer
14999 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
15000 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15001 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
15003 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
15004 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
15005 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15006 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15008 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
15009 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
15010 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
15012 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15013 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15014 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
15015 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
15021 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
15024 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
15025 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
15026 you can read them at leisure.
15028 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
15032 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
15033 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
15034 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
15035 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
15037 @item nnsoup-directory
15038 @vindex nnsoup-directory
15039 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
15040 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
15042 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
15043 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
15044 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
15045 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
15047 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
15048 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
15049 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
15050 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
15051 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
15053 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
15054 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
15055 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
15056 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
15058 @item nnsoup-active-file
15059 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
15060 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
15061 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
15062 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
15063 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
15065 @item nnsoup-packer
15066 @vindex nnsoup-packer
15067 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
15068 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
15070 @item nnsoup-unpacker
15071 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
15072 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
15073 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15075 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
15076 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
15077 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
15080 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
15081 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
15082 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
15085 @item nnsoup-always-save
15086 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
15087 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
15093 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
15095 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
15096 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
15097 more for that to happen.
15099 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
15100 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
15101 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
15104 In specific, this is what it does:
15107 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
15108 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
15111 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
15112 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
15113 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
15116 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
15117 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
15118 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
15121 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
15122 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
15123 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
15125 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
15131 @item nngateway-address
15132 @vindex nngateway-address
15133 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
15135 @item nngateway-header-transformation
15136 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
15137 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
15138 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
15139 transformation should be called, and defaults to
15140 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
15141 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
15144 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
15145 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
15146 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
15149 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
15152 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
15155 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
15158 The following pre-defined functions exist:
15160 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15163 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15164 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15165 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
15167 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15169 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15170 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15171 @code{nngateway-address}.
15176 (setq gnus-post-method
15178 "mail2news@@replay.com"
15179 (nngateway-header-transformation
15180 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
15188 So, to use this, simply say something like:
15191 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
15196 @node Combined Groups
15197 @section Combined Groups
15199 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
15203 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
15204 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
15208 @node Virtual Groups
15209 @subsection Virtual Groups
15211 @cindex virtual groups
15212 @cindex merging groups
15214 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
15217 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
15218 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
15219 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
15221 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
15222 regexp to match component groups.
15224 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
15225 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
15226 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
15227 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
15228 the virtual group.)
15230 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
15231 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
15234 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
15237 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
15238 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
15240 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
15241 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
15242 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
15243 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
15246 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
15249 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
15250 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
15251 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
15253 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
15254 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
15255 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
15256 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
15257 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
15259 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
15260 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
15261 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
15263 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
15264 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
15265 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
15266 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15267 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
15268 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
15269 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
15270 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
15271 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
15272 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
15273 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
15275 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
15276 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
15277 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
15278 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
15279 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
15280 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
15281 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
15283 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
15284 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
15288 @node Kibozed Groups
15289 @subsection Kibozed Groups
15293 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
15294 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
15295 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
15296 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
15298 @kindex G k (Group)
15299 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
15302 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
15303 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
15304 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
15305 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
15307 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
15308 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
15309 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
15311 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
15312 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
15313 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
15314 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
15315 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
15316 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
15317 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
15318 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
15320 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
15321 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
15322 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
15323 Stranger things have happened.
15325 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
15326 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
15328 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
15329 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
15330 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
15331 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
15332 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
15333 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
15335 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
15336 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
15339 @node Gnus Unplugged
15340 @section Gnus Unplugged
15345 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
15347 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
15348 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
15349 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
15350 read news. Believe it or not.
15352 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
15353 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
15354 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
15355 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
15356 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
15358 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
15359 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
15360 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
15361 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
15362 reading news on a machine.
15364 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
15368 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
15369 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
15373 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
15374 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15381 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
15383 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
15386 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
15387 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
15388 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
15389 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
15390 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
15391 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
15392 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
15393 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
15394 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
15395 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
15400 @subsection Agent Basics
15402 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
15404 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
15405 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
15406 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
15407 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
15409 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
15410 connected to the net continuously.
15412 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
15413 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
15415 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
15420 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
15421 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
15422 already fetched while in this mode.
15425 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
15426 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
15427 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
15428 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
15429 Source Specifiers}).
15432 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
15433 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
15434 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
15435 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
15436 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
15439 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
15440 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
15441 then you read the news offline.
15444 And then you go to step 2.
15447 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
15453 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
15454 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
15455 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
15456 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
15457 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
15458 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
15461 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
15468 @node Agent Categories
15469 @subsection Agent Categories
15471 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
15472 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
15473 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
15474 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
15475 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
15476 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
15477 you're interested in the articles anyway.
15479 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
15480 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
15481 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
15482 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
15483 managing categories.
15486 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
15487 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
15488 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
15492 @node Category Syntax
15493 @subsubsection Category Syntax
15495 A category consists of two things.
15499 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
15500 are eligible for downloading; and
15503 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
15504 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
15505 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
15508 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
15509 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
15510 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
15511 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
15513 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
15514 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
15515 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
15517 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
15518 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
15519 operators sprinkled in between.
15521 Perhaps some examples are in order.
15523 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
15524 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
15530 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
15531 short (for some value of ``short'').
15533 Here's a more complex predicate:
15542 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
15543 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
15546 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
15547 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
15548 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
15550 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
15551 you want to do, you can write your own.
15555 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
15556 lines; default 100.
15559 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
15560 lines; default 200.
15563 True iff the article has a download score less than
15564 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
15567 True iff the article has a download score greater than
15568 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
15571 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
15572 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
15573 checksum and sees whether articles match.
15582 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
15583 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
15584 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
15587 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
15588 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
15589 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
15590 something along the lines of the following:
15593 (defun my-article-old-p ()
15594 "Say whether an article is old."
15595 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
15596 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
15599 with the predicate then defined as:
15602 (not my-article-old-p)
15605 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
15606 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
15607 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
15608 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
15611 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
15612 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
15613 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
15616 and simply specify your predicate as:
15622 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
15623 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
15624 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
15625 just don't give a damn.
15627 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
15628 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
15629 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
15630 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
15631 parameters like so:
15634 (agent-predicate . short)
15637 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
15638 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
15639 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
15641 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
15644 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
15647 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
15648 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
15649 predicate is assumed to be a list.
15652 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
15653 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
15654 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
15655 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
15656 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
15657 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
15659 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
15660 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
15661 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
15662 if it's to be specific to that group.
15664 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
15671 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
15672 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
15678 Category specification
15682 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
15688 Group Parameter specification
15691 (agent-score ("from"
15692 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
15697 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
15703 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
15710 Category specification
15713 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
15719 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
15723 Group Parameter specification
15726 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
15729 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
15734 Use @code{normal} score files
15736 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
15737 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
15738 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
15739 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
15741 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
15742 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
15743 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
15744 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
15748 Category Specification
15755 Group Parameter specification
15758 (agent-score . file)
15763 @node Category Buffer
15764 @subsubsection Category Buffer
15766 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
15767 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
15768 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
15770 The following commands are available in this buffer:
15774 @kindex q (Category)
15775 @findex gnus-category-exit
15776 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
15779 @kindex k (Category)
15780 @findex gnus-category-kill
15781 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
15784 @kindex c (Category)
15785 @findex gnus-category-copy
15786 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
15789 @kindex a (Category)
15790 @findex gnus-category-add
15791 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
15794 @kindex p (Category)
15795 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
15796 Edit the predicate of the current category
15797 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
15800 @kindex g (Category)
15801 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
15802 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
15803 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
15806 @kindex s (Category)
15807 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
15808 Edit the download score rule of the current category
15809 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
15812 @kindex l (Category)
15813 @findex gnus-category-list
15814 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
15818 @node Category Variables
15819 @subsubsection Category Variables
15822 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
15823 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
15824 Hook run in category buffers.
15826 @item gnus-category-line-format
15827 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
15828 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
15829 Variables}). Valid elements are:
15833 The name of the category.
15836 The number of groups in the category.
15839 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
15840 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
15841 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
15843 @item gnus-agent-short-article
15844 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
15845 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
15847 @item gnus-agent-long-article
15848 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
15849 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
15851 @item gnus-agent-low-score
15852 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
15853 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
15856 @item gnus-agent-high-score
15857 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
15858 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
15864 @node Agent Commands
15865 @subsection Agent Commands
15867 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
15868 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
15869 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
15873 * Group Agent Commands::
15874 * Summary Agent Commands::
15875 * Server Agent Commands::
15878 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
15879 following incantation:
15881 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15883 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15888 @node Group Agent Commands
15889 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
15893 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
15894 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
15895 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
15896 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
15899 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
15900 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
15901 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
15904 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
15905 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
15906 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
15907 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
15910 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
15911 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
15912 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
15913 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
15916 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
15917 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
15918 Add the current group to an Agent category
15919 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
15920 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15923 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
15924 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
15925 Remove the current group from its category, if any
15926 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
15927 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15930 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
15931 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15932 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
15938 @node Summary Agent Commands
15939 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
15943 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
15944 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
15945 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
15948 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
15949 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
15950 Remove the downloading mark from the article
15951 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
15954 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
15955 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
15956 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
15959 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
15960 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
15961 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
15964 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
15965 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
15966 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
15967 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
15972 @node Server Agent Commands
15973 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
15977 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
15978 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
15979 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
15980 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
15983 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
15984 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
15985 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
15986 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
15992 @subsection Agent Expiry
15994 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
15995 @findex gnus-agent-expire
15996 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
15997 @cindex Agent expiry
15998 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
16001 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
16002 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
16003 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
16004 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
16005 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
16006 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
16008 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
16009 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
16010 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
16011 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
16012 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
16015 @node Agent and IMAP
16016 @subsection Agent and IMAP
16018 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
16019 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
16020 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
16021 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
16023 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
16024 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
16025 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
16026 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
16028 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
16029 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
16030 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
16031 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
16032 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
16034 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16035 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
16036 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
16037 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
16038 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
16039 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
16041 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
16042 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
16043 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
16044 in the group buffer by default.
16046 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
16047 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
16052 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
16055 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
16059 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
16060 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
16061 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
16062 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
16063 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
16064 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
16065 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
16066 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
16069 @node Outgoing Messages
16070 @subsection Outgoing Messages
16072 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
16073 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
16074 after posting, and edit them at will.
16076 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
16077 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
16078 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
16079 messages in the draft group.
16083 @node Agent Variables
16084 @subsection Agent Variables
16087 @item gnus-agent-directory
16088 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
16089 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
16090 @file{~/News/agent/}.
16092 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
16093 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
16094 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
16095 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
16096 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
16099 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16100 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16101 Hook run when connecting to the network.
16103 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16104 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16105 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
16110 @node Example Setup
16111 @subsection Example Setup
16113 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
16114 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
16115 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
16118 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
16119 ;;; from your ISP's server.
16120 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
16122 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
16123 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
16124 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
16126 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
16127 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
16129 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
16133 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
16134 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
16137 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
16138 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
16139 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
16140 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
16141 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
16144 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
16145 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
16146 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
16147 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
16148 back all the killed groups.)
16150 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
16151 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
16152 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
16155 @node Batching Agents
16156 @subsection Batching Agents
16158 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
16159 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
16160 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
16164 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
16168 @node Agent Caveats
16169 @subsection Agent Caveats
16171 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
16172 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
16176 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
16181 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
16182 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
16188 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
16189 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
16196 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
16197 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
16198 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
16201 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
16202 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
16203 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
16204 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
16205 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
16207 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
16208 before generating the summary buffer.
16210 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
16211 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
16212 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
16214 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
16215 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
16216 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
16217 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
16220 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
16221 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
16222 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
16223 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
16224 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
16225 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
16226 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
16227 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
16228 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
16229 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
16230 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
16231 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
16232 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
16233 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
16234 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
16235 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
16236 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
16240 @node Summary Score Commands
16241 @section Summary Score Commands
16242 @cindex score commands
16244 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
16245 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
16246 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
16247 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
16248 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
16250 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
16251 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
16252 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
16253 score file the current one.
16255 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
16260 @kindex V s (Summary)
16261 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
16262 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
16265 @kindex V S (Summary)
16266 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
16267 Display the score of the current article
16268 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
16271 @kindex V t (Summary)
16272 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
16273 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
16274 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
16277 @kindex V R (Summary)
16278 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
16279 Run the current summary through the scoring process
16280 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
16281 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
16282 effect you're having.
16285 @kindex V c (Summary)
16286 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
16287 Make a different score file the current
16288 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
16291 @kindex V e (Summary)
16292 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
16293 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
16294 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
16298 @kindex V f (Summary)
16299 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
16300 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
16301 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
16304 @kindex V F (Summary)
16305 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16306 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
16307 after editing score files.
16310 @kindex V C (Summary)
16311 @findex gnus-score-customize
16312 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
16313 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
16317 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
16322 @kindex V m (Summary)
16323 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
16324 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
16325 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
16328 @kindex V x (Summary)
16329 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
16330 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
16331 expunge all articles below this score
16332 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
16335 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
16336 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
16339 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
16340 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
16344 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
16345 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
16347 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
16348 keys are available:
16352 Score on the author name.
16355 Score on the subject line.
16358 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
16361 Score on the @code{References} line.
16367 Score on the number of lines.
16370 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
16373 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
16374 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
16375 @file{ADAPT} files.)
16384 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
16390 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
16391 what headers you are scoring on.
16403 Substring matching.
16406 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
16435 Greater than number.
16440 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
16441 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
16442 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
16446 Temporary score entry.
16449 Permanent score entry.
16452 Immediately scoring.
16457 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
16458 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
16459 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
16460 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
16462 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
16463 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
16464 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
16465 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
16466 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
16468 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
16469 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
16470 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
16471 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
16472 current score file.
16474 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
16475 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
16476 pretend they are keymaps or not.
16479 @node Group Score Commands
16480 @section Group Score Commands
16481 @cindex group score commands
16483 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
16488 @kindex W f (Group)
16489 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16490 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
16491 all the time. This command will flush the cache
16492 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
16496 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
16498 @findex gnus-batch-score
16499 @cindex batch scoring
16501 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
16505 @node Score Variables
16506 @section Score Variables
16507 @cindex score variables
16511 @item gnus-use-scoring
16512 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
16513 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
16514 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
16516 @item gnus-kill-killed
16517 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
16518 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
16519 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
16520 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
16521 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
16522 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
16523 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
16525 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
16526 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
16527 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
16528 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
16529 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
16531 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
16532 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
16533 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
16534 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
16536 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16537 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16538 @cindex score cache
16539 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
16540 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
16541 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
16542 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
16543 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
16544 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
16547 @item gnus-save-score
16548 @vindex gnus-save-score
16549 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
16550 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
16551 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
16553 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
16554 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
16555 across group visits.
16557 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16558 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16559 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
16560 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
16561 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
16562 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
16563 manually entered data.
16565 @item gnus-summary-default-score
16566 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
16567 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
16569 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
16570 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
16571 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
16572 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
16573 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
16574 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
16576 @item gnus-score-over-mark
16577 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
16578 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
16579 default. Default is @samp{+}.
16581 @item gnus-score-below-mark
16582 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
16583 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
16584 default. Default is @samp{-}.
16586 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16587 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16588 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
16589 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
16591 Predefined functions available are:
16594 @item gnus-score-find-single
16595 @findex gnus-score-find-single
16596 Only apply the group's own score file.
16598 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
16599 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
16600 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
16601 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
16602 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
16603 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
16604 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
16605 then a regexp match is done.
16607 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
16608 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
16610 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
16611 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
16612 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
16613 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
16615 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16616 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
16617 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
16618 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
16619 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
16623 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
16624 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
16625 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
16626 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
16627 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
16628 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
16629 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
16632 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
16633 overall score file, you could use the value
16635 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
16636 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
16639 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
16640 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
16641 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
16642 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
16643 are expired. It's 7 by default.
16645 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
16646 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
16647 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
16648 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
16649 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
16650 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
16651 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
16654 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
16655 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
16656 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
16658 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
16659 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
16660 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
16661 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
16662 threading---according to the current value of
16663 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
16664 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
16665 simplified in this manner.
16670 @node Score File Format
16671 @section Score File Format
16672 @cindex score file format
16674 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
16675 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
16676 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
16678 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
16682 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
16684 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
16686 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
16688 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
16693 (mark-and-expunge -10)
16697 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
16698 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
16699 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
16700 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
16704 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
16705 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
16707 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
16708 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
16709 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
16711 Six keys are supported by this alist:
16716 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
16717 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
16718 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
16719 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
16720 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
16721 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
16722 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
16723 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
16724 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
16725 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
16726 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
16727 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
16728 to articles that matches these score entries.
16730 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
16731 score entry has one to four elements.
16735 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
16736 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
16740 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
16741 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
16742 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
16743 is successful. If this element is not present, the
16744 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
16745 instead. This is 1000 by default.
16748 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
16749 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
16750 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
16751 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
16752 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
16755 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
16756 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
16757 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
16758 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
16761 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
16762 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
16763 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
16764 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
16765 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
16766 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
16767 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
16768 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
16769 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
16770 instead, if you feel like.
16773 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
16774 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
16776 These predicates are true if
16779 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
16782 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
16783 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
16790 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
16791 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
16792 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
16793 it's not. I think.)
16795 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
16796 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
16797 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
16798 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
16801 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
16802 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
16803 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
16804 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
16805 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
16806 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
16807 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
16811 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
16812 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
16813 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
16814 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
16815 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
16816 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
16817 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
16818 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
16821 @item Head, Body, All
16822 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
16826 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
16827 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
16828 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
16829 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
16830 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
16831 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
16832 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
16836 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
16837 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
16838 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
16839 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
16840 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
16841 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
16842 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
16843 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
16844 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
16845 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
16846 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
16850 @cindex Score File Atoms
16852 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16853 lower than this number will be marked as read.
16856 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16857 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
16859 @item mark-and-expunge
16860 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16861 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
16864 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
16865 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
16866 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
16867 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
16868 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
16871 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
16872 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
16875 @item exclude-files
16876 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
16877 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
16881 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
16882 ignored when handling global score files.
16885 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
16886 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
16887 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
16888 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
16891 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
16892 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
16893 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
16894 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
16896 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
16900 (mark-and-expunge -100)
16903 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
16904 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
16905 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
16906 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
16907 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
16909 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
16910 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
16911 scoring rules exist.
16914 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
16915 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
16916 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
16917 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
16918 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
16919 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
16920 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16921 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
16922 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
16923 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
16924 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
16928 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
16929 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
16930 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
16931 file for a number of groups.
16934 @cindex local variables
16935 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
16936 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
16937 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
16938 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
16939 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
16943 @node Score File Editing
16944 @section Score File Editing
16946 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
16947 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
16948 with a mode for that.
16950 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
16951 additional commands:
16956 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
16957 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
16958 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
16959 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
16962 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
16963 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
16964 Insert the current date in numerical format
16965 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
16966 you were wondering.
16969 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
16970 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
16971 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
16972 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
16973 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
16978 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
16980 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
16981 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
16983 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
16984 e} to begin editing score files.
16987 @node Adaptive Scoring
16988 @section Adaptive Scoring
16989 @cindex adaptive scoring
16991 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
16992 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
16993 stupidity, to be precise.
16995 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
16996 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
16997 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
16998 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
16999 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17000 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
17001 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
17002 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
17003 variable to @code{(word line)}.
17005 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17006 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
17007 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
17008 might look something like this:
17011 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17012 '((gnus-unread-mark)
17013 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
17014 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
17015 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
17016 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
17017 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
17018 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
17019 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
17020 (gnus-ancient-mark)
17021 (gnus-low-score-mark)
17022 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
17025 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
17026 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
17027 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
17028 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
17029 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
17030 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
17033 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
17034 will be applied to each article.
17036 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
17037 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
17038 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
17039 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
17041 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
17042 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
17043 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
17044 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
17046 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
17047 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
17048 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
17049 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
17051 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
17052 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
17053 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
17054 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
17055 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
17056 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
17058 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
17059 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
17060 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
17061 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
17062 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
17063 aspirins afterwards.)
17065 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
17066 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
17067 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
17069 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
17070 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
17071 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
17073 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
17074 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
17075 let you use different rules in different groups.
17077 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
17078 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
17079 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
17082 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
17083 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
17084 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
17085 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
17086 the length of the match is less than
17087 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
17088 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
17091 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17092 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
17093 headers. If you adapt on words, the
17094 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
17095 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
17098 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17099 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
17100 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
17101 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
17102 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
17105 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
17106 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
17107 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
17108 score with 30 points.
17110 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
17111 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
17112 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
17113 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
17114 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
17116 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
17117 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
17118 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
17119 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
17120 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
17122 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
17123 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
17124 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
17125 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
17127 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
17128 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
17129 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
17130 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
17132 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
17133 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
17134 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
17135 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
17136 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
17138 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
17139 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
17140 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
17142 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
17143 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
17144 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
17145 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
17148 @node Home Score File
17149 @section Home Score File
17151 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
17152 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
17153 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
17154 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
17156 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
17157 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
17158 could perhaps use the same home score file.
17160 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
17161 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
17166 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
17170 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
17171 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
17175 A list. The elements in this list can be:
17179 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
17180 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
17183 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
17184 the home score file.
17187 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
17190 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
17195 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
17198 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17199 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
17202 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
17203 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
17205 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
17207 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17208 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
17211 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
17212 Other functions include
17215 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
17216 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
17217 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
17218 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
17222 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
17223 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
17224 their own home score files:
17227 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17228 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
17229 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
17230 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
17231 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
17234 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
17235 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
17236 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
17237 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
17238 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
17240 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
17241 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
17242 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
17243 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
17244 precedence over this variable.
17247 @node Followups To Yourself
17248 @section Followups To Yourself
17250 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
17251 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
17252 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
17253 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
17254 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
17255 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
17259 @item gnus-score-followup-article
17260 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
17261 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
17264 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
17265 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
17266 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
17270 @vindex message-sent-hook
17271 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
17272 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
17274 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
17278 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
17279 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
17283 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17284 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17287 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
17288 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
17293 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
17297 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
17298 is system-dependent.
17301 @node Scoring On Other Headers
17302 @section Scoring On Other Headers
17303 @cindex scoring on other headers
17305 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
17306 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
17307 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
17308 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
17309 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
17311 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
17312 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
17313 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
17314 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
17315 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
17317 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
17320 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
17321 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
17324 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
17325 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
17326 time if you have much mail.
17328 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
17329 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
17335 @section Scoring Tips
17336 @cindex scoring tips
17342 @cindex scoring crossposts
17343 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
17344 the @code{Xref} header.
17346 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
17349 @item Multiple crossposts
17350 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
17351 more than, say, 3 groups:
17354 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
17358 @item Matching on the body
17359 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
17360 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
17361 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
17362 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
17363 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
17364 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
17365 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
17368 @item Marking as read
17369 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
17370 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
17371 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
17375 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
17377 @item Negated character classes
17378 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
17379 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
17380 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
17384 @node Reverse Scoring
17385 @section Reverse Scoring
17386 @cindex reverse scoring
17388 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
17389 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
17390 like this in your score file:
17394 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
17399 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
17400 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
17403 @node Global Score Files
17404 @section Global Score Files
17405 @cindex global score files
17407 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
17408 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
17409 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
17411 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
17412 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
17413 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
17415 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
17416 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
17417 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
17418 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
17419 files are applicable to which group.
17421 To use the score file
17422 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
17423 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
17427 (setq gnus-global-score-files
17428 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
17429 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
17432 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
17434 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
17435 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
17436 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
17437 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
17439 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
17440 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
17442 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
17443 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
17444 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
17445 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
17446 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
17447 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
17449 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
17455 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
17457 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
17459 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
17461 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
17462 lowered out of existence.
17464 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
17465 articles completely.
17468 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
17469 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
17470 old articles for a long time.
17473 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
17474 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
17475 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
17476 holding our breath yet?
17480 @section Kill Files
17483 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
17484 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
17485 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
17487 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
17488 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
17489 files into score files.
17491 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
17492 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
17493 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
17494 that isn't a very good idea.
17496 Normal kill files look like this:
17499 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17500 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
17504 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
17505 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
17507 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
17508 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
17511 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
17516 @kindex M-k (Summary)
17517 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
17518 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
17521 @kindex M-K (Summary)
17522 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
17523 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
17526 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
17531 @kindex M-k (Group)
17532 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
17533 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
17536 @kindex M-K (Group)
17537 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
17538 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
17541 Kill file variables:
17544 @item gnus-kill-file-name
17545 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
17546 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
17547 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
17548 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
17549 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
17550 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
17552 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17553 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17554 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
17555 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
17558 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
17559 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
17560 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
17561 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
17562 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
17563 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
17564 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
17565 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
17566 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
17568 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17569 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17570 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
17575 @node Converting Kill Files
17576 @section Converting Kill Files
17578 @cindex converting kill files
17580 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
17581 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
17582 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
17585 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
17586 You can fetch it from
17587 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
17589 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
17590 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
17591 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
17599 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
17600 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
17601 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
17602 news articles generated every day.
17604 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
17605 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
17606 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
17607 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
17608 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
17609 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
17610 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
17611 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
17614 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
17615 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
17618 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
17619 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
17620 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
17621 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
17625 @node Using GroupLens
17626 @subsection Using GroupLens
17628 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
17630 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
17631 better bit in town at the moment.
17633 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
17637 @item gnus-use-grouplens
17638 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
17639 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
17640 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
17642 @item grouplens-pseudonym
17643 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
17644 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
17645 with the Better Bit Bureau.
17647 @item grouplens-newsgroups
17648 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
17649 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
17653 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
17654 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
17655 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
17656 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
17657 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
17658 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
17661 @node Rating Articles
17662 @subsection Rating Articles
17664 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
17665 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
17666 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
17667 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
17670 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
17675 @kindex r (GroupLens)
17676 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
17677 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
17680 @kindex k (GroupLens)
17681 @findex grouplens-score-thread
17682 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
17683 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
17684 threads in rec.humor.
17688 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
17689 the score of the article you're reading.
17694 @kindex n (GroupLens)
17695 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
17696 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
17699 @kindex , (GroupLens)
17700 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
17701 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
17705 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
17706 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
17709 @node Displaying Predictions
17710 @subsection Displaying Predictions
17712 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
17713 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
17714 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
17715 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
17716 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
17718 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
17719 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
17720 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
17721 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
17722 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
17723 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
17724 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
17725 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
17726 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
17727 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
17728 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
17729 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
17730 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
17732 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
17733 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
17734 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
17735 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
17737 The following are valid values for that variable.
17740 @item prediction-spot
17741 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
17744 @item confidence-interval
17745 A numeric confidence interval.
17747 @item prediction-bar
17748 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
17750 @item confidence-bar
17751 Numerical confidence.
17753 @item confidence-spot
17754 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
17756 @item prediction-num
17757 Plain-old numeric value.
17759 @item confidence-plus-minus
17760 Prediction +/- confidence.
17765 @node GroupLens Variables
17766 @subsection GroupLens Variables
17770 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
17771 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
17772 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
17773 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
17776 @item grouplens-bbb-host
17777 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
17780 @item grouplens-bbb-port
17781 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
17783 @item grouplens-score-offset
17784 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
17785 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
17788 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
17789 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
17790 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
17795 @node Advanced Scoring
17796 @section Advanced Scoring
17798 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
17799 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
17800 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
17801 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
17802 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
17804 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
17808 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
17809 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
17810 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
17814 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
17815 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
17817 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
17818 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
17819 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
17820 non-@code{nil} value.
17822 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
17823 operator, and various match operators.
17830 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
17831 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
17832 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
17837 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
17838 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
17839 then this operator will return @code{false}.
17844 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
17845 logical negation of the value of its argument.
17849 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
17850 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
17851 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
17852 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
17853 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
17854 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
17855 the ancestry you want to go.
17857 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
17858 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
17859 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
17860 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
17861 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
17864 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
17865 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
17867 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
17868 when he's talking about Gnus:
17872 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17873 ("subject" "Gnus"))
17879 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
17883 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17890 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
17891 really don't want to read what he's written:
17895 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17896 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
17900 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
17901 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
17902 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
17909 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
17910 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
17911 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
17912 ("body" "white.*socks"))
17916 The possibilities are endless.
17919 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
17920 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
17922 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
17923 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
17924 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
17925 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
17926 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
17927 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
17928 @samp{subject}) first.
17930 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
17931 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
17942 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
17943 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
17949 ("subject" "Gnus")))
17956 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
17957 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
17962 @section Score Decays
17963 @cindex score decays
17966 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
17967 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
17968 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
17969 use them in any sensible way.
17971 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
17972 @findex gnus-decay-score
17973 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
17974 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
17975 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
17976 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
17977 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
17978 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
17979 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
17980 definition of that function:
17983 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
17985 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
17986 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
17989 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
17991 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
17993 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
17996 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
17997 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
17998 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
17999 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
18003 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
18006 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
18009 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
18013 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
18014 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
18015 the new score, which should be an integer.
18017 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
18018 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
18023 @include message.texi
18024 @chapter Emacs MIME
18025 @include emacs-mime.texi
18033 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
18034 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
18035 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
18036 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
18037 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
18038 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
18039 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
18040 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
18041 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
18042 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
18043 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
18044 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
18045 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
18046 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
18047 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
18048 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
18049 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
18050 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
18054 @node Process/Prefix
18055 @section Process/Prefix
18056 @cindex process/prefix convention
18058 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
18059 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
18061 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
18062 command to be performed on.
18066 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
18067 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
18068 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
18069 with the current one.
18071 @vindex transient-mark-mode
18072 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
18073 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
18075 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
18076 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
18079 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
18080 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
18082 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
18085 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
18086 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
18087 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
18088 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
18090 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
18091 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
18092 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
18093 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
18094 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
18095 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
18096 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
18097 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
18099 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
18100 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
18101 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
18102 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
18103 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
18107 @section Interactive
18108 @cindex interaction
18112 @item gnus-novice-user
18113 @vindex gnus-novice-user
18114 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
18115 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
18116 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
18117 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
18120 @item gnus-expert-user
18121 @vindex gnus-expert-user
18122 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
18123 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
18124 matter how strange.
18126 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
18127 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
18128 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
18129 is @code{t} by default.
18131 @item gnus-interactive-exit
18132 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
18133 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18138 @node Symbolic Prefixes
18139 @section Symbolic Prefixes
18140 @cindex symbolic prefixes
18142 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
18143 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
18144 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
18145 rule of 900 to the current article.
18147 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
18148 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
18149 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
18150 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
18151 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
18152 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
18153 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
18155 @kindex M-i (Summary)
18156 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
18157 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
18158 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
18159 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
18160 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
18161 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
18162 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
18163 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
18165 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
18166 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
18167 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
18169 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
18173 @node Formatting Variables
18174 @section Formatting Variables
18175 @cindex formatting variables
18177 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
18178 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
18179 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
18180 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
18181 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
18184 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
18185 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
18186 lots of percentages everywhere.
18189 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
18190 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
18191 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
18192 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
18193 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
18194 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
18195 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
18196 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
18199 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
18200 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
18201 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
18202 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
18203 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
18204 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
18205 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
18206 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
18208 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
18209 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
18211 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
18212 @findex gnus-update-format
18213 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
18214 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
18215 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
18216 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
18220 @node Formatting Basics
18221 @subsection Formatting Basics
18223 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
18224 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
18225 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
18227 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
18228 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
18229 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
18230 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
18231 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
18234 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
18235 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
18236 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
18237 less than 4 characters wide.
18239 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
18240 @samp{%&user-date;}.
18242 @node Mode Line Formatting
18243 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
18245 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
18246 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
18247 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
18248 with the following two differences:
18253 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
18256 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
18257 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
18258 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
18259 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
18260 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
18261 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
18262 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
18267 @node Advanced Formatting
18268 @subsection Advanced Formatting
18270 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
18271 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
18272 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
18273 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
18275 These are the valid modifiers:
18280 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
18284 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
18289 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
18292 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
18297 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
18300 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
18303 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
18306 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
18310 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
18311 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
18312 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
18313 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
18314 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
18315 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
18316 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
18318 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
18319 last operation, padding.
18321 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
18322 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
18323 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
18324 @xref{Compilation}.
18327 @node User-Defined Specs
18328 @subsection User-Defined Specs
18330 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
18331 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
18332 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
18333 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
18334 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
18335 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
18336 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
18337 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
18338 should protect against that.
18340 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
18341 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
18343 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
18344 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
18345 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
18346 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
18350 @node Formatting Fonts
18351 @subsection Formatting Fonts
18353 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
18354 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
18355 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
18356 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
18359 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
18360 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
18361 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
18362 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
18363 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
18364 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
18366 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
18367 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
18368 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
18369 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
18370 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
18371 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
18372 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
18373 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
18375 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
18378 ;; Create three face types.
18379 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
18380 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
18382 ;; We want the article count to be in
18383 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
18384 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
18385 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
18387 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
18388 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
18390 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
18391 (setq gnus-group-line-format
18392 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
18395 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
18396 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
18398 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
18399 mode-line variables.
18401 @node Positioning Point
18402 @subsection Positioning Point
18404 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
18405 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
18406 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
18408 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
18410 @findex gnus-goto-colon
18411 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
18412 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
18414 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
18415 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
18416 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
18421 @subsection Tabulation
18423 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
18424 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
18425 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
18426 about lining up the following text afterwards.
18428 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
18429 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
18431 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18432 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
18433 This is the soft tabulator.
18435 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18436 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
18437 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
18440 @node Wide Characters
18441 @subsection Wide Characters
18443 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
18444 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
18445 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
18447 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
18448 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
18449 these coutries, that's not true.
18451 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
18452 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
18453 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
18454 prettieer. The default value is @code{t}.
18458 @node Window Layout
18459 @section Window Layout
18460 @cindex window layout
18462 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
18464 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
18465 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
18466 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
18467 @code{t} by default.
18469 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
18470 glitches. Use at your own peril.
18472 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
18473 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
18474 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
18477 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
18478 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
18479 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18483 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
18484 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
18485 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
18486 possible names is listed below.
18488 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
18489 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
18492 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18496 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
18497 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
18498 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
18499 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
18500 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
18501 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
18502 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
18503 size spec per split.
18505 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
18506 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
18507 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
18508 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
18509 present) gets focus.
18511 Here's a more complicated example:
18514 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
18515 (summary 0.25 point)
18516 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
18520 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
18521 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
18522 occupy, not a percentage.
18524 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
18525 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
18526 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
18527 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
18528 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
18531 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
18534 (article (horizontal 1.0
18539 (summary 0.25 point)
18544 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
18545 @code{horizontal} thingie?
18547 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
18548 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
18549 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
18550 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
18551 the screen is to be given to this strip.
18553 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
18554 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
18555 lines from the splits.
18557 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
18561 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
18562 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
18563 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
18564 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
18565 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
18566 size = number | frame-params
18567 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
18570 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
18571 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
18572 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
18573 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
18575 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
18576 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
18577 @cindex window height
18578 @cindex window width
18579 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
18580 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
18581 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
18582 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
18583 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
18584 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
18586 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
18587 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
18588 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
18589 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
18591 @findex gnus-configure-frame
18592 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
18593 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
18594 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
18595 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
18596 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
18597 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
18598 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
18599 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
18600 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
18601 configuration list.
18604 (gnus-configure-frame
18608 (article 0.3 point))
18616 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
18617 @code{frame} split:
18620 (gnus-configure-frame
18623 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
18625 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
18626 (user-position . t)
18627 (left . -1) (top . 1))
18632 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
18633 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
18634 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
18635 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
18636 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
18637 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
18638 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
18639 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
18641 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
18642 be found in its default value.
18644 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
18645 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
18646 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
18650 (message (horizontal 1.0
18651 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
18653 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
18658 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
18659 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
18660 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
18665 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
18666 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
18667 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
18668 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
18669 (name . "Message"))
18670 (message 1.0 point))))
18673 @findex gnus-add-configuration
18674 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
18675 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
18676 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
18677 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
18680 (gnus-add-configuration
18681 '(article (vertical 1.0
18683 (summary .25 point)
18687 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
18688 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
18689 Gnus has been loaded.
18691 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
18692 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
18693 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
18694 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
18695 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
18697 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
18698 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
18699 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
18702 @subsection Example Window Configurations
18706 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
18707 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
18722 (gnus-add-configuration
18725 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
18727 (summary 0.16 point)
18730 (gnus-add-configuration
18733 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
18734 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
18740 @node Faces and Fonts
18741 @section Faces and Fonts
18746 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
18747 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
18748 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
18753 @section Compilation
18754 @cindex compilation
18755 @cindex byte-compilation
18757 @findex gnus-compile
18759 Remember all those line format specification variables?
18760 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
18761 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
18762 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
18763 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
18764 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
18767 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
18768 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
18769 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
18770 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
18771 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
18772 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
18773 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
18777 @section Mode Lines
18780 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
18781 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
18782 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
18783 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
18784 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
18785 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
18786 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
18789 @cindex display-time
18791 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
18792 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
18793 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
18794 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
18795 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
18796 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
18797 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
18798 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
18801 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
18803 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
18804 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
18806 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
18807 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
18808 (length display-time-string)))))
18811 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
18812 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
18813 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
18814 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
18815 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
18818 @node Highlighting and Menus
18819 @section Highlighting and Menus
18821 @cindex highlighting
18824 @vindex gnus-visual
18825 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
18826 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
18827 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
18830 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
18831 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
18834 @item group-highlight
18835 Do highlights in the group buffer.
18836 @item summary-highlight
18837 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
18838 @item article-highlight
18839 Do highlights in the article buffer.
18841 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
18843 Create menus in the group buffer.
18845 Create menus in the summary buffers.
18847 Create menus in the article buffer.
18849 Create menus in the browse buffer.
18851 Create menus in the server buffer.
18853 Create menus in the score buffers.
18855 Create menus in all buffers.
18858 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
18859 buffers, you could say something like:
18862 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
18865 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
18868 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
18871 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
18872 in all Gnus buffers.
18874 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
18877 @item gnus-mouse-face
18878 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
18879 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
18880 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
18884 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
18888 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
18889 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
18890 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
18892 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
18893 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
18894 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
18896 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
18897 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
18898 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
18900 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
18901 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
18902 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
18904 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
18905 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
18906 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
18908 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
18909 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
18910 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
18921 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
18922 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
18923 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
18924 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
18925 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
18929 @vindex gnus-carpal
18930 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
18931 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
18932 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
18937 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
18938 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
18939 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
18941 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
18942 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
18943 Face used on buttons.
18945 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
18946 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
18947 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
18949 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
18950 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
18951 Buttons in the group buffer.
18953 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
18954 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
18955 Buttons in the summary buffer.
18957 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
18958 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
18959 Buttons in the server buffer.
18961 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
18962 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
18963 Buttons in the browse buffer.
18966 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
18967 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
18968 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
18976 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
18977 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
18978 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
18979 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
18980 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
18982 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
18983 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
18984 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
18986 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
18987 been idle for thirty minutes:
18990 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
18993 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
18997 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
19000 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
19001 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
19002 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19004 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
19005 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
19006 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
19007 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19009 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
19010 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
19011 @var{idle} minutes.
19013 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
19014 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
19017 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
19018 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
19019 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
19021 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
19022 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
19023 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
19024 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
19026 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
19027 your @file{.gnus} file:
19029 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
19031 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
19034 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
19035 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
19036 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
19037 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
19038 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
19039 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
19040 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
19041 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
19042 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
19043 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
19044 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
19046 @findex gnus-demon-init
19047 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
19048 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
19049 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
19050 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
19051 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
19053 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
19054 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
19055 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
19064 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
19065 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
19067 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
19068 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
19069 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
19070 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
19073 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
19074 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
19075 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
19076 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
19078 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
19079 this will make spam disappear.
19081 There are some variables to customize, of course:
19084 @item gnus-use-nocem
19085 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
19086 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
19089 @item gnus-nocem-groups
19090 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
19091 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
19092 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
19093 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
19095 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
19096 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
19097 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
19098 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
19099 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
19100 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
19102 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
19103 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
19105 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
19106 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
19107 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
19108 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
19109 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
19110 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
19111 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
19112 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
19113 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
19114 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
19116 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
19117 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
19120 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
19123 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
19124 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
19127 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
19130 The specs are applied left-to-right.
19133 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
19134 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
19136 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
19137 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
19138 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
19139 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
19141 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
19142 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
19145 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
19147 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
19155 This might be dangerous, though.
19157 @item gnus-nocem-directory
19158 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
19159 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
19160 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
19162 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19163 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19164 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
19165 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
19166 might then see old spam.
19168 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
19169 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
19170 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
19171 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
19172 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
19175 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19176 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19177 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
19178 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
19182 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
19183 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
19184 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
19185 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
19192 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
19193 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
19194 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
19196 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
19197 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
19198 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
19199 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
19200 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
19201 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
19202 @code{undo} function.
19204 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
19205 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
19206 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
19207 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
19208 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
19209 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
19210 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
19211 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
19212 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
19213 never be totally undoable.
19215 @findex gnus-undo-mode
19216 @vindex gnus-use-undo
19218 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
19219 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
19220 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
19221 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
19226 @section Moderation
19229 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
19230 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
19231 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
19234 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
19238 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
19241 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
19243 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
19248 You split your incoming mail by matching on
19249 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
19250 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
19253 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
19254 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
19257 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
19258 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
19262 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
19265 (setq gnus-moderated-list
19266 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
19270 @node XEmacs Enhancements
19271 @section XEmacs Enhancements
19274 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
19278 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
19279 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
19280 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
19281 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
19294 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
19295 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
19296 over your shoulder as you read news.
19299 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
19300 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
19301 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
19302 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
19303 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
19308 @subsubsection Picon Basics
19310 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
19319 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
19320 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
19321 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
19322 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
19323 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
19324 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
19325 @code{GIF} formats.
19328 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19329 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
19330 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
19331 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
19332 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
19334 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19335 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
19336 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
19337 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
19338 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
19339 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19342 @node Picon Requirements
19343 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
19345 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
19346 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
19347 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
19348 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
19350 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19351 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
19352 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
19353 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
19354 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
19358 @subsubsection Easy Picons
19360 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
19361 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
19364 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
19365 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
19368 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
19369 containing the Picons databases.
19371 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
19374 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19375 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
19380 @subsubsection Hard Picons
19388 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
19389 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
19390 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
19391 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
19392 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
19397 @item gnus-picons-database
19398 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19399 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
19400 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
19401 subdirectories. This is only useful if
19402 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
19403 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
19405 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19406 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19407 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
19408 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
19409 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
19410 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
19411 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19413 @item gnus-picons-display-where
19414 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19415 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
19416 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
19417 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
19418 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
19419 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
19420 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
19422 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19423 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19424 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
19429 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
19430 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
19432 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
19433 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
19436 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19438 @item gnus-article-display-picons
19439 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
19440 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
19441 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
19443 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
19444 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
19445 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
19451 @node Picon Useless Configuration
19452 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
19460 The following variables offer further control over how things are
19461 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
19462 don't need to worry about.
19466 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
19467 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
19468 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19469 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
19471 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
19472 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
19473 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
19474 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
19476 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
19477 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
19478 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19479 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
19480 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
19482 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19483 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19484 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
19485 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
19486 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
19487 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
19488 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
19490 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19491 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19492 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
19493 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
19495 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19496 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19497 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
19498 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
19499 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
19500 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
19501 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
19503 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19504 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19505 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
19506 Defaults to @code{nil}.
19508 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
19509 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
19510 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
19511 Defaults to @code{t}.
19513 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19514 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19515 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
19516 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
19518 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
19519 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
19520 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
19522 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19523 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19524 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
19525 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
19527 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
19528 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
19530 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19531 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19532 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
19533 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
19534 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
19535 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
19536 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
19537 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
19548 @subsection Smileys
19553 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
19558 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
19559 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
19561 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
19562 @file{.gnus.el} file:
19565 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
19568 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
19569 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
19570 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
19571 text and maps that to file names.
19573 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
19574 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
19575 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
19576 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
19577 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
19578 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
19580 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
19581 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
19583 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
19584 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
19585 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
19587 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
19588 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
19592 @item smiley-data-directory
19593 @vindex smiley-data-directory
19594 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
19596 @item smiley-flesh-color
19597 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
19598 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
19600 @item smiley-features-color
19601 @vindex smiley-features-color
19602 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
19604 @item smiley-tongue-color
19605 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
19606 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
19608 @item smiley-circle-color
19609 @vindex smiley-circle-color
19610 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
19612 @item smiley-mouse-face
19613 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
19614 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
19620 @subsection Toolbar
19630 @item gnus-use-toolbar
19631 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
19632 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
19633 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
19634 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
19636 @item gnus-group-toolbar
19637 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
19638 The toolbar in the group buffer.
19640 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
19641 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
19642 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
19644 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
19645 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
19646 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
19652 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
19655 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
19656 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
19657 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
19658 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
19659 unusual directory structure.
19661 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
19662 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
19663 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
19664 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
19666 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
19667 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
19668 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
19669 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
19670 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
19671 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
19673 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
19674 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
19675 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
19689 @node Fuzzy Matching
19690 @section Fuzzy Matching
19691 @cindex fuzzy matching
19693 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
19694 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
19696 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
19697 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
19698 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
19700 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
19701 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
19702 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
19703 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
19704 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
19707 @node Thwarting Email Spam
19708 @section Thwarting Email Spam
19712 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
19714 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
19715 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
19716 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
19717 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
19718 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
19719 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
19720 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
19721 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
19724 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
19725 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
19726 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
19727 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
19728 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
19729 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
19733 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
19734 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
19736 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
19737 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
19738 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
19739 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
19740 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
19741 part of the mail address.)
19744 (setq message-default-news-headers
19745 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
19748 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
19749 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
19754 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
19755 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
19756 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
19762 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
19763 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
19764 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
19765 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
19767 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
19768 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
19769 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
19770 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
19771 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
19772 your fancy split rule in this way:
19777 (to "larsi" "misc")
19781 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
19782 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
19783 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
19784 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
19785 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
19787 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
19788 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
19789 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
19790 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
19791 cosmic balance somewhat.
19793 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
19794 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
19795 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
19796 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
19799 @node Various Various
19800 @section Various Various
19806 @item gnus-home-directory
19807 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
19808 defaults to @file{~/}.
19810 @item gnus-directory
19811 @vindex gnus-directory
19812 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
19813 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
19814 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
19816 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
19817 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
19818 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
19819 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
19821 @item gnus-default-directory
19822 @vindex gnus-default-directory
19823 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
19824 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
19825 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
19826 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
19827 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
19828 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
19831 @vindex gnus-verbose
19832 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
19833 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
19834 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
19835 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
19836 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
19838 @item gnus-verbose-backends
19839 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
19840 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
19841 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
19843 @item nnheader-max-head-length
19844 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
19845 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
19846 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
19847 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
19848 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
19849 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
19850 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
19851 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
19852 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
19854 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
19855 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
19856 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
19857 read when doing the operation described above.
19859 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19860 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19862 @cindex invalid characters in file names
19863 @cindex characters in file names
19864 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
19865 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
19866 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
19869 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
19873 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
19874 Windows (phooey) systems.
19876 @item gnus-hidden-properties
19877 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
19878 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
19879 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
19880 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
19882 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
19883 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
19884 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
19885 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
19886 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
19888 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
19889 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
19890 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
19892 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
19893 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
19895 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
19896 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
19897 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
19898 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
19901 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
19909 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
19910 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
19912 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
19914 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
19920 Not because of victories @*
19923 but for the common sunshine,@*
19925 the largess of the spring.
19929 but for the day's work done@*
19930 as well as I was able;@*
19931 not for a seat upon the dais@*
19932 but at the common table.@*
19937 @chapter Appendices
19940 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
19941 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
19942 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
19943 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
19944 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
19945 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
19946 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
19947 * Frequently Asked Questions::
19955 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
19956 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
19958 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
19959 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
19960 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
19961 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
19962 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
19964 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
19965 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
19966 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
19967 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
19968 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
19969 appropriate name, don't you think?)
19971 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
19972 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
19973 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
19974 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
19977 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
19978 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
19979 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
19980 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
19981 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
19982 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
19983 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
19984 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
19985 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
19989 @node Gnus Versions
19990 @subsection Gnus Versions
19991 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
19993 @cindex September Gnus
19994 @cindex Quassia Gnus
19996 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
19997 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
19998 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
20000 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
20001 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
20003 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
20004 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
20006 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
20007 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
20009 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
20010 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
20013 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
20015 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
20016 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
20017 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
20018 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
20019 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
20020 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
20023 @node Other Gnus Versions
20024 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
20027 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
20028 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
20029 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
20030 @sc{mime} capabilities.
20032 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
20033 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
20034 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
20035 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
20042 What's the point of Gnus?
20044 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
20045 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
20046 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
20047 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
20048 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
20049 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
20050 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
20051 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
20052 keep track of millions of people who post?
20054 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
20055 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
20056 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
20057 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
20058 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
20059 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
20060 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
20061 every one of you to explore and invent.
20063 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
20064 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
20067 @node Compatibility
20068 @subsection Compatibility
20070 @cindex compatibility
20071 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
20072 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
20073 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
20078 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
20082 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
20085 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
20088 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
20089 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
20090 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
20091 important variables have their values copied into their global
20092 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
20093 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
20095 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
20096 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
20097 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
20098 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
20099 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
20103 @cindex highlighting
20104 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
20105 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
20106 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
20107 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
20108 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
20109 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
20112 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
20113 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
20114 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
20115 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
20117 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
20118 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
20119 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
20120 to stop doing it the old way.
20122 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
20124 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20126 @cindex reporting bugs
20128 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
20129 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
20130 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
20132 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
20133 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
20134 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
20135 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
20140 @subsection Conformity
20142 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
20143 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
20150 There are no known breaches of this standard.
20154 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
20156 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
20157 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
20158 We do have some breaches to this one.
20164 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
20165 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
20166 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
20167 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
20168 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
20173 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
20174 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
20175 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
20176 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
20180 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
20181 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
20186 @subsection Emacsen
20192 Gnus should work on :
20200 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
20204 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
20205 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
20208 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
20209 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
20210 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
20214 @node Gnus Development
20215 @subsection Gnus Development
20217 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
20218 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
20219 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
20220 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
20221 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
20222 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
20223 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
20224 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
20226 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
20227 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
20228 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
20229 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
20230 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
20233 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
20234 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
20235 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
20236 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
20237 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
20239 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
20240 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
20241 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
20242 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
20243 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
20244 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
20245 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
20246 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
20247 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
20248 can't be assumed to do so.
20253 @subsection Contributors
20254 @cindex contributors
20256 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
20257 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
20258 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
20259 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
20260 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
20261 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
20262 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
20263 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
20264 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
20265 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
20267 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
20273 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
20276 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
20277 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
20278 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
20279 functionality and stuff.
20282 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
20283 well as numerous other things).
20286 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
20289 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
20292 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
20295 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
20298 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
20299 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
20302 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
20305 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
20306 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
20309 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
20312 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
20315 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
20318 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
20321 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
20322 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
20325 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
20328 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
20331 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
20334 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
20338 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
20341 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
20344 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
20347 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
20348 well as autoconf support.
20352 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
20353 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
20355 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
20364 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
20368 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
20378 Alexei V. Barantsev,
20393 Massimo Campostrini,
20398 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
20399 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
20403 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
20406 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
20412 Michael Welsh Duggan,
20417 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
20421 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
20429 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
20431 Michelangelo Grigni,
20435 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
20437 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
20439 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
20446 François Felix Ingrand,
20447 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
20448 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
20450 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
20461 Peter Skov Knudsen,
20462 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
20464 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
20465 Thor Kristoffersen,
20468 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
20486 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
20487 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
20494 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
20499 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
20503 John McClary Prevost,
20509 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
20514 Christian von Roques,
20517 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
20524 Philippe Schnoebelen,
20526 Randal L. Schwartz,
20540 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
20545 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
20561 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
20566 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
20567 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
20568 (550kB and counting).
20570 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
20573 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
20574 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
20578 @subsection New Features
20579 @cindex new features
20582 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
20583 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
20584 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
20585 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
20586 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
20589 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
20590 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
20591 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
20594 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
20596 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
20601 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
20602 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
20605 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
20606 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
20609 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
20612 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
20613 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
20614 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
20617 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
20618 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
20619 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
20620 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
20623 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
20624 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20627 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
20628 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
20629 (@pxref{The Active File}).
20632 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
20633 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
20636 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
20637 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
20638 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
20641 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
20642 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
20643 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
20646 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
20647 the @file{.emacs} file.
20650 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
20651 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20654 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
20655 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
20658 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
20659 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20662 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
20663 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
20666 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
20667 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
20670 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
20673 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
20674 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
20677 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
20678 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
20681 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
20682 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
20685 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
20688 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
20689 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
20692 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
20696 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
20700 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
20701 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
20704 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
20710 @node September Gnus
20711 @subsubsection September Gnus
20715 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
20719 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
20724 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
20725 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
20729 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
20730 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
20734 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
20738 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
20739 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
20742 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
20746 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
20749 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
20752 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
20755 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
20759 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
20760 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
20763 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
20767 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
20771 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
20775 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
20779 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
20782 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
20783 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
20786 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
20790 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
20791 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
20794 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
20797 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
20798 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
20799 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
20802 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
20806 The Gnus cache is much faster.
20809 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
20813 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
20814 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
20817 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
20818 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
20821 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
20822 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20825 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
20826 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
20827 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
20830 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
20831 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
20834 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
20837 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
20840 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
20843 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
20846 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
20847 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
20850 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
20854 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
20857 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
20862 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
20865 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
20869 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
20872 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
20876 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
20879 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
20882 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
20883 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
20886 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
20887 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
20891 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
20892 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
20895 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
20899 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
20900 buffer to allow easier treatment.
20903 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
20906 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
20910 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
20914 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
20915 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
20918 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
20922 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
20923 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
20926 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
20927 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
20930 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
20934 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
20937 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
20940 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
20946 @subsubsection Red Gnus
20948 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
20952 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
20959 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
20962 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
20963 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
20966 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
20967 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
20971 Article washing status can be displayed in the
20972 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
20975 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
20978 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
20979 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
20982 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
20986 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
20987 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
20991 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
20992 Server Internals}).
20995 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
20999 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
21002 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
21003 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
21006 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
21007 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
21008 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
21011 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
21012 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21015 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
21016 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
21019 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
21023 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
21024 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21027 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
21028 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21031 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
21035 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
21038 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
21042 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
21043 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21046 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
21047 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21050 A new command for reading collections of documents
21051 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
21052 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
21055 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
21059 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
21060 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
21063 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
21064 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
21065 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
21068 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
21069 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
21073 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
21077 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
21081 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
21086 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
21090 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
21094 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
21095 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
21098 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
21104 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
21106 New features in Gnus 5.6:
21111 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
21112 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
21113 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
21116 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
21117 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
21118 group, which is created automatically.
21121 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
21125 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
21128 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
21129 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
21132 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
21136 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
21139 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
21140 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
21143 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
21146 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
21147 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
21150 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
21151 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
21154 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
21155 control over simplification.
21158 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
21161 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
21165 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
21168 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
21171 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
21172 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
21173 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
21176 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
21177 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
21180 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
21184 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
21185 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
21188 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
21189 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
21192 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
21196 A history of where mails have been split is available.
21199 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
21202 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
21203 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
21206 A new function for citing in Message has been
21207 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
21210 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
21213 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
21217 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
21218 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
21221 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
21222 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
21225 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
21228 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
21232 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
21233 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
21235 New features in Gnus 5.8:
21240 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
21241 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
21243 If you used procmail like in
21246 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
21247 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
21248 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
21249 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
21252 this now has changed to
21256 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
21260 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
21261 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
21264 Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
21265 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
21268 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
21269 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
21272 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
21273 called to position point.
21276 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
21277 summary buffers and NOV files.
21280 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
21281 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
21284 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
21285 subtly different manner.
21288 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
21289 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
21290 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
21293 Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
21301 @section The Manual
21305 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
21306 either @code{texi2dvi}
21308 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
21309 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
21311 to get what you hold in your hands now.
21313 The following conventions have been used:
21318 This is a @samp{string}
21321 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
21324 This is a @file{file}
21327 This is a @code{symbol}
21331 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
21335 (setq flargnoze "yes")
21338 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
21341 (setq flumphel 'yes)
21344 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
21345 ever get them confused.
21349 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
21350 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
21351 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
21352 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
21353 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
21354 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
21355 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
21361 @node On Writing Manuals
21362 @section On Writing Manuals
21364 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
21365 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
21366 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
21367 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
21368 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
21369 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
21372 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
21373 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
21374 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
21377 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
21378 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
21383 @section Terminology
21385 @cindex terminology
21390 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
21391 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
21392 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
21393 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
21394 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
21398 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
21399 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
21400 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
21401 not posting, and replying is not following up.
21405 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
21409 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
21414 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of back ends, both news and mail
21415 back ends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
21416 is all done by the back ends.
21420 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
21421 default, way of getting news.
21425 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
21426 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
21431 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
21432 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
21436 A message that has been posted as news.
21439 @cindex mail message
21440 A message that has been mailed.
21444 A mail message or news article
21448 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
21453 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
21458 A line from the head of an article.
21462 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
21463 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
21467 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
21468 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
21469 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
21470 normal @sc{head} format.
21474 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
21475 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
21476 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
21477 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
21478 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
21479 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
21481 @item killed groups
21482 @cindex killed groups
21483 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
21484 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
21486 @item zombie groups
21487 @cindex zombie groups
21488 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
21491 @cindex active file
21492 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
21493 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
21494 is rather large, as you might surmise.
21497 @cindex bogus groups
21498 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
21499 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
21500 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
21503 @cindex activating groups
21504 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
21505 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
21506 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
21510 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
21512 @item select method
21513 @cindex select method
21514 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
21517 @item virtual server
21518 @cindex virtual server
21519 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
21520 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
21521 whole is a virtual server.
21525 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
21526 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
21529 @item ephemeral groups
21530 @cindex ephemeral groups
21531 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
21532 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
21533 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
21536 @cindex solid groups
21537 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
21538 group buffer are solid groups.
21540 @item sparse articles
21541 @cindex sparse articles
21542 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
21543 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
21547 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
21548 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
21552 @cindex thread root
21553 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
21554 articles in the thread.
21558 An article that has responses.
21562 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
21566 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
21567 specified by RFC 1153.
21573 @node Customization
21574 @section Customization
21575 @cindex general customization
21577 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
21578 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
21579 for some quite common situations.
21582 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
21583 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
21584 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
21585 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
21589 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
21590 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
21592 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
21593 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
21594 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
21598 @item gnus-read-active-file
21599 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
21600 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
21601 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21602 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
21603 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
21605 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
21606 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
21607 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
21608 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
21612 @node Slow Terminal Connection
21613 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
21615 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
21616 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
21617 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
21621 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
21622 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
21623 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
21624 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
21625 horizontal and vertical recentering.
21627 @item gnus-visible-headers
21628 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
21629 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
21630 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
21631 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
21633 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
21635 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
21636 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
21637 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
21640 @item gnus-use-full-window
21641 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
21642 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
21643 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
21644 want to read them anyway.
21646 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
21647 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
21650 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
21651 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
21652 lines, which might save some time.
21656 @node Little Disk Space
21657 @subsection Little Disk Space
21660 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
21661 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
21665 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
21666 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
21667 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21668 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21671 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
21672 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
21673 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21674 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21677 @item gnus-save-killed-list
21678 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
21679 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
21680 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
21681 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
21687 @subsection Slow Machine
21688 @cindex slow machine
21690 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
21691 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
21693 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21694 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
21696 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
21697 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
21698 summary buffer faster.
21702 @node Troubleshooting
21703 @section Troubleshooting
21704 @cindex troubleshooting
21706 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
21714 Make sure your computer is switched on.
21717 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
21718 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
21722 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
21723 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
21724 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
21725 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
21728 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
21732 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
21733 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
21734 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
21735 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
21736 something like that.
21739 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
21742 @cindex reporting bugs
21744 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21746 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
21747 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
21748 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
21749 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
21751 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
21752 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
21753 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
21754 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
21757 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
21758 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
21759 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
21760 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
21761 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
21762 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
21764 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
21765 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
21766 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
21770 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
21771 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
21773 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
21774 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
21776 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
21777 @cindex ding mailing list
21778 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
21779 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
21783 @node Gnus Reference Guide
21784 @section Gnus Reference Guide
21786 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
21787 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
21788 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
21789 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
21792 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
21793 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
21794 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
21795 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
21796 and general methods of operation.
21799 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
21800 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
21801 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
21802 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
21803 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
21804 * Group Info:: The group info format.
21805 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
21806 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
21807 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
21811 @node Gnus Utility Functions
21812 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
21813 @cindex Gnus utility functions
21814 @cindex utility functions
21816 @cindex internal variables
21818 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
21819 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
21820 Below is a list of the most common ones.
21824 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
21825 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
21826 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
21828 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
21829 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
21830 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
21832 @item gnus-group-real-name
21833 @findex gnus-group-real-name
21834 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
21837 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
21838 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
21839 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
21840 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
21842 @item gnus-get-info
21843 @findex gnus-get-info
21844 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
21846 @item gnus-group-unread
21847 @findex gnus-group-unread
21848 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
21852 @findex gnus-active
21853 The active entry for @var{group}.
21855 @item gnus-set-active
21856 @findex gnus-set-active
21857 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
21859 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21860 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21861 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
21864 @item gnus-continuum-version
21865 @findex gnus-continuum-version
21866 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
21867 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
21870 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
21871 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
21872 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
21874 @item gnus-news-group-p
21875 @findex gnus-news-group-p
21876 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
21878 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21879 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21880 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
21882 @item gnus-server-to-method
21883 @findex gnus-server-to-method
21884 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
21886 @item gnus-server-equal
21887 @findex gnus-server-equal
21888 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
21890 @item gnus-group-native-p
21891 @findex gnus-group-native-p
21892 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
21894 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
21895 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
21896 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
21898 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
21899 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
21900 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
21902 @item group-group-find-parameter
21903 @findex group-group-find-parameter
21904 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
21905 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
21907 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
21908 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
21909 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
21911 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
21912 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
21913 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
21915 @item gnus-check-backend-function
21916 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
21917 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
21918 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
21921 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
21925 @item gnus-read-method
21926 @findex gnus-read-method
21927 Prompts the user for a select method.
21932 @node Back End Interface
21933 @subsection Back End Interface
21935 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
21936 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
21937 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
21938 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
21939 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
21940 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
21942 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
21943 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
21944 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
21945 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
21946 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
21947 been opened, the function should fail.
21949 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
21950 name. Take this example:
21954 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
21955 (nntp-port-number 4324))
21958 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
21959 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
21961 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
21962 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
21963 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
21965 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
21966 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
21967 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
21969 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
21970 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
21971 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
21972 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
21973 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
21974 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
21977 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
21978 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
21979 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
21980 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
21983 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
21984 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
21985 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
21986 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
21987 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
21988 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
21989 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
21990 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
21991 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
21992 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
21994 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
21995 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
21996 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
21997 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
21998 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
21999 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
22000 of numbers as long as possible.
22002 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
22005 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
22008 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
22009 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
22010 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
22011 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
22012 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
22013 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
22017 @node Required Back End Functions
22018 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
22022 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
22024 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
22025 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
22026 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
22027 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
22029 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
22030 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
22031 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
22032 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
22034 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
22035 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
22036 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
22037 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
22038 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
22039 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
22040 number, do maximum fetches.
22042 Here's an example HEAD:
22045 221 1056 Article retrieved.
22046 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
22047 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
22048 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
22049 Subject: Re: Something very droll
22050 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
22051 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
22053 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
22054 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
22055 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
22059 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
22060 these in the data buffer.
22062 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
22066 head = error / valid-head
22067 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
22068 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
22069 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
22070 header = <text> eol
22073 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
22074 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
22078 nov-buffer = *nov-line
22079 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
22080 field = <text except TAB>
22083 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
22087 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
22089 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
22090 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
22092 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
22093 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
22094 server. In fact, it should do so.
22096 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
22097 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
22100 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
22102 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
22103 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
22106 There should be no data returned.
22109 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
22111 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
22112 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
22113 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
22114 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
22116 There should be no data returned.
22119 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
22121 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
22122 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
22123 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
22124 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
22126 There should be no data returned.
22129 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
22131 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
22133 There should be no data returned.
22136 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
22138 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
22139 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
22140 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
22141 it would be nice if that were possible.
22143 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
22144 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
22145 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
22146 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
22147 into its article buffer.
22149 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
22150 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
22151 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
22152 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
22153 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
22154 on successful article retrieval.
22157 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
22159 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
22160 making @var{group} the current group.
22162 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
22165 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
22168 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
22171 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
22172 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
22173 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
22174 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
22175 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
22176 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
22177 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
22178 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
22181 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
22182 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
22183 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
22187 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22189 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
22190 a no-op on most back ends.
22192 There should be no data returned.
22195 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
22197 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
22200 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
22203 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
22204 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
22207 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
22208 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
22211 active-file = *active-line
22212 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
22214 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
22217 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
22218 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
22219 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
22222 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
22224 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
22225 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
22226 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
22227 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
22228 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
22229 clear if the posting could not be completed.
22231 There should be no result data from this function.
22236 @node Optional Back End Functions
22237 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
22241 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
22243 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
22244 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
22245 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
22247 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
22248 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
22249 former is in the same format as the data from
22250 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
22251 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
22254 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
22258 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
22260 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
22261 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
22262 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
22263 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
22264 should return the (altered) group info.
22266 There should be no result data from this function.
22269 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
22271 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
22272 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
22273 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
22274 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
22275 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
22276 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
22277 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
22278 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
22280 There should be no result data from this function.
22283 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
22285 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
22286 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
22287 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
22288 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
22289 propagate the mark information to the server.
22291 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
22294 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
22297 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
22298 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
22299 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
22300 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
22301 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
22302 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
22303 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
22304 possible, not limit itself to these.
22306 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
22307 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
22308 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
22309 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
22311 An example action list:
22314 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
22315 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
22316 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
22319 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
22320 mark on (currently not used for anything).
22322 There should be no result data from this function.
22324 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
22326 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
22327 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
22328 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
22329 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
22330 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
22332 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
22333 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
22334 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
22337 There should be no result data from this function.
22340 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
22342 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
22343 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
22344 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
22345 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
22346 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
22347 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
22348 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
22350 There should be no result data from this function.
22353 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
22355 The result data from this function should be a description of
22359 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
22361 description = <text>
22364 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
22366 The result data from this function should be the description of all
22367 groups available on the server.
22370 description-buffer = *description-line
22374 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
22376 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
22377 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
22378 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
22379 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
22380 in the active buffer format.
22382 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
22383 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
22384 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
22385 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
22386 many groups, so nnml and the like are probably safe. But for back ends
22387 like nntp, where the groups have been created by the server, it is quite
22388 likely that there can be many groups.
22391 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22393 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
22395 There should be no return data.
22398 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
22400 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
22401 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
22402 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
22403 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
22404 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
22407 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
22410 There should be no result data returned.
22413 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
22416 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
22417 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
22419 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
22420 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
22421 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
22422 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
22423 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
22424 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
22426 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
22427 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
22430 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22431 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22433 There should be no data returned.
22436 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
22438 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
22439 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
22440 this function in short order.
22442 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
22443 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
22445 There should be no data returned.
22448 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
22450 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
22451 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
22453 There should be no data returned.
22456 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
22458 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
22459 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
22460 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
22462 There should be no data returned.
22465 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
22467 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
22468 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
22470 There should be no data returned.
22475 @node Error Messaging
22476 @subsubsection Error Messaging
22478 @findex nnheader-report
22479 @findex nnheader-get-report
22480 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
22481 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
22482 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
22483 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
22484 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
22485 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
22488 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
22490 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
22493 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
22494 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
22495 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
22496 takes one argument---the server symbol.
22498 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
22499 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
22500 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
22503 @node Writing New Back Ends
22504 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
22506 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
22507 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
22508 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
22509 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
22510 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
22513 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
22514 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
22515 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
22517 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
22518 package called @code{nnoo}.
22520 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
22521 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
22527 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
22528 parameters. For instance:
22531 (nnoo-declare nndir
22535 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
22536 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
22539 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
22540 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
22541 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
22543 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
22544 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
22545 a function in those back ends.
22548 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22549 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22550 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22553 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
22554 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
22555 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
22557 @item nnoo-define-basics
22558 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
22562 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22566 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
22567 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
22568 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
22570 @item nnoo-map-functions
22571 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
22572 functions from the parent back ends.
22575 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22576 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22577 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
22580 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
22581 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
22582 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
22583 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
22586 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
22587 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
22588 haven't already been defined.
22594 nnmh-request-newgroups)
22598 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
22599 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
22600 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
22605 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
22608 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
22609 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22613 (require 'nnheader)
22617 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
22619 (nnoo-declare nndir
22622 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22623 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22624 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22626 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
22627 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
22630 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
22632 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
22633 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
22634 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
22636 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
22637 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
22639 ;;; Interface functions.
22641 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22643 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
22644 (setq nndir-directory
22645 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
22647 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
22648 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
22649 (push `(nndir-current-group
22650 ,(file-name-nondirectory
22651 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22653 (push `(nndir-top-directory
22654 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22656 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
22658 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22659 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22660 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22661 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
22662 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
22666 nnmh-status-message
22668 nnmh-request-newgroups))
22674 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
22675 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
22677 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
22678 @findex gnus-declare-backend
22679 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
22680 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
22681 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
22683 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
22684 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
22689 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
22692 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
22694 The abilities can be:
22698 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
22700 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
22702 This back end supports both mail and news.
22704 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
22707 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
22708 articles and groups.
22710 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
22711 true for almost all back ends.
22712 @item prompt-address
22713 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
22714 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
22715 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
22719 @node Mail-like Back Ends
22720 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
22722 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
22723 back ends is the heavy dependence by the mail back ends on common
22724 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
22725 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
22728 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
22729 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
22730 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
22733 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
22734 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
22737 This function takes four parameters.
22741 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
22744 @item exit-function
22745 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
22747 @item temp-directory
22748 Where the temporary files should be stored.
22751 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
22752 performed for one group only.
22755 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
22756 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
22757 find the article number assigned to this article.
22759 The function also uses the following variables:
22760 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
22761 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
22762 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
22763 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
22767 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
22768 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
22772 @node Score File Syntax
22773 @subsection Score File Syntax
22775 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
22776 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
22777 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
22779 Here's a typical score file:
22783 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
22790 BNF definition of a score file:
22793 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
22794 element = rule / atom
22795 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
22796 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
22797 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
22798 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
22800 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
22801 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
22802 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
22803 date-header = "date"
22804 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22805 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22806 score = "nil" / <integer>
22807 date = "nil" / <natural number>
22808 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
22809 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
22810 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
22811 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
22812 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22813 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22814 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
22815 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22816 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
22817 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
22818 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
22819 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
22820 exclude-files / read-only / touched
22821 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
22822 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
22823 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
22824 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
22825 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
22826 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
22827 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
22828 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
22829 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
22830 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
22831 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
22832 eval = "eval" space <form>
22833 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
22836 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
22839 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
22840 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
22841 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
22842 one looong line, then that's ok.
22844 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
22845 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22849 @subsection Headers
22851 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
22852 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
22853 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
22854 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
22856 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
22857 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
22858 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
22859 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
22860 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
22861 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
22862 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
22864 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
22865 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
22866 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
22867 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
22868 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
22870 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
22871 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
22877 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
22878 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
22880 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
22881 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
22882 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
22883 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
22885 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
22889 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
22892 is transformed into
22895 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
22898 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
22899 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
22902 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
22905 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
22906 is slightly tricky:
22909 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
22915 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
22918 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
22924 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
22931 and is equal to the previous range.
22933 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
22934 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
22935 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
22939 range = simple-range / normal-range
22940 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
22941 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
22942 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
22943 number *[ " " contents ]
22946 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
22947 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
22948 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
22949 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
22950 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
22955 @subsection Group Info
22957 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
22958 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
22959 describes the group.
22961 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
22962 second is a more complex one:
22965 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
22967 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
22968 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
22970 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
22973 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
22974 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
22975 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
22976 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
22977 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
22978 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
22979 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
22980 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
22981 this section is about.
22983 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
22984 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
22985 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
22987 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
22990 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
22991 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
22992 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22993 group = quote <string> quote
22994 ralevel = rank / level
22995 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22996 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
22997 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22999 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
23000 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
23001 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
23002 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
23005 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
23006 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
23009 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
23010 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
23013 @item gnus-info-group
23014 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
23015 @findex gnus-info-group
23016 @findex gnus-info-set-group
23017 Get/set the group name.
23019 @item gnus-info-rank
23020 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
23021 @findex gnus-info-rank
23022 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
23023 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
23025 @item gnus-info-level
23026 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
23027 @findex gnus-info-level
23028 @findex gnus-info-set-level
23029 Get/set the group level.
23031 @item gnus-info-score
23032 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
23033 @findex gnus-info-score
23034 @findex gnus-info-set-score
23035 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
23037 @item gnus-info-read
23038 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
23039 @findex gnus-info-read
23040 @findex gnus-info-set-read
23041 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
23043 @item gnus-info-marks
23044 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
23045 @findex gnus-info-marks
23046 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
23047 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
23049 @item gnus-info-method
23050 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
23051 @findex gnus-info-method
23052 @findex gnus-info-set-method
23053 Get/set the group select method.
23055 @item gnus-info-params
23056 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
23057 @findex gnus-info-params
23058 @findex gnus-info-set-params
23059 Get/set the group parameters.
23062 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
23063 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
23065 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
23066 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
23067 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
23068 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
23071 @node Extended Interactive
23072 @subsection Extended Interactive
23073 @cindex interactive
23074 @findex gnus-interactive
23076 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
23077 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
23078 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
23081 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
23082 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
23087 The best thing to do would have been to implement
23088 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
23089 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
23090 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
23091 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
23092 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
23093 @code{interactive}.
23095 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
23100 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
23101 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
23105 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
23106 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
23107 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
23110 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
23114 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
23118 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
23124 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
23125 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
23129 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
23130 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
23131 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
23133 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
23134 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
23135 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
23136 Gnus, that's very useful.
23138 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
23139 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
23140 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
23141 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
23142 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
23143 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
23144 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
23145 following function:
23148 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
23152 (,function ,@@args))
23156 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
23157 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
23158 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
23161 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
23162 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
23163 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
23165 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
23166 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
23167 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
23170 @node Various File Formats
23171 @subsection Various File Formats
23174 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
23175 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
23179 @node Active File Format
23180 @subsubsection Active File Format
23182 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
23183 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
23186 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
23189 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
23190 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
23191 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
23192 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
23193 no.general 1000 900 y
23196 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
23199 active = *group-line
23200 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
23201 group = <non-white-space string>
23203 high-number = <non-negative integer>
23204 low-number = <positive integer>
23205 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
23208 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
23209 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
23212 @node Newsgroups File Format
23213 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
23215 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
23216 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
23217 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
23220 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
23221 Here's the definition:
23225 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
23226 group = <non-white-space string>
23228 description = <string>
23233 @node Emacs for Heathens
23234 @section Emacs for Heathens
23236 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
23237 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
23238 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
23239 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
23240 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
23241 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
23242 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
23246 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
23247 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
23252 @subsection Keystrokes
23256 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
23259 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
23262 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
23263 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
23264 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
23265 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
23266 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
23267 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
23269 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
23270 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
23271 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
23272 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
23273 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
23274 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
23275 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
23277 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
23278 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
23279 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
23280 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
23281 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
23282 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
23283 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
23285 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
23286 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
23287 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
23288 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
23289 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
23295 @subsection Emacs Lisp
23297 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
23298 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
23299 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
23300 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
23302 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
23303 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
23304 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
23305 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
23306 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
23307 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
23308 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
23311 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
23312 write the following:
23315 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
23318 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
23319 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
23320 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
23323 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
23324 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
23325 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
23326 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
23327 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
23329 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
23330 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
23331 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
23335 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
23339 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
23342 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
23343 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
23346 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
23349 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
23350 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
23353 @include gnus-faq.texi
23374 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
23375 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
23376 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
23377 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
23378 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref