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4 @settitle Gnus 5.2 Manual
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176 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
183 \thispagestyle{empty}
185 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
187 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
188 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
189 are preserved on all copies.
191 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
192 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
193 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
194 permission notice identical to this one.
196 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
197 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
206 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
208 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
210 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
211 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
212 are preserved on all copies.
215 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
216 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
217 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
218 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
221 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
222 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
223 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
224 permission notice identical to this one.
226 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
227 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
235 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
238 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
239 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
241 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
242 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
243 are preserved on all copies.
245 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
246 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
247 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
248 permission notice identical to this one.
250 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
251 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
260 @top The Gnus Newsreader
264 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
265 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
266 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
274 \thispagestyle{empty}
277 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
278 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
280 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
281 being accused of plagiarism:
283 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
284 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
285 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
286 even read news with it!
288 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
289 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
290 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
291 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
292 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
299 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
300 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
301 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
302 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
303 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
304 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
305 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
306 * Various:: General purpose settings.
307 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
308 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
309 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
310 * Key Index:: Key Index.
315 @chapter Starting Gnus
320 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
321 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
324 @findex gnus-other-frame
325 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
326 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
327 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
329 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
333 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
334 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
335 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
336 * Slave Gnusii:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
337 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
338 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
339 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
340 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
341 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
342 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
346 @node Finding the News
347 @section Finding the News
349 @vindex gnus-select-method
351 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
352 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
353 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
354 native method. All groups that are not fetched with this method are
357 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
358 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
361 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
364 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
367 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
370 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
371 certainly be much faster.
373 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
375 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
376 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
377 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
378 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
379 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
380 that fails as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is
381 running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long-shot, though.
383 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
384 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
385 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
386 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
388 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
389 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
390 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
391 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
392 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
393 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
395 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
397 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
398 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
399 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
400 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
401 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
402 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
404 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
406 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
407 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
408 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
409 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
410 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
411 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
414 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
415 would typically set this variable to
418 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
423 @section The First Time
424 @cindex first time usage
426 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
427 be subscribed by default.
429 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
430 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
431 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
432 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
435 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
436 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is here
437 defined as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
439 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
440 help you with most common problems.
442 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
443 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
447 @node The Server is Down
448 @section The Server is Down
449 @cindex server errors
451 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
452 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
453 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
455 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
456 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
457 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
458 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
459 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
460 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
461 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
463 @findex gnus-no-server
465 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
466 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
467 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
468 if you're in a hurry as well.
472 @section Slave Gnusiï
475 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
476 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (eg., if you
477 are using the two different Gnusiï to read from two different servers),
478 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
480 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusiï that use the same
483 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
484 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
485 @dfn{servants}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
486 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
487 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
488 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
489 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
491 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
492 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusiï should be started with
493 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
494 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contains information only
495 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
496 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
497 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
498 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
500 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
501 information in the normal (i. e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
504 @node Fetching a Group
505 @section Fetching a Group
507 @findex gnus-fetch-group
508 It it sometime convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
509 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
510 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
511 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
512 It takes the group name as a parameter.
519 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
520 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
521 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
523 This variable should contain a function. Some handy pre-fab values
528 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
529 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
530 Make all new groups zombies. You can browse the zombies later (with
531 @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly, or subscribe to them.
534 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
535 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
536 Subscribe all new groups randomly.
538 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
539 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
540 Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.
542 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
543 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
544 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically.
546 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
547 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
548 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
549 you about @strong{all} new groups.
551 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
552 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
557 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
558 A closely related variable is
559 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
560 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
561 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
562 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
565 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
566 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
567 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
569 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
570 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
571 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
574 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
577 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
578 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
579 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
580 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
581 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
582 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
583 subscribing these groups.
584 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
585 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
587 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
588 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
589 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
590 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
591 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
592 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
593 and if the the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
594 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
596 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
597 Yet another variable that meddles here is
598 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
599 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
600 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
601 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
602 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
603 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
604 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
605 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
607 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
608 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
609 you could set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
610 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
611 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
612 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
613 is @code{t} by default.
615 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
616 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
617 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
618 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
619 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster &
620 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
621 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
622 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
623 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
624 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
626 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
627 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
628 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
629 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
630 few days. If any do, then it works. If any don't, then it doesn't
631 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
632 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
633 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
634 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
635 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
636 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
638 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
639 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
640 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
641 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
642 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
643 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
647 @section Startup Files
648 @cindex startup files
651 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
652 information is traditionally stored in this file.
654 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
655 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
656 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
657 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
658 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
659 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
660 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
662 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
663 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
664 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
665 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
667 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
668 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
669 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
670 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
671 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
672 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
674 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
675 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
676 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
677 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
678 will also means that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
679 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
680 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
681 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
684 @vindex gnus-startup-file
685 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
686 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
687 file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
689 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
690 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
691 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
692 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
693 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
694 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
695 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
696 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
697 control on or off. Version control is off by default when saving the
706 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
707 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
708 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
709 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
710 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
713 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
714 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
717 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
718 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
719 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
721 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
722 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
723 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
724 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
725 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
726 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
729 @node The Active File
730 @section The Active File
732 @cindex ignored groups
734 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
735 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
736 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
738 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
739 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
740 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
741 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
742 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
743 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
744 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
747 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
748 @c if you set it to anything else.
750 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
752 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
753 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
754 reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
756 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
757 you actually subscribe to.
759 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
760 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
761 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
762 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
764 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
765 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
766 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
767 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
768 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
769 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
771 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
772 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
773 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
774 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
775 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
776 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
778 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
779 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
782 @node Startup Variables
783 @section Startup Variables
788 @vindex gnus-load-hook
789 A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
790 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
791 times you start Gnus.
793 @item gnus-startup-hook
794 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
795 A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.
797 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
798 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
799 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
800 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
801 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
802 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
803 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
804 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
806 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
807 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
808 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
809 your boss might not notice that you are reading news instead of doing
812 @item gnus-no-groups-message
813 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
814 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
818 @node The Group Buffer
819 @chapter The Group Buffer
822 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
823 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
824 long as Gnus is active.
827 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
828 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
829 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
830 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
831 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
832 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
833 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
834 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
835 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
836 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
837 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
838 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
839 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
840 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
841 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
842 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
846 @node Group Buffer Format
847 @section Group Buffer Format
848 @cindex group buffer format
851 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
852 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
853 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
857 @node Group Line Specification
858 @subsection Group Line Specification
860 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
861 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
863 Here's a couple of example group lines:
866 25: news.announce.newusers
867 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
872 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
873 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
874 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
875 asterisk at the beginning of the line?)
877 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
878 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
879 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
880 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
881 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
882 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
884 The default value that produced those lines above is
885 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n}.
887 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
888 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
889 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
890 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
893 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
894 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
895 instead of wasting time reading news.)
897 Here's a list of all available format characters:
902 Only marked articles.
905 Whether the group is subscribed.
908 Level of subscribedness.
911 Number of unread articles.
914 Number of dormant articles.
917 Number of ticked articles.
920 Number of read articles.
923 Total number of articles.
926 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
929 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
938 Newsgroup description.
941 @samp{m} if moderated.
944 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
953 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
957 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
960 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
961 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
962 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
963 The default is @code{1}.
966 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
967 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
968 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
969 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current headers as
970 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
971 into the buffer just like information from any other specifier.
975 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
976 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
977 group, or a bogus (or semi-bogus) native group.
980 @node Group Modeline Specification
981 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
983 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
984 The mode line can be changed by setting
985 (@code{gnus-group-mode-line-format}). It doesn't understand that many
990 The native news server.
992 The native select method.
996 @node Group Highlighting
997 @subsection Group Highlighting
999 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1000 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1001 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1002 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1003 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1005 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1009 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1011 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1012 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1013 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1015 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1017 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1019 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1023 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1030 The number of unread articles in the group.
1034 Whether the group is a mail group.
1036 The level of the group.
1038 The score of the group.
1040 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1042 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1043 topic being inserted.
1046 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1047 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1048 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1050 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1051 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1052 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1053 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1054 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1057 @node Group Maneuvering
1058 @section Group Maneuvering
1059 @cindex group movement
1061 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1062 expected, hopefully.
1068 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1069 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1070 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1077 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1078 Go to the previous group group that has unread articles
1079 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1083 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1084 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1088 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1089 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1093 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1094 Go to the next unread group on the same level (or lower)
1095 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1099 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1100 Go to the previous unread group on the same level (or lower)
1101 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1104 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1110 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1111 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1112 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1117 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1118 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1119 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1123 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1124 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1125 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1128 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1129 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1130 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1131 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1135 @node Selecting a Group
1136 @section Selecting a Group
1137 @cindex group selection
1142 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1143 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1144 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1145 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1146 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1147 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1148 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, Gnus
1149 will fetch @var{N} number of articles. If @var{N} is positive, fetch
1150 the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is negative, fetch the
1151 @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1155 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1156 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1157 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1158 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1159 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1163 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1164 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1165 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1166 minimum amount off fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1167 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1168 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1169 enter some humongous group.
1172 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1173 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1174 This is yet one more command that does the same as the one above, but
1175 this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1176 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1180 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1181 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1182 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1183 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1184 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is when catching up a group from
1189 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1190 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1191 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1194 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1195 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1196 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1197 unread articles than this, Gnus will query the user before entering the
1198 group. The user can then specify how many articles should be fetched
1199 from the server. If the user specifies a negative number (@code{-n}),
1200 the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it is positive, the
1201 @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will be fetched.
1203 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1204 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1205 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1206 automatically when entering a group.
1211 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1212 full summary buffer.
1215 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1218 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1222 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1223 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1224 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1228 @node Subscription Commands
1229 @section Subscription Commands
1238 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1239 Toggle subscription to the current group
1240 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1246 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1247 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1248 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1249 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1255 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1256 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1262 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1263 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1266 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1267 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1268 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1269 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1270 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1276 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1277 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1281 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1282 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1285 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1286 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1287 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1288 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1289 be used with some caution. The only thing where this command comes in
1290 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1291 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level @code{7} will
1292 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1293 @file{.newsrc} file.
1297 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1301 @section Group Levels
1304 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1305 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1306 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1307 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1308 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1314 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1315 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1316 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1317 prompted for a level.
1320 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1321 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1322 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1323 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1324 Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
1325 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1326 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1327 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1328 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1329 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default 9),
1330 completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
1331 the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
1332 articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
1333 living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
1334 for reasons of efficiency.
1336 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1337 low levels (eg. 1 or 2).
1339 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1340 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1341 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1343 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1344 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1345 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1346 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1347 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1348 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1349 relevant legal ranges.
1351 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1352 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1353 will only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower). In
1354 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1355 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1356 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1359 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1360 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1361 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1364 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1365 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1366 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1367 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1370 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1371 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1372 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1373 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1375 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1376 Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
1377 @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to activate
1378 unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to
1383 @section Group Score
1386 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1387 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1388 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1391 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1392 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1393 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1394 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1395 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1396 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1397 part and the score is the least significant part.)
1399 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1400 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1401 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1402 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1403 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1404 action after each summary exit, you can add
1405 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1406 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1407 slow things down somewhat.
1410 @node Marking Groups
1411 @section Marking Groups
1412 @cindex marking groups
1414 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1415 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1416 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1417 bidding on those groups.
1419 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1420 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1421 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1429 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1430 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1436 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1437 Remove the mark from the current group
1438 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1442 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1443 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1447 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1448 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1452 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1453 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1457 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1458 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1459 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1462 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1464 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1465 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1466 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1467 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1468 the command to be executed.
1471 @node Foreign Groups
1472 @section Foreign Groups
1474 Here are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1475 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1476 special-purpose groups:
1482 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1483 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1484 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1485 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1489 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1490 Rename the current group to something else
1491 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some groups --
1492 mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow on some
1497 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1498 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1499 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1503 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1504 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1505 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1509 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1510 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1511 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1515 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1516 Make a directory group. You will be prompted for a directory name
1517 (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1521 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1522 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1526 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1527 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1528 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1529 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1530 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1531 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1532 group will be created from from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1536 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1537 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1538 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1539 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1543 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1544 Read an arbitrary directory as if with were a newsgroup with the
1545 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1549 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1550 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1551 Make a group based on some file or other
1552 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1553 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1554 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1555 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs}, and
1556 @code{forward}. If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will
1557 guess at the file type.
1560 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1561 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1562 This function will delete the current group
1563 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1564 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1565 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1566 absolutely sure of what you are doing.
1570 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1571 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1572 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}).
1576 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1577 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1578 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1581 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1584 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1585 If the @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1586 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1587 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1588 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1591 @node Group Parameters
1592 @section Group Parameters
1593 @cindex group parameters
1595 Gnus stores all information on a group in a list that is usually known
1596 as the @dfn{group info}. This list has from three to six elements.
1597 Here's an example info.
1600 ("nnml:mail.ding" 3 ((1 . 232) 244 (256 . 270)) ((tick 246 249))
1601 (nnml "private") ((to-address . "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
1604 The first element is the @dfn{group name}, as Gnus knows the group,
1605 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
1606 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
1607 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
1608 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
1609 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
1610 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
1612 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
1613 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
1614 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
1616 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1621 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1622 @code{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1623 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1624 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1625 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1626 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1627 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1628 copies of your followups.
1630 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1631 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1632 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1633 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1634 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1635 list address instead.
1639 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1640 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1641 doing a @kbd{a} in any group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1642 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1643 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1645 @item broken-reply-to
1646 @cindex broken-reply-to
1647 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1648 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1649 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1650 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1651 broken behavior. So there!
1655 If the group parameter list contains an element like @code{(to-group
1656 . "some.group.name")}, all posts will be sent to that group.
1660 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, all articles that
1661 are read will be marked as expirable. For an alternative approach,
1662 @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
1665 @cindex total-expire
1666 If this symbol is present, all read articles will be put through the
1667 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
1672 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
1673 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
1674 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
1675 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
1676 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
1677 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
1680 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
1681 @samp{file} into the current score file for the group in question. This
1682 means that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.
1685 When unsubscribing to a mailing list you should never send the
1686 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
1687 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
1688 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
1691 This parameter allows you to enter a arbitrary comment on the group.
1693 @item @var{(variable form)}
1694 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
1695 are entering. Say you want to turn threading off in
1696 @samp{news.answers}. You'd then put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in
1697 the group parameters of that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be
1698 made into a local variable in the summary buffer you enter, and the form
1699 @code{nil} will be @code{eval}ed there.
1701 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
1702 If you want to hear a beep when you enter the group
1703 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, you could put something like
1704 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
1705 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the @code{(ding)}
1706 form, but who cares?
1710 If you want to change the group info you can use the @kbd{G E} command
1711 to enter a buffer where you can edit it.
1713 You usually don't want to edit the entire group info, so you'd be better
1714 off using the @kbd{G p} command to just edit the group parameters.
1717 @node Listing Groups
1718 @section Listing Groups
1719 @cindex group listing
1721 These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
1729 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
1730 List all groups that have unread articles
1731 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
1732 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
1733 only lists groups of level five or lower (i.e., just subscribed groups).
1739 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
1740 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
1741 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
1742 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
1743 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
1744 unsubscribed groups).
1748 @findex gnus-group-list-level
1749 List all unread groups on a specific level
1750 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
1751 with no unread articles.
1755 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
1756 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
1757 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
1758 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
1763 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
1764 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
1768 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
1769 List all subscribed groups with unread articles that match a regexp
1770 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
1774 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
1775 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
1779 @findex gnus-group-list-active
1780 List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
1781 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
1782 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
1783 to do a @kbd{A m} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
1788 @findex gnus-group-apropos
1789 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
1790 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
1794 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
1795 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
1796 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
1800 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
1801 @cindex visible group parameter
1802 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
1803 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
1804 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
1805 get the same effect.
1807 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
1808 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
1809 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
1810 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
1811 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
1814 @node Sorting Groups
1815 @section Sorting Groups
1816 @cindex sorting groups
1818 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
1819 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
1820 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
1821 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
1822 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
1823 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
1828 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1829 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1830 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
1832 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
1833 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
1834 Sort by group level.
1836 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
1837 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
1838 Sort by group score.
1840 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1841 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1842 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
1843 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
1845 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1846 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1847 Sort by number of unread articles.
1849 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
1850 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
1851 Sort by alphabetically on the select method.
1856 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
1857 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
1861 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
1862 some sorting criteria:
1866 @kindex G S a (Group)
1867 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
1868 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
1869 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
1872 @kindex G S u (Group)
1873 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
1874 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
1875 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
1878 @kindex G S l (Group)
1879 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
1880 Sort the group buffer by group level
1881 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
1884 @kindex G S v (Group)
1885 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
1886 Sort the group buffer by group score
1887 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
1890 @kindex G S r (Group)
1891 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
1892 Sort the group buffer by group level
1893 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
1896 @kindex G S m (Group)
1897 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
1898 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
1899 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
1903 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
1906 @node Group Maintenance
1907 @section Group Maintenance
1908 @cindex bogus groups
1913 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
1914 Find bogus groups and delete them
1915 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
1919 @findex gnus-find-new-newsgroups
1920 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-find-new-newsgroups}). If
1921 given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server for
1925 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
1926 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
1927 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
1928 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
1931 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
1932 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
1933 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
1934 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
1939 @node Browse Foreign Server
1940 @section Browse Foreign Server
1941 @cindex foreign servers
1942 @cindex browsing servers
1947 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1948 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
1949 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
1950 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
1953 @findex gnus-browse-server-mode
1954 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
1955 will be use the @code{gnus-browse-server-mode}. This buffer looks a bit
1956 (well, a lot) like a normal group buffer, but with one major difference
1957 - you can't enter any of the groups. If you want to read any of the
1958 news available on that server, you have to subscribe to the groups you
1959 think may be interesting, and then you have to exit this buffer. The
1960 new groups will be added to the group buffer, and then you can read them
1961 as you would any other group.
1963 Future versions of Gnus may possibly permit reading groups straight from
1966 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
1971 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1972 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1976 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1977 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1980 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
1981 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
1982 Enter the current group and display the first article
1983 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
1986 @kindex RET (Browse)
1987 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
1988 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
1992 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
1993 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
1994 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2000 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2001 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2005 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2006 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2007 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2012 @section Exiting Gnus
2013 @cindex exiting Gnus
2015 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2020 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2021 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2022 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2023 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2027 @findex gnus-group-exit
2028 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2032 @findex gnus-group-quit
2033 Quit Gnus without saving any startup files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2036 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2037 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2038 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2039 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2040 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2045 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2046 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2047 trying to customize meta-variables.
2052 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, feels her feet go
2053 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2054 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2060 @section Group Topics
2063 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2064 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2065 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2066 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2067 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2068 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2070 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2072 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2073 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2074 is a toggling command.)
2076 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2077 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2078 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2079 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2082 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2083 the hook for the group mode:
2086 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2090 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2091 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2092 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2096 @node Topic Variables
2097 @subsection Topic Variables
2098 @cindex topic variables
2100 Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2101 really neat, I think.
2103 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2104 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2105 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
2106 Elements allowed are:
2118 Number of groups in the topic.
2120 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2122 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2125 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2126 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2127 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2128 The default is @code{2}.
2130 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2131 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2134 @node Topic Commands
2135 @subsection Topic Commands
2136 @cindex topic commands
2138 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2139 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2140 definitions slightly.
2146 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2147 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2148 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2152 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2153 Move the current group to some other topic
2154 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command understands the
2155 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2159 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2160 Copy the current group to some other topic
2161 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command understands the
2162 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2166 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2167 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2168 This command understands the process/prefix convention
2169 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2173 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2174 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2175 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2179 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2180 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2181 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2185 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2186 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2187 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2190 @kindex T M-# (Group)
2191 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2192 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2193 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2197 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2199 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2200 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2201 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2202 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2203 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2204 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2207 @kindex T TAB (Group)
2208 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2209 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2210 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2211 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2215 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2216 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}).
2220 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2221 Yank the previously killed group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}).
2222 Note that all topics will be yanked before all groups.
2226 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2227 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2230 @kindex T DEL (Group)
2231 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2232 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2236 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2237 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2238 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2243 @node Topic Topology
2244 @subsection Topic Topology
2245 @cindex topic topology
2248 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2254 2: alt.religion.emacs
2257 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2259 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2260 13: comp.sources.unix
2263 So, here we have one top-level topic, two topics under that, and one
2264 sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always just one (1)
2265 top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as follows:
2269 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2270 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2274 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2275 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2276 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2277 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2278 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2279 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2281 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2282 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2283 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2286 @node Misc Group Stuff
2287 @section Misc Group Stuff
2290 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2291 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2292 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2299 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2300 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}). @xref{The
2305 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2306 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). The current
2307 group name will be used as the default.
2311 @findex gnus-group-mail
2312 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2316 Variables for the group buffer:
2320 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2321 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2322 @code{gnus-group-mode-hook} is called after the group buffer has been
2325 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2326 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2327 @code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} is called after the group buffer is
2328 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2331 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2332 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2333 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2334 whether they are empty or not.
2339 @node Scanning New Messages
2340 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2341 @cindex new messages
2342 @cindex scanning new news
2348 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2349 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2350 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2351 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2352 command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
2357 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2358 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2359 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2360 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}). The
2361 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} variable controls whether
2362 this command is to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t}
2365 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2366 @cindex activating groups
2368 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2369 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2374 @findex gnus-group-restart
2375 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}).
2379 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2380 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2382 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2383 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2387 @node Group Information
2388 @subsection Group Information
2389 @cindex group information
2390 @cindex information on groups
2396 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2399 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2400 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2401 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2402 remote machine. @code{ange-ftp} will be used for fetching the file.
2406 @cindex describing groups
2407 @cindex group description
2408 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2409 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2410 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2414 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2415 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2416 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2421 @findex gnus-version
2422 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
2426 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
2427 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
2430 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
2433 @findex gnus-info-find-node
2434 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
2439 @subsection File Commands
2440 @cindex file commands
2446 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
2447 @vindex gnus-init-file
2448 @cindex reading init file
2449 Read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
2450 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
2454 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
2455 @cindex saving .newsrc
2456 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
2457 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
2458 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
2462 @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
2463 Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
2468 @node The Summary Buffer
2469 @chapter The Summary Buffer
2470 @cindex summary buffer
2472 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
2473 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
2476 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
2477 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
2478 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
2479 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
2480 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
2481 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
2482 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
2483 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
2484 * Threading:: How threads are made.
2485 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
2486 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
2487 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
2488 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
2489 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
2490 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
2491 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
2492 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
2493 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
2494 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
2495 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
2496 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
2497 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
2498 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
2499 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
2503 @node Summary Buffer Format
2504 @section Summary Buffer Format
2505 @cindex summary buffer format
2508 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
2509 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
2510 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
2513 @findex mail-extract-address-components
2514 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
2515 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
2516 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
2517 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
2518 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
2519 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
2520 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
2521 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
2522 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
2523 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
2525 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
2526 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
2527 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
2528 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{}.
2531 @node Summary Buffer Lines
2532 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
2534 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
2535 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
2536 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
2537 lines a a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions.
2539 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
2541 The following format specification characters are understood:
2549 Subject if the article is the root, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject}
2552 Full @code{From} line.
2554 The name (from the @code{From} header).
2556 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
2557 spec in that it uses @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is
2558 slower, but may be more thorough.
2560 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
2563 Number of lines in the article.
2565 Number of characters in the article.
2567 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
2569 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
2570 pushes everything after it off the screen).
2572 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{\[}, but can also be @samp{<}
2573 for adopted articles.
2575 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{\]}, but can also be @samp{>}
2576 for adopted articles.
2578 One space for each thread level.
2580 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
2588 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
2589 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
2590 default level. If the difference between
2591 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
2592 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
2604 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
2605 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
2607 A single character will be displayed if the article has any children.
2609 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
2610 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
2611 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
2612 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
2613 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
2614 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
2617 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
2618 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
2619 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
2620 that. This means that it is illegal to have these specs after a
2621 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
2622 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
2624 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
2625 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
2627 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
2630 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
2631 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
2633 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
2634 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
2635 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. Here are the
2636 elements you can play with:
2642 Unprefixed group name.
2644 Current article number.
2648 Number of unread articles in this group.
2650 Number of unselected articles in this group.
2652 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
2653 either as @samp{<%U(+%u) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
2654 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
2655 and no unselected ones.
2657 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
2658 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
2660 Subject of the current article.
2664 Name of the current score file.
2666 Number of dormant articles.
2668 Number of ticked articles.
2670 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
2672 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
2676 @node Summary Highlighting
2677 @subsection Summary Highlighting
2681 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2682 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2683 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
2684 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
2685 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2687 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
2688 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
2689 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
2690 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2692 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
2693 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
2694 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) that is used to
2695 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
2697 @item gnus-summary-highlight
2698 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
2699 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
2700 list where the elements are on the format @code{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
2701 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
2702 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
2704 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
2705 ((> score default) . bold))
2707 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
2708 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
2712 @node Summary Maneuvering
2713 @section Summary Maneuvering
2714 @cindex summary movement
2716 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
2717 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
2719 None of these commands select articles.
2724 @kindex M-n (Summary)
2725 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
2726 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
2727 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
2728 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
2732 @kindex M-p (Summary)
2733 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
2734 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
2735 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
2736 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
2741 @kindex G j (Summary)
2742 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
2743 Ask for an article number and then go that article
2744 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
2747 @kindex G g (Summary)
2748 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
2749 Ask for an article number and then go the summary line of that article
2750 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
2753 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
2754 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
2755 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
2756 to the group buffer.
2758 Variables related to summary movement:
2762 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
2763 @item gnus-auto-select-next
2764 If you are at the end of the group and issue one of the movement
2765 commands, Gnus will offer to go to the next group. If this variable is
2766 @code{t} and the next group is empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and
2767 return to the group buffer. If this variable is neither @code{t} nor
2768 @code{nil}, Gnus will select the next group, no matter whether it has
2769 any unread articles or not. As a special case, if this variable is
2770 @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
2771 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same will
2772 happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
2773 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
2774 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
2775 @pxref{Group Levels}.
2777 @item gnus-auto-select-same
2778 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
2779 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
2780 article with the same subject as the current. This variable is not
2781 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
2783 @item gnus-summary-check-current
2784 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
2785 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
2786 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
2787 Instead, they will choose the current article.
2789 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
2790 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
2791 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
2792 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
2793 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
2794 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
2795 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
2796 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
2802 @node Choosing Articles
2803 @section Choosing Articles
2804 @cindex selecting articles
2806 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
2807 and they all select and display an article.
2811 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
2812 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
2813 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
2814 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
2819 @kindex G n (Summary)
2820 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
2821 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
2826 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
2827 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
2832 @kindex G N (Summary)
2833 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
2834 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
2839 @kindex G P (Summary)
2840 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
2841 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
2844 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
2845 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
2846 Go to the next article with the same subject
2847 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
2850 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
2851 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
2852 Go to the previous article with the same subject
2853 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
2857 @kindex G f (Summary)
2859 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2860 Go to the first unread article
2861 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
2865 @kindex G b (Summary)
2867 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2868 Go to the article with the highest score
2869 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
2874 @kindex G l (Summary)
2875 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
2876 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
2879 @kindex G p (Summary)
2880 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
2881 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
2882 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
2883 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
2884 history as you like.
2887 Some variables that are relevant for moving and selecting articles:
2890 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2891 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2892 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
2893 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
2894 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
2895 the server and display it in the article buffer.
2897 @item gnus-select-article-hook
2898 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
2899 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
2900 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
2902 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
2903 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
2904 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
2905 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
2906 @findex gnus-unread-mark
2907 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
2908 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
2909 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
2910 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
2911 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
2912 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
2913 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
2914 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
2915 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
2920 @node Paging the Article
2921 @section Scrolling the Article
2922 @cindex article scrolling
2927 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
2928 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
2929 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
2930 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
2931 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
2934 @kindex DEL (Summary)
2935 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
2936 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
2939 @kindex RET (Summary)
2940 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
2941 Scroll the current article one line forward
2942 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
2946 @kindex A g (Summary)
2948 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
2949 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
2950 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
2951 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
2952 the way it came from the server.
2957 @kindex A < (Summary)
2958 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
2959 Scroll to the beginning of the article
2960 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
2965 @kindex A > (Summary)
2966 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
2967 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
2970 @kindex A s (Summary)
2971 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
2972 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
2973 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
2978 @node Reply Followup and Post
2979 @section Reply, Followup and Post
2982 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
2983 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
2987 @node Summary Mail Commands
2988 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
2990 @cindex composing mail
2992 Commands for composing a mail message:
2998 @kindex S r (Summary)
3000 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3001 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3002 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3007 @kindex S R (Summary)
3008 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3009 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3010 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3011 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3014 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3015 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3016 Forward the current article to some other person
3017 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}).
3020 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3021 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3022 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3023 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
3028 @kindex S m (Summary)
3029 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3030 Send a mail to some other person
3031 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3034 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3035 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3036 @vindex gnus-bounced-headers-junk
3037 @cindex bouncing mail
3038 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3039 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3040 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3041 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3042 sending the mail off again. The headers that match the regexp
3043 @code{gnus-bounced-headers-junk} (default @samp{^Received:}) are
3044 automatically deleted first. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3045 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3046 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3047 very well fail, though.
3050 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3051 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3052 @vindex gnus-ignored-resent-headers
3053 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3054 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3055 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3056 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3057 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3058 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3059 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3060 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl. All old
3061 headers that match the regular expression
3062 @code{gnus-ignored-resent-headers} will be deleted before resending the
3063 message. The default is @samp{"^Return-receipt"}.
3065 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3066 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3067 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3068 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3069 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
3072 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3073 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3074 Digest the current series and forward the result using mail
3075 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3076 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3079 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3080 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3081 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3082 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}).
3086 @node Summary Post Commands
3087 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3089 @cindex composing news
3091 Commands for posting an article:
3097 @kindex S p (Summary)
3098 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3099 Post an article to the current group
3100 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3105 @kindex S f (Summary)
3106 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3107 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3111 @kindex S F (Summary)
3113 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3114 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3115 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3116 process/prefix convention.
3119 @kindex S u (Summary)
3120 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3121 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3122 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3126 @node Canceling and Superseding
3127 @section Canceling Articles
3128 @cindex canceling articles
3129 @cindex superseding articles
3131 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3132 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3134 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3136 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3138 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3139 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3140 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3141 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3143 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3144 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3147 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3148 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3149 your original article.
3151 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3153 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3154 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3155 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3158 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3159 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3160 have posted almost the same article twice.
3162 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3163 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3164 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3165 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*post-buf*}). There you will
3166 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3167 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3168 header by substituting one of those words for @code{Message-ID}. Then
3169 just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as you would do normally.
3170 The previous article will be canceled/superseded.
3172 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3175 @node Marking Articles
3176 @section Marking Articles
3177 @cindex article marking
3178 @cindex article ticking
3181 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3183 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3184 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3185 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3187 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3190 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3191 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3192 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3196 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3200 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3201 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3205 @node Unread Articles
3206 @subsection Unread Articles
3208 The following marks mark articles as unread, in one form or other.
3210 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3211 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3214 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3215 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3216 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3217 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3218 article forever, you'll have to save it. Ticked articles have a
3219 @samp{!} (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}) in the first column.
3222 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3223 A @dfn{dormant} article is marked with a @samp{?}
3224 (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}), and will only appear in the summary buffer
3225 if there are followups to it.
3228 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3229 An @dfn{unread} article is marked with a @samp{SPACE}
3230 (@code{gnus-unread-mark}). These are articles that haven't been read at
3236 @subsection Read Articles
3237 @cindex expirable mark
3239 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3244 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3245 Articles that are marked as read. They have a @samp{r}
3246 (@code{gnus-del-mark}) in the first column. These are articles that the
3247 user has marked as read more or less manually.
3250 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3251 Articles that are actually read are marked with @samp{R}
3252 (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3255 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3256 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions are now
3257 @dfn{old} and marked with @samp{O} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3260 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3261 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3264 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3265 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3268 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3269 Marked as read by having a too low score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
3272 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
3273 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
3276 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
3277 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
3280 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
3281 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}).
3284 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
3285 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}).
3288 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
3289 They are interpreted differently by the adaptive scoring scheme,
3292 One more special mark, though:
3296 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
3297 You can also mark articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as
3298 such automatically). That doesn't make much sense in normal groups,
3299 because a user does not control the expiring of news articles, but in
3300 mail groups, for instance, articles that are marked as @dfn{expirable}
3301 can be deleted by Gnus at any time. Expirable articles are marked with
3302 @samp{E} (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
3307 @subsection Other Marks
3308 @cindex process mark
3311 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
3317 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
3318 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
3319 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
3320 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
3321 encounters the article.
3324 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
3325 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
3326 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
3327 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
3330 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
3331 Articles that are stored in the article cache will be marked with an
3332 @samp{*} in the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}).
3335 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
3336 Articles that are ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
3337 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
3338 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}.
3341 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
3342 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
3343 It the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
3344 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
3345 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
3348 @vindex gnus-process-mark
3349 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}. A
3350 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
3351 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
3352 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
3353 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
3357 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
3358 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
3359 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
3361 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
3362 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
3363 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
3367 @subsection Setting Marks
3368 @cindex setting marks
3370 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
3376 @kindex M t (Summary)
3377 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
3378 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
3383 @kindex M ? (Summary)
3384 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
3385 Mark the current article as dormant
3386 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}).
3390 @kindex M d (Summary)
3392 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
3393 Mark the current article as read
3394 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
3399 @kindex M k (Summary)
3400 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
3401 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
3402 and then select the next unread article
3403 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
3407 @kindex M K (Summary)
3408 @kindex C-k (Summary)
3409 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
3410 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
3411 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
3414 @kindex M C (Summary)
3415 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
3416 Mark all unread articles in the group as read
3417 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
3420 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
3421 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
3422 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
3423 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
3426 @kindex M H (Summary)
3427 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
3428 Catchup the current group to point
3429 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
3432 @kindex C-w (Summary)
3433 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
3434 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
3435 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
3438 @kindex M V k (Summary)
3439 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
3440 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
3441 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
3445 @kindex M c (Summary)
3446 @kindex M-u (Summary)
3447 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
3448 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
3449 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}).
3453 @kindex M e (Summary)
3455 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
3456 Mark the current article as expirable
3457 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
3460 @kindex M b (Summary)
3461 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
3462 Set a bookmark in the current article
3463 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
3466 @kindex M B (Summary)
3467 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
3468 Remove the bookmark from the current article
3469 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
3472 @kindex M V c (Summary)
3473 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
3474 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
3475 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3478 @kindex M V u (Summary)
3479 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
3480 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
3481 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
3484 @kindex M V m (Summary)
3485 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
3486 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
3487 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
3488 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3491 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
3492 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
3493 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
3494 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
3495 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
3496 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
3497 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
3498 The default is @code{t}.
3501 @node Setting Process Marks
3502 @subsection Setting Process Marks
3503 @cindex setting process marks
3510 @kindex M P p (Summary)
3511 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
3512 Mark the current article with the process mark
3513 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
3514 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
3518 @kindex M P u (Summary)
3519 @kindex M-# (Summary)
3520 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
3521 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
3524 @kindex M P U (Summary)
3525 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
3526 Remove the process mark from all articles
3527 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
3530 @kindex M P R (Summary)
3531 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
3532 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
3535 @kindex M P r (Summary)
3536 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
3537 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
3540 @kindex M P t (Summary)
3541 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
3542 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3543 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
3546 @kindex M P T (Summary)
3547 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
3548 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3549 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
3552 @kindex M P v (Summary)
3553 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
3554 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
3555 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
3558 @kindex M P s (Summary)
3559 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
3560 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3563 @kindex M P S (Summary)
3564 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
3565 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
3566 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
3569 @kindex M P a (Summary)
3570 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
3571 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3574 @kindex M P b (Summary)
3575 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
3576 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
3577 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
3585 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
3586 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
3587 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
3594 @kindex / / (Summary)
3595 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
3596 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
3597 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
3600 @kindex / a (Summary)
3601 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
3602 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
3603 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
3607 @kindex / u (Summary)
3609 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
3610 Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
3611 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
3612 buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
3613 dormant articles will also be excluded.
3616 @kindex / m (Summary)
3617 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
3618 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
3619 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
3622 @kindex / n (Summary)
3623 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
3624 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
3625 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
3626 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3629 @kindex / w (Summary)
3630 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
3631 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
3632 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
3636 @kindex / v (Summary)
3637 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
3638 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
3639 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
3643 @kindex M S (Summary)
3644 @kindex / E (Summary)
3645 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
3646 Display all expunged articles
3647 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
3650 @kindex / D (Summary)
3651 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
3652 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
3655 @kindex / d (Summary)
3656 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
3657 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
3660 @kindex / c (Summary)
3661 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
3662 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
3663 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
3666 @kindex / C (Summary)
3667 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
3668 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
3669 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
3670 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
3678 @cindex article threading
3680 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put replies to
3681 articles directly after the articles they reply to---in a hierarchical
3685 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
3686 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
3690 @node Customizing Threading
3691 @subsection Customizing Threading
3692 @cindex customizing threading
3698 @item gnus-show-threads
3699 @vindex gnus-show-threads
3700 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
3701 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
3702 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
3703 slower and more awkward.
3705 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
3706 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
3707 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
3708 more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
3709 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
3710 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
3711 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
3712 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
3713 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
3714 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
3715 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
3716 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
3718 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
3719 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
3720 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
3721 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
3722 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
3723 articles that belong in the same thread together. This will leave
3724 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
3725 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
3726 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
3727 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
3728 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
3729 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
3730 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
3731 @code{nil} by default.
3733 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3734 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3735 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
3736 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
3737 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
3738 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
3739 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subjects lines. If
3740 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
3741 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
3742 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
3743 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
3745 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
3746 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
3747 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects.
3749 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3750 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3751 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
3752 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
3753 simplification is used.
3755 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3756 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3757 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
3758 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
3760 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
3762 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3765 (mapconcat 'identity
3767 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
3768 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
3769 "answer" "reference" "announce"
3770 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
3775 (mapconcat 'identity
3776 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
3778 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
3781 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
3784 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3785 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3786 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
3787 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
3788 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
3789 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
3790 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
3791 default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
3793 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3794 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3795 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
3796 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
3797 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
3798 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
3799 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever includes unrelated
3800 articles, but it's also means that people who have posted with broken
3801 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
3805 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
3806 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
3807 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
3808 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
3810 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
3811 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
3812 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
3815 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
3819 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3820 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
3823 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
3824 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
3825 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
3826 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
3827 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
3828 read or killed the root in a previous session.
3830 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
3831 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
3832 There are four possible values:
3834 @cindex adopting articles
3839 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
3840 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
3841 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
3842 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
3845 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
3846 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
3847 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
3848 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
3849 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
3850 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
3851 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
3854 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
3855 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
3856 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
3860 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
3861 display them after one another.
3864 Don't gather loose threads.
3867 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3868 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3869 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
3872 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
3873 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
3874 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
3877 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3878 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3879 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
3880 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
3881 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
3884 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
3885 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
3886 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
3887 The default is @code{4}.
3891 @node Thread Commands
3892 @subsection Thread Commands
3893 @cindex thread commands
3899 @kindex T k (Summary)
3900 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
3901 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
3902 Mark all articles in the current sub-thread as read
3903 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
3904 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
3909 @kindex T l (Summary)
3910 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
3911 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
3912 Lower the score of the current thread
3913 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
3916 @kindex T i (Summary)
3917 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
3918 Increase the score of the current thread
3919 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
3922 @kindex T # (Summary)
3923 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
3924 Set the process mark on the current thread
3925 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
3928 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
3929 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
3930 Remove the process mark from the current thread
3931 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
3934 @kindex T T (Summary)
3935 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
3936 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
3939 @kindex T s (Summary)
3940 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
3941 Expose the thread hidden under the current article, if any
3942 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
3945 @kindex T h (Summary)
3946 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
3947 Hide the current (sub)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
3950 @kindex T S (Summary)
3951 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
3952 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
3955 @kindex T H (Summary)
3956 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
3957 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
3960 @kindex T t (Summary)
3961 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
3962 Re-thread the thread the current article is part of
3963 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
3964 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
3967 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
3968 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
3969 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
3970 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}.
3974 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
3975 understand the numeric prefix.
3980 @kindex T n (Summary)
3981 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
3982 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
3985 @kindex T p (Summary)
3986 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
3987 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
3990 @kindex T d (Summary)
3991 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
3992 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
3995 @kindex T u (Summary)
3996 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
3997 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
4000 @kindex T o (Summary)
4001 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
4002 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
4005 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
4006 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
4007 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
4008 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
4009 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
4010 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
4011 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If is
4012 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
4013 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
4014 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
4015 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
4016 that have subjects that are fuzzily equal will be included.
4022 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
4023 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
4024 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
4025 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4026 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
4027 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4028 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
4029 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
4030 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
4031 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
4032 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
4033 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
4034 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
4035 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
4037 Each function takes two threads and return non-@code{nil} if the first
4038 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
4039 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
4040 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
4041 in the list. You should probably always include
4042 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
4043 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
4044 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
4045 ascending article order.
4047 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
4048 number, you could do something like:
4051 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4052 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4053 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4054 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4057 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
4058 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
4059 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
4060 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
4061 which the articles arrived.
4063 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
4067 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4069 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
4070 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4073 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
4074 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
4075 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
4076 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
4079 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
4080 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
4081 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
4082 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
4083 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
4084 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
4085 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
4086 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
4087 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
4088 is uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
4089 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
4090 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
4091 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
4093 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
4097 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
4098 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
4099 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
4104 @node Asynchronous Fetching
4105 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
4106 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
4108 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
4109 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
4110 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
4111 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
4112 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
4114 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
4115 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
4117 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
4118 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
4119 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
4120 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
4121 connection is blocked.
4123 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
4124 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
4125 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
4126 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
4128 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
4129 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
4130 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
4131 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
4134 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
4137 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
4138 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
4139 happen automatically.
4141 @vindex nntp-async-number
4142 You can control how many articles that are to be pre-fetched by setting
4143 @code{nntp-async-number}. This is five by default, which means that when
4144 you read an article in the group, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch the next
4145 five articles. If this variable is @code{t}, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch
4146 all the articles that it can without bound. If it is @code{nil}, no
4147 pre-fetching will be made.
4149 @vindex gnus-asynchronous-article-function
4150 You may wish to create some sort of scheme for choosing which articles
4151 that @code{nntp} should consider as candidates for pre-fetching. For
4152 instance, you may wish to pre-fetch all articles with high scores, and
4153 not pre-fetch low-scored articles. You can do that by setting the
4154 @code{gnus-asynchronous-article-function}, which will be called with an
4155 alist where the keys are the article numbers. Your function should
4156 return an alist where the articles you are not interested in have been
4157 removed. You could also do sorting on article score and the like.
4160 @node Article Caching
4161 @section Article Caching
4162 @cindex article caching
4165 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
4166 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
4167 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
4168 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
4169 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
4171 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
4173 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4174 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
4175 @vindex gnus-use-cache
4176 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
4177 all articles that are ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
4178 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
4179 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
4180 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
4182 When re-select a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
4183 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
4184 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
4185 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
4186 as dormant, and don't worry.
4188 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
4190 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
4191 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
4192 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
4193 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
4194 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
4195 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
4196 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
4197 articles that are marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
4198 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
4199 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
4201 @findex gnus-jog-cache
4202 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
4203 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
4204 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, and store them in
4205 the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this command if 1)
4206 your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really, really slow
4207 and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously.
4209 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
4210 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
4211 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
4212 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
4213 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
4214 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
4215 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
4218 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
4219 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
4220 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
4221 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
4222 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
4223 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
4224 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
4225 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
4226 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
4230 @node Persistent Articles
4231 @section Persistent Articles
4232 @cindex persistent articles
4234 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
4235 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
4236 useful in my opinion.
4238 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
4239 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
4240 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
4241 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
4242 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
4243 the expiry going on at the news server.
4245 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
4246 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
4247 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
4253 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
4254 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
4257 @kindex M-* (Summary)
4258 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
4259 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
4260 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
4264 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
4266 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
4267 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
4268 interested in persistent articles:
4271 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
4275 @node Article Backlog
4276 @section Article Backlog
4278 @cindex article backlog
4280 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
4281 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
4282 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
4283 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
4284 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
4285 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
4286 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
4287 increase memory usage some.
4289 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
4290 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
4291 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
4292 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
4293 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
4294 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
4295 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
4297 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
4300 @node Saving Articles
4301 @section Saving Articles
4302 @cindex saving articles
4304 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
4305 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
4306 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
4307 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
4308 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
4310 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
4311 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
4312 unwanted headers before saving the article.
4314 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
4315 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
4316 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
4317 deleted before saving.
4323 @kindex O o (Summary)
4325 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
4326 Save the current article using the default article saver
4327 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
4330 @kindex O m (Summary)
4331 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
4332 Save the current article in mail format
4333 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
4336 @kindex O r (Summary)
4337 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
4338 Save the current article in rmail format
4339 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
4342 @kindex O f (Summary)
4343 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
4344 Save the current article in plain file format
4345 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
4348 @kindex O b (Summary)
4349 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
4350 Save the current article body in plain file format
4351 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
4354 @kindex O h (Summary)
4355 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
4356 Save the current article in mh folder format
4357 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
4360 @kindex O v (Summary)
4361 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
4362 Save the current article in a VM folder
4363 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
4366 @kindex O p (Summary)
4367 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
4368 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
4369 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
4372 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
4373 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
4374 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
4375 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
4376 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
4377 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
4378 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
4379 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
4380 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
4381 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
4382 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
4383 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
4387 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
4388 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
4389 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
4390 functions below, or you can create your own.
4394 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4395 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
4396 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
4397 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4398 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
4399 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4400 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4402 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4403 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
4404 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
4405 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
4406 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4407 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
4409 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
4410 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
4411 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
4412 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4413 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
4414 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4415 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4417 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4418 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
4419 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
4420 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
4421 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
4423 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4424 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
4425 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
4426 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
4427 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
4430 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
4431 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
4432 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
4433 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
4434 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}. The former creates capitalized names, and
4435 the latter does not.
4437 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4438 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
4439 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
4440 reader to use this setting.
4443 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
4444 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
4445 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
4446 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
4449 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
4450 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
4451 available functions that generate names:
4455 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
4456 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
4457 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4459 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
4460 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
4461 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
4463 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
4464 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
4465 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4467 @item gnus-plain-save-name
4468 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
4469 Generates file names that look like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
4472 @vindex gnus-split-methods
4473 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
4474 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
4475 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
4476 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
4480 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
4481 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
4482 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
4483 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
4486 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
4487 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
4488 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
4489 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function); or it
4490 can be a list (which will be @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions
4491 have a non-@code{nil} result, the @dfn{file} will be used as a default
4492 prompt. In addition, the result of the operation itself will be used if
4493 the function or form called returns a string or a list of strings.
4495 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
4496 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
4497 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
4498 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
4500 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
4501 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
4502 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
4505 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4506 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
4507 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
4508 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
4509 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
4510 all the files in the toplevel directory
4511 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
4512 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
4513 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
4514 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
4516 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
4517 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
4518 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
4519 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
4520 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
4523 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
4527 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
4528 (setq gnus-default-article-save 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
4531 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
4532 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
4533 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
4534 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
4537 @node Decoding Articles
4538 @section Decoding Articles
4539 @cindex decoding articles
4541 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
4542 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
4545 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
4546 * Shared Articles:: Unshar articles.
4547 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
4548 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
4549 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
4552 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
4553 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
4554 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
4555 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
4556 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
4558 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
4559 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
4560 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
4562 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
4563 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
4564 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
4566 Subjects that are nonstandard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
4567 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
4568 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
4571 @node Uuencoded Articles
4572 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
4574 @cindex uuencoded articles
4579 @kindex X u (Summary)
4580 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
4581 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
4584 @kindex X U (Summary)
4585 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
4586 Uudecodes and saves the current series
4587 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4590 @kindex X v u (Summary)
4591 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
4592 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
4595 @kindex X v U (Summary)
4596 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
4597 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
4598 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
4601 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
4602 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
4603 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
4604 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
4605 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
4607 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
4608 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
4609 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
4610 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
4613 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
4614 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
4615 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
4616 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
4617 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
4618 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
4622 @node Shared Articles
4623 @subsection Shared Articles
4625 @cindex shared articles
4630 @kindex X s (Summary)
4631 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
4632 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
4635 @kindex X S (Summary)
4636 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
4637 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
4640 @kindex X v s (Summary)
4641 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
4642 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
4645 @kindex X v S (Summary)
4646 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
4647 Unshars, views and saves the current series
4648 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
4652 @node PostScript Files
4653 @subsection PostScript Files
4659 @kindex X p (Summary)
4660 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
4661 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
4664 @kindex X P (Summary)
4665 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
4666 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
4667 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
4670 @kindex X v p (Summary)
4671 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
4672 View the current PostScript series
4673 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
4676 @kindex X v P (Summary)
4677 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
4678 View and save the current PostScript series
4679 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
4683 @node Decoding Variables
4684 @subsection Decoding Variables
4686 Adjective, not verb.
4689 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
4690 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
4691 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
4695 @node Rule Variables
4696 @subsubsection Rule Variables
4697 @cindex rule variables
4699 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
4700 variables are on the form
4703 (list '(regexp1 command2)
4710 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4711 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4713 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
4714 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
4717 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
4718 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
4721 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4722 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
4723 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
4724 user and default view rules.
4726 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
4727 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
4728 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
4733 @node Other Decode Variables
4734 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
4737 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
4739 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
4740 All functions in this list will be called right each file has been
4741 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
4742 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
4743 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
4747 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
4748 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
4751 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
4752 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
4753 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
4756 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
4757 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
4758 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
4760 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
4761 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
4762 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
4763 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
4764 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
4767 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
4768 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
4769 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
4771 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
4772 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
4773 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
4774 looking for files to display.
4776 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
4777 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
4778 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
4781 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
4782 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
4783 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
4786 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
4787 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
4788 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
4791 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
4792 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
4793 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
4796 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
4797 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
4798 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark articles that were
4799 unsuccessfully decoded as unread.
4801 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
4802 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
4803 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
4804 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
4806 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
4807 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
4809 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
4810 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
4811 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
4812 @code{metamail} for viewing.
4814 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
4815 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
4816 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
4817 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
4818 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
4819 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
4820 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
4821 simply dropped them.
4826 @node Uuencoding and Posting
4827 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
4831 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
4832 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
4833 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
4834 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
4835 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
4836 for you when you post the article.
4838 @item gnus-uu-post-length
4839 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
4840 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
4841 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
4843 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
4844 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
4845 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
4846 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen are able
4847 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
4848 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
4849 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
4851 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
4852 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
4853 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
4854 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
4855 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
4856 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
4857 Default is @code{t}.
4863 @subsection Viewing Files
4864 @cindex viewing files
4865 @cindex pseudo-articles
4867 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
4868 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
4869 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
4870 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
4871 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
4872 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
4873 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
4875 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
4876 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
4877 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
4878 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
4880 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
4881 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
4882 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
4884 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
4885 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
4886 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
4887 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
4888 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
4890 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
4891 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
4892 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
4893 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
4894 a list of parameters to that command.
4896 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
4897 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
4898 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
4900 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
4901 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
4902 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
4905 @node Article Treatment
4906 @section Article Treatment
4908 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
4909 object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
4910 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
4911 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
4912 these articles easier.
4915 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
4916 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
4917 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
4918 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
4919 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
4923 @node Article Highlighting
4924 @subsection Article Highlighting
4927 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
4928 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
4933 @kindex W H a (Summary)
4934 @findex gnus-article-highlight
4935 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
4938 @kindex W H h (Summary)
4939 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
4940 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
4941 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
4942 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
4943 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
4944 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
4945 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name and
4946 @var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
4947 match made will be used. Note that @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^}
4948 prepended---Gnus will add one.
4951 @kindex W H c (Summary)
4952 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
4953 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
4955 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
4958 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
4960 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
4961 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
4962 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
4964 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
4965 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
4966 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
4968 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
4969 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
4970 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
4972 @item gnus-cite-face-list
4973 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
4974 List of faces used for highlighting citations. When there are citations
4975 from multiple articles in the same message, Gnus will try to give each
4976 citation from each article its own face. This should make it easier to
4979 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
4980 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
4981 Regexp matching normal SuperCite attribution lines.
4983 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
4984 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
4985 Regexp matching mangled SuperCite attribution lines.
4987 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
4988 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
4989 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
4990 that it's a citation.
4992 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
4993 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
4994 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
4996 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
4997 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
4998 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
5000 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
5001 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
5002 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
5003 cited text belonging to the attribution.
5009 @kindex W H s (Summary)
5010 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
5011 @vindex gnus-signature-face
5012 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
5013 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
5014 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} in an article will be
5015 considered a signature and will be highlighted with
5016 @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by default.
5021 @node Article Hiding
5022 @subsection Article Hiding
5023 @cindex article hiding
5025 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
5026 too much cruft in most articles.
5031 @kindex W W a (Summary)
5032 @findex gnus-article-hide
5033 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
5036 @kindex W W h (Summary)
5037 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
5038 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
5042 @kindex W W b (Summary)
5043 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
5044 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
5045 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
5048 @kindex W W s (Summary)
5049 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
5050 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}).
5053 @kindex W W p (Summary)
5054 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
5055 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}).
5058 @kindex W W c (Summary)
5059 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
5060 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
5061 customizing the hiding:
5065 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5066 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5067 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
5068 50), hide the cited text.
5070 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5071 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5072 The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10) before it
5075 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5076 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5077 Gnus adds buttons show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
5078 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
5079 by this format-like variable. These specs are legal:
5083 Start point of the hidden text.
5085 End point of the hidden text.
5087 Length of the hidden text.
5090 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
5091 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
5092 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
5097 @kindex W W C (Summary)
5098 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
5099 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
5100 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
5101 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
5102 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
5106 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
5107 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
5108 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
5110 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
5111 citation customization.
5113 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
5114 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
5115 signature. If it is a number, no signature may not be longer (in
5116 characters) than that number. If it is a function, the function will be
5117 called without any parameters, and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no
5118 signature in the buffer. If it is a string, it will be used as a
5119 regexp. If it matches, the text in question is not a signature.
5122 @node Article Washing
5123 @subsection Article Washing
5125 @cindex article washing
5127 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
5128 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
5130 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
5131 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
5137 @kindex W l (Summary)
5138 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
5139 Remove page breaks from the current article
5140 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
5143 @kindex W r (Summary)
5144 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
5145 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
5146 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
5149 @kindex W t (Summary)
5150 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
5151 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
5152 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
5155 @kindex W v (Summary)
5156 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
5157 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
5158 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
5161 @kindex W m (Summary)
5162 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
5163 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
5164 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
5167 @kindex W o (Summary)
5168 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
5169 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
5172 @kindex W w (Summary)
5173 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
5174 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
5177 @kindex W c (Summary)
5178 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
5179 Remove CR (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
5182 @kindex W L (Summary)
5183 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
5184 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
5185 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
5188 @kindex W q (Summary)
5189 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
5190 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
5193 @kindex W f (Summary)
5195 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
5196 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
5197 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
5198 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
5199 Look for and display any X-Face headers
5200 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
5201 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If
5202 this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell.
5203 If it is a function, this function will be called with the face as the
5204 argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp)
5205 matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
5208 @kindex W b (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
5210 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
5213 @kindex W B (Summary)
5214 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
5215 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
5216 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
5221 @node Article Buttons
5222 @subsection Article Buttons
5225 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
5226 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
5227 with the minimum of fuzz.
5229 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
5230 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
5231 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
5236 @item gnus-button-alist
5237 @vindex gnus-button-alist
5238 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
5241 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5247 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
5248 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that match embedded URLs:
5249 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
5252 Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be highlighted. This is
5253 a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp that is to be
5254 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use @code{0} here.
5257 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
5258 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
5259 avoid false matches.
5262 This function will be called when you click on this button.
5265 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
5266 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
5270 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
5273 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
5276 @item gnus-header-button-alist
5277 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
5278 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
5279 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
5280 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
5283 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
5286 @var{header} is a regular expression.
5288 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
5289 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
5290 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
5291 default values of the variables above.
5293 @item gnus-article-button-face
5294 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
5295 Face used on bottons.
5297 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
5298 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
5299 Face is used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
5305 @subsection Article Date
5307 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
5308 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
5309 when the article was sent.
5314 @kindex W T u (Summary)
5315 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
5316 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
5317 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
5320 @kindex W T l (Summary)
5321 @findex gnus-article-date-local
5322 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
5325 @kindex W T e (Summary)
5326 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
5327 Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and now
5328 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
5331 @kindex W T o (Summary)
5332 @findex gnus-article-date-original
5333 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
5334 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
5335 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
5336 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
5337 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
5342 @node Summary Sorting
5343 @section Summary Sorting
5344 @cindex summary sorting
5346 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
5347 can't really see why you'd want that.
5352 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
5353 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
5354 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
5357 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
5358 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
5359 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
5362 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
5363 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
5364 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
5367 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
5368 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
5369 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
5372 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
5373 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
5374 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
5377 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
5378 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
5379 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
5380 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
5381 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
5385 @node Finding the Parent
5386 @section Finding the Parent
5387 @cindex parent articles
5388 @cindex referring articles
5390 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
5392 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
5393 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
5394 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
5395 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
5396 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
5397 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
5398 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
5399 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
5401 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
5402 @kindex A R (Summary)
5403 You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
5404 header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
5405 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
5407 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
5408 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
5409 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
5410 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
5411 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
5412 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long thingies that look
5413 something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You have to get
5414 it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
5416 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
5417 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
5418 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
5419 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
5420 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the same
5421 as the one that keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's
5422 not really necessary.
5424 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
5425 not do a particularly excellent job of it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
5426 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
5427 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
5428 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
5429 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
5432 @node Alternative Approaches
5433 @section Alternative Approaches
5435 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
5436 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
5439 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
5440 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
5445 @subsection Pick and Read
5446 @cindex pick and read
5448 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{nn}) use a two-phased
5449 reading interface. The user first marks the articles she wants to read
5450 from a summary buffer. Then she starts reading the articles with just
5451 an article buffer displayed.
5453 @findex gnus-pick-mode
5454 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
5455 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
5456 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
5457 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
5458 it makes one additional command for switching to the summary buffer
5461 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
5465 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
5466 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5467 Pick the article (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5471 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5472 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5476 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5477 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5481 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5482 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5486 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5487 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5491 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5492 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5496 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
5497 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
5501 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-regexp
5502 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-regexp}).
5506 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-regexp
5507 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-regexp}).
5511 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5512 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5516 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
5517 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
5521 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
5522 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
5523 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
5524 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
5525 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
5526 will still be visible when you are reading.
5530 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
5533 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
5536 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
5537 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
5541 @subsection Binary Groups
5542 @cindex binary groups
5544 @findex gnus-binary-mode
5545 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
5546 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
5547 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
5548 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
5549 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
5550 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
5553 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
5554 In fact, the only way to see the actual articles if you have turned this
5555 mode on is the @kbd{g} command (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
5557 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
5558 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
5562 @section Tree Display
5565 @vindex gnus-use-trees
5566 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
5567 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
5568 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
5571 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
5574 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
5575 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
5576 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
5578 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5579 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
5580 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
5581 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}. For a list of legal specs, @pxref{Summary
5584 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
5585 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
5586 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
5587 default is @code{modeline}.
5589 @item gnus-tree-line-format
5590 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
5591 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
5592 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
5593 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
5594 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
5595 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
5601 The name of the poster.
5603 The @code{From} header.
5605 The number of the article.
5607 The opening bracket.
5609 The closing bracket.
5614 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5616 Variables related to the display are:
5619 @item gnus-tree-brackets
5620 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
5621 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
5622 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
5623 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
5624 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}))}.
5626 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
5627 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
5628 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
5629 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
5633 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
5634 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
5635 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
5636 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
5637 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
5638 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}.
5640 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
5641 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
5642 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
5643 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
5644 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
5645 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
5646 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
5650 Here's and example from a horizontal tree buffer:
5653 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
5663 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
5667 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
5668 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
5670 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
5672 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
5678 @node Mail Group Commands
5679 @section Mail Group Commands
5680 @cindex mail group commands
5682 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
5683 illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
5685 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
5686 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5691 @kindex B e (Summary)
5692 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
5693 Expire all expirable articles in the group
5694 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
5697 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
5698 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
5699 Expunge all the expirable articles in the group
5700 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
5701 articles that are eligible for expiry in the current group will
5702 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
5705 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
5706 @findex gnus-summary-delete-articles
5707 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
5708 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
5709 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
5712 @kindex B m (Summary)
5714 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
5715 Move the article from one mail group to another
5716 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
5719 @kindex B c (Summary)
5721 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
5722 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
5723 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
5726 @kindex B C (Summary)
5727 @cindex crosspost mail
5728 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
5729 Crosspost the current article to some other group
5730 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
5731 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
5732 be properly updated.
5735 @kindex B i (Summary)
5736 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
5737 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
5738 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
5739 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
5741 Something similar can be done by just starting to compose a mail
5742 message. Instead of typing @kbd{C-c C-c} to mail it off, you can type
5743 @kbd{C-c M-C-p} instead. This will put the message you have just created
5744 into the current mail group.
5747 @kindex B r (Summary)
5748 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
5749 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
5753 @kindex B w (Summary)
5755 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
5756 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
5757 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
5758 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
5759 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
5762 @kindex B q (Summary)
5763 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
5764 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
5765 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
5766 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
5769 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
5770 @cindex moving articles
5771 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
5772 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
5773 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
5774 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
5775 suggestions you find reasonable.
5778 @node Various Summary Stuff
5779 @section Various Summary Stuff
5782 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
5783 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
5784 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
5788 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
5789 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
5790 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
5792 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
5793 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
5794 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
5795 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
5796 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
5797 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
5800 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
5801 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
5802 Is is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
5803 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
5804 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
5809 @node Summary Group Information
5810 @subsection Summary Group Information
5815 @kindex H f (Summary)
5816 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
5817 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
5818 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
5819 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
5820 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
5821 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
5822 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
5823 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} probably will be used for
5827 @kindex H d (Summary)
5828 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
5829 Give a brief description of the current group
5830 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
5831 rereading the description from the server.
5834 @kindex H h (Summary)
5835 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
5836 Give a very brief description of the most important summary keystrokes
5837 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
5840 @kindex H i (Summary)
5841 @findex gnus-info-find-node
5842 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
5846 @node Searching for Articles
5847 @subsection Searching for Articles
5852 @kindex M-s (Summary)
5853 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
5854 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
5855 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
5858 @kindex M-r (Summary)
5859 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
5860 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
5861 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
5865 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
5866 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
5867 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
5868 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
5871 @kindex M-& (Summary)
5872 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
5873 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
5874 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
5878 @node Really Various Summary Commands
5879 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
5884 @kindex A D (Summary)
5885 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
5886 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
5887 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
5888 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
5889 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
5890 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
5891 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages on
5892 some format, you @kbd{A D} and read these messages in a more convenient
5896 @kindex C-t (Summary)
5897 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
5898 Toggle truncation of summary lines (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}).
5902 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
5903 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
5904 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
5908 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
5909 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
5910 @cindex summary exit
5911 @cindex exiting groups
5913 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
5914 group and return you to the group buffer.
5920 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
5922 @findex gnus-summary-exit
5923 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
5924 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
5925 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
5926 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
5927 called before doing much of the exiting, and calls
5928 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
5929 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exiting
5934 @kindex Z E (Summary)
5936 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
5937 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
5938 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
5942 @kindex Z c (Summary)
5944 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
5945 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
5946 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
5949 @kindex Z C (Summary)
5950 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
5951 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
5952 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
5955 @kindex Z n (Summary)
5956 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
5957 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
5958 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
5961 @kindex Z R (Summary)
5962 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
5963 Exit this group, and then enter it again
5964 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
5965 all articles, both read and unread.
5969 @kindex Z G (Summary)
5970 @kindex M-g (Summary)
5971 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
5972 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
5973 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
5974 articles, both read and unread.
5977 @kindex Z N (Summary)
5978 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
5979 Exit the group and go to the next group
5980 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
5983 @kindex Z P (Summary)
5984 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
5985 Exit the group and go to the previous group
5986 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
5989 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
5990 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
5993 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
5994 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
5995 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
5996 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
5997 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
5998 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
5999 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
6000 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
6001 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
6002 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
6003 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
6004 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
6006 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
6008 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
6009 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
6010 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
6011 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
6012 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
6013 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
6014 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
6015 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
6016 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups.
6020 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
6021 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
6022 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
6023 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
6024 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
6027 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
6028 separately to several groups is not.
6030 @cindex cross-posting
6033 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
6034 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
6035 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
6036 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
6037 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
6038 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
6039 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
6040 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
6041 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
6042 the cross reference mechanism.
6044 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
6045 @cindex overview.fmt
6046 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
6047 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
6048 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
6049 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
6050 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
6051 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
6054 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
6055 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
6056 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
6062 @node The Article Buffer
6063 @chapter The Article Buffer
6064 @cindex article buffer
6066 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
6067 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
6068 tell Gnus otherwise.
6071 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
6072 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
6073 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
6074 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer
6075 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
6079 @node Hiding Headers
6080 @section Hiding Headers
6081 @cindex hiding headers
6082 @cindex deleting headers
6084 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
6085 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
6087 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
6088 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
6089 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
6090 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
6091 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
6092 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
6093 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
6094 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
6095 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
6097 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
6101 @item gnus-visible-headers
6102 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
6103 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
6104 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
6105 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
6107 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
6108 the article and the subject, you'd say:
6111 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
6114 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6117 @item gnus-ignored-headers
6118 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
6119 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
6120 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
6121 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
6122 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
6124 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
6125 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
6128 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
6131 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
6134 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
6135 variable will have no effect.
6139 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
6140 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
6141 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
6142 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
6143 the headers are to be displayed.
6145 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
6146 and then the subject, you might say something like:
6149 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
6152 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
6153 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
6154 are listed in this variable.
6156 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6157 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6158 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
6159 You can hide further boring headers by entering
6160 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
6161 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
6162 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
6163 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
6164 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
6166 These conditions are:
6169 Remove all empty headers.
6171 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
6174 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
6175 @code{Newsgroups} header.
6177 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
6180 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
6184 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
6187 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
6188 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
6191 This is also the default value for this variable.
6195 @section Using @sc{mime}
6198 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
6199 while people stand around yawning.
6201 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
6202 while all newsreaders die of fear.
6204 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
6205 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
6206 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
6208 @vindex gnus-show-mime
6209 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
6210 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
6211 @findex metamail-buffer
6212 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by shoving the articles through
6213 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
6214 default. Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
6215 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
6216 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
6217 @sc{mime} headers in the article.
6219 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
6220 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
6221 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
6222 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
6223 comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
6224 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
6225 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
6226 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
6227 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
6229 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
6232 @node Customizing Articles
6233 @section Customizing Articles
6234 @cindex article customization
6236 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6237 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
6238 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
6239 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
6241 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6242 By default it contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
6243 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
6244 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
6245 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
6246 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
6247 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
6250 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
6251 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
6252 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
6253 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
6254 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
6257 @node Article Keymap
6258 @section Article Keymap
6260 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
6261 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
6262 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
6263 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
6266 A few additional keystrokes are available:
6271 @kindex SPACE (Article)
6272 @findex gnus-article-next-page
6273 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
6276 @kindex DEL (Article)
6277 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
6278 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
6281 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
6282 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
6283 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
6284 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
6285 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
6288 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
6289 @findex gnus-article-mail
6290 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
6291 given a prefix, include the mail.
6295 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
6296 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
6297 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
6301 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
6302 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
6303 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
6306 @kindex TAB (Article)
6307 @findex gnus-article-next-button
6308 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}. This
6309 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
6312 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
6313 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
6314 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}.
6320 @section Misc Article
6324 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
6325 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
6326 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
6327 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
6330 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
6331 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
6332 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
6333 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
6334 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
6335 the contents of the article buffer.
6337 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
6338 @item gnus-article-display-hook
6339 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
6340 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
6341 hiding headers, and the like.
6343 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
6344 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
6345 Hook called in article mode buffers.
6347 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
6348 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
6349 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
6350 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts exactly the same
6351 format specifications as that variable.
6352 @vindex gnus-break-pages
6354 @item gnus-break-pages
6355 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
6356 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
6357 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
6358 paging will not be done.
6360 @item gnus-page-delimiter
6361 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
6362 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
6367 @node Composing Messages
6368 @chapter Composing Messages
6373 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
6374 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
6375 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
6376 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. (@pxref{(message)Top}). If you are in a
6377 foreign news group, and you wish to post the article using the foreign
6378 server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c} to make Gnus try to post
6379 using the foreign server.
6382 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
6383 * Post:: Posting and following up.
6384 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
6385 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
6386 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
6387 @c * Posting Styles:: An easier way to configure some key elements.
6388 @c * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
6389 @c * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
6392 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
6393 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
6399 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
6402 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
6403 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
6404 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
6405 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
6413 Variables for composing news articles:
6416 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
6417 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
6418 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
6419 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
6420 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
6421 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to sent the
6422 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
6423 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
6424 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
6427 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
6428 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
6429 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
6430 file. It is 1000 by default.
6435 @node Posting Server
6436 @section Posting Server
6438 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
6439 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
6441 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
6443 @vindex gnus-post-method
6445 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
6446 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
6447 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
6448 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
6449 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
6452 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
6455 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
6456 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
6457 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
6458 the ``current'' server for posting.
6460 If you give a zero prefix (i. e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
6461 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
6463 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
6464 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
6469 @section Mail and Post
6471 Here's a list of variables that are relevant to both mailing and
6475 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
6476 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
6477 @cindex mailing lists
6479 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists that are
6480 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
6481 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
6482 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
6483 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
6484 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that match the groups that
6485 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
6486 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
6487 still a pain, though.
6491 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
6492 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
6493 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
6495 @vindex news-inews-hook
6497 @findex ispell-message
6499 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
6503 @node Archived Messages
6504 @section Archived Messages
6505 @cindex archived messages
6506 @cindex sent messages
6508 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail you send.
6509 The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to store
6510 the mail. If you want to disable this completely, you should set
6511 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil}.
6513 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
6514 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
6515 use to store sent messages. It is @code{(nnfolder "archive"
6516 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive/"))} by default, but you can use any
6517 mail select method (@code{nnml}, @code{nnmbox}, etc.). However,
6518 @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method for doing this sort of
6519 thing. If you don't like the default directory chosen, you could say
6523 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
6524 '(nnfolder "archive"
6525 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
6526 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
6527 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
6530 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
6532 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
6533 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
6534 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
6536 This variable can be:
6540 Messages will be saved in that group.
6541 @item a list of strings
6542 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
6543 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
6544 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
6549 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
6551 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
6554 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
6556 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
6559 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
6561 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
6562 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
6563 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
6564 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
6569 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
6570 '((if (message-news-p)
6575 This is the default.
6577 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
6578 messages in one file per month:
6581 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
6582 '((if (message-news-p)
6584 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
6585 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
6588 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
6589 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
6590 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
6591 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
6592 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
6593 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
6594 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
6595 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something nice --
6596 @samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
6597 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
6599 That's the default method of archiving sent mail. Gnus also offers two
6600 other variables for the people who don't like the default method. In
6601 that case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to
6602 @code{nil}; this will disable archiving.
6604 XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
6605 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.
6609 @item gnus-author-copy
6610 @vindex gnus-author-copy
6612 This is a file name, and all outgoing articles will be saved in that
6613 file. Initialized from the @code{AUTHORCOPY} environment variable.
6615 If this variable begins with the character @samp{|}, outgoing articles
6616 will be piped to the named program. It is possible to save an article in
6617 an MH folder as follows:
6620 (setq gnus-author-copy
6621 "|/usr/local/lib/mh/rcvstore +Article")
6624 If the first character is not a pipe, articles are saved using the
6625 function specified by the @code{gnus-author-copy-saver} variable.
6627 @item gnus-author-copy-saver
6628 @vindex gnus-author-copy-saver
6629 @findex rmail-output
6630 A function called to save outgoing articles. This function will be
6631 called with the same of the file to store the article in. The default
6632 function is @code{rmail-output} which saves in the Unix mailbox format.
6634 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
6635 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
6636 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
6637 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
6638 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
6641 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
6642 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
6643 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
6648 @c @node Posting Styles
6649 @c @section Posting Styles
6650 @c @cindex posting styles
6653 @c All them variables, they make my head swim.
6655 @c So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
6656 @c on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
6657 @c and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
6660 @c @vindex gnus-posting-styles
6661 @c One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
6662 @c variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
6663 @c came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
6664 @c a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
6669 @c (signature . "Peace and happiness")
6670 @c (organization . "What me?"))
6672 @c (signature . "Death to everybody"))
6673 @c ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
6674 @c (organization . "Emacs is it")))
6677 @c As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
6678 @c @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
6679 @c ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
6680 @c over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
6681 @c applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
6682 @c the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
6683 @c @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
6684 @c signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
6686 @c The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
6687 @c string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
6688 @c If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
6689 @c arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
6690 @c referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
6691 @c any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
6694 @c Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
6695 @c attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
6696 @c can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
6697 @c attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
6698 @c a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
6701 @c The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
6702 @c return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
6703 @c list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
6705 @c So here's a new example:
6708 @c (setq gnus-posting-styles
6710 @c (signature . "~/.signature")
6711 @c (from . "user@@foo (user)")
6712 @c ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
6713 @c (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
6715 @c (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
6716 @c ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
6717 @c (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
6718 @c (posting-from-work-p
6719 @c (signature . "~/.work-signature")
6720 @c (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
6721 @c (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
6723 @c (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
6730 @c If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
6731 @c you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
6732 @c craazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save the
6733 @c message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some other
6734 @c day, and send it when you feel its finished.
6736 @c Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
6737 @c some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
6738 @c automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
6739 @c If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
6740 @c article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
6744 @c @vindex gnus-draft-group-directory
6745 @c The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
6746 @c @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
6747 @c @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{gnus-draft-group-directory}
6748 @c controls both the name of the group and the location---the leaf element
6749 @c in the path will be used as the name of the group. What makes this
6750 @c group special is that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any
6751 @c articles as read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
6753 @c If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
6756 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
6757 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
6758 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
6759 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
6760 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
6761 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
6762 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
6763 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
6764 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
6765 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
6766 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
6767 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
6768 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
6769 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
6771 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
6772 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
6773 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
6775 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-draft
6776 @c @kindex S D c (Summary)
6777 @c When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
6778 @c draft group and push @kbd{S D c} (@code{gnus-summary-send-draft}) to do
6779 @c that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
6781 @c Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
6784 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-all-drafts
6785 @c If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
6786 @c doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{S D a} command
6787 @c (@code{gnus-summary-send-all-drafts}). This command understands the
6788 @c process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6791 @c @node Rejected Articles
6792 @c @section Rejected Articles
6793 @c @cindex rejected articles
6795 @c Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
6796 @c doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
6797 @c @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
6798 @c Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
6800 @c These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
6801 @c (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
6802 @c fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
6803 @c you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
6804 @c articles until some later time when the server feels better.
6806 @c The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
6807 @c (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
6808 @c typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
6811 @node Select Methods
6812 @chapter Select Methods
6813 @cindex foreign groups
6814 @cindex select methods
6816 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group that is not read by the usual (or
6817 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
6818 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
6819 personal mail group.
6821 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
6822 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
6823 list where the first element says what backend to use (eg. @code{nntp},
6824 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
6825 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
6826 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
6828 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
6829 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
6831 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
6834 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
6835 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
6836 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group, in
6837 all circumstances, @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the
6838 @code{nntp} backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
6840 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
6843 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
6844 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
6845 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
6846 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
6847 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
6851 @node The Server Buffer
6852 @section The Server Buffer
6854 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
6855 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
6856 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
6857 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
6858 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
6859 backend represents a virtual server.
6861 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
6862 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
6863 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
6864 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
6866 These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
6867 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
6868 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number @code{13}, which
6869 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
6870 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
6871 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
6872 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
6874 To enter the server buffer, user the @kbd{^}
6875 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
6878 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
6879 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
6880 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
6881 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
6882 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
6883 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
6886 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
6887 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
6890 @node Server Buffer Format
6891 @subsection Server Buffer Format
6892 @cindex server buffer format
6894 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
6895 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
6896 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
6897 variable, with some simple extensions:
6902 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
6905 The name of this server.
6908 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
6911 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
6914 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
6915 The mode line can also be customized by using the
6916 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
6927 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
6930 @node Server Commands
6931 @subsection Server Commands
6932 @cindex server commands
6938 @findex gnus-server-add-server
6939 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
6943 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
6944 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
6947 @kindex SPACE (Server)
6948 @findex gnus-server-read-server
6949 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
6953 @findex gnus-server-exit
6954 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
6958 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
6959 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
6963 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
6964 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
6968 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
6969 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
6973 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
6974 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
6979 @node Example Methods
6980 @subsection Example Methods
6982 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
6985 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
6988 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
6994 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
6995 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
6998 After these two elements, there may be a arbitrary number of
6999 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
7001 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
7002 port @code{15} from that machine. This is what the select method should
7006 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
7009 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
7010 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
7012 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
7013 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
7014 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
7018 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
7021 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
7024 Here's the method for a public spool:
7028 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
7029 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
7033 @node Creating a Virtual Server
7034 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
7036 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
7037 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
7039 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
7040 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
7041 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
7043 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
7045 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
7046 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
7047 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
7048 will contain the following:
7058 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
7059 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
7060 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
7063 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
7064 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
7065 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
7068 @node Servers and Methods
7069 @subsection Servers and Methods
7071 Wherever you would normally use a select method
7072 (eg. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
7073 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
7074 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
7078 @node Unavailable Servers
7079 @subsection Unavailable Servers
7081 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
7082 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
7083 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
7084 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
7085 actually the case or not.
7087 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
7088 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to the server
7089 @samp{nepholococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
7090 away from you, the machine is quite, so it takes 1 minute just to find
7091 out that it refuses connection from you today. If Gnus were to attempt
7092 to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't attempt to do
7093 that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'', it will
7094 regard that server as ``down''.
7096 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
7097 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
7099 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
7100 with the following commands:
7106 @findex gnus-server-open-server
7107 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
7108 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
7112 @findex gnus-server-close-server
7113 Close the connection (if any) to the server
7114 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
7118 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
7119 Mark the current server as unreachable
7120 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
7124 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
7125 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from all servers
7126 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
7132 @section Getting News
7133 @cindex reading news
7134 @cindex news backends
7136 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
7137 only two methods of getting news -- it can read from an @sc{nntp}
7138 server, or it can read from a local spool.
7141 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
7142 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
7147 @subsection @sc{nntp}
7150 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
7151 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
7152 server as the, uhm, address.
7154 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
7155 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
7156 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
7157 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
7159 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
7160 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
7161 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
7163 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
7168 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
7169 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
7170 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
7172 @cindex authentification
7173 @cindex nntp authentification
7174 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
7175 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
7176 @code{nntp-server-opened-hook} is run after a connection has been made.
7177 It can be used to send commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has
7178 been contacted. By default is sends the command @code{MODE READER} to
7179 the server with the @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. Another
7180 popular function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which will prompt you for
7181 an @sc{nntp} password and stuff.
7183 @item nntp-server-action-alist
7184 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
7185 This is an list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
7186 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
7187 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
7190 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
7194 You probably don't want to do that, though.
7196 The default value is
7199 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
7200 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook nntp-send-mode-reader)))
7203 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
7204 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
7206 @item nntp-maximum-request
7207 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
7208 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
7209 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
7210 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
7211 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
7212 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
7213 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
7215 @item nntp-connection-timeout
7216 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
7217 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
7218 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
7219 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
7220 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
7221 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
7222 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
7223 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
7224 no timeouts are done.
7226 @item nntp-command-timeout
7227 @vindex nntp-command-timeout
7228 @cindex PPP connections
7229 @cindex dynamic IP addresses
7230 If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
7231 address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
7232 changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
7233 waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
7234 unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
7235 then, if it sits waiting longer than that number of seconds for a reply
7236 from the server, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
7237 the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
7238 likely number is 30 seconds.
7240 @item nntp-retry-on-break
7241 @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
7242 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
7243 hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
7246 @item nntp-server-hook
7247 @vindex nntp-server-hook
7248 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
7251 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
7252 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
7253 @item nntp-open-server-function
7254 @vindex nntp-open-server-function
7255 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Two pre-made
7256 functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
7257 simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
7258 is @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an rlogin on the remote system,
7259 and then does a telnet to the @sc{nntp} server available there.
7261 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
7262 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
7263 If you use @code{nntp-open-rlogin} as the
7264 @code{nntp-open-server-function}, this list will be used as the
7265 parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
7267 @item nntp-end-of-line
7268 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
7269 String to use as end-of-line markers when talking to the @sc{nntp}
7270 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
7271 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
7273 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
7274 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
7275 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
7279 @vindex nntp-address
7280 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
7282 @item nntp-port-number
7283 @vindex nntp-port-number
7284 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
7287 @item nntp-buggy-select
7288 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
7289 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
7291 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
7292 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
7293 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
7294 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks whether @sc{nov}
7295 can be used automatically.
7297 @item nntp-xover-commands
7298 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
7301 List of strings that are used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
7302 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
7306 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
7307 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
7308 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
7309 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
7310 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
7311 lines that you do not want, and will not use. This variable says how
7312 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
7313 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
7314 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
7315 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
7316 @code{nntp} will never split requests.
7318 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
7319 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
7320 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
7322 @item nntp-async-number
7323 @vindex nntp-async-number
7324 How many articles should be pre-fetched when in asynchronous mode. If
7325 this variable is @code{t}, @code{nntp} will pre-fetch all the articles
7326 that it can without bound. If it is @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be
7329 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
7330 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
7331 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
7332 server closes connection.
7338 @subsection News Spool
7342 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
7343 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups like
7344 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}.
7346 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @samp{} (or
7347 anything else) as the address.
7349 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
7350 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
7351 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
7352 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
7356 @item nnspool-inews-program
7357 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
7358 Program used to post an article.
7360 @item nnspool-inews-switches
7361 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
7362 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
7364 @item nnspool-spool-directory
7365 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
7366 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
7367 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
7369 @item nnspool-nov-directory
7370 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
7371 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
7372 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
7374 @item nnspool-lib-dir
7375 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
7376 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
7378 @item nnspool-active-file
7379 @vindex nnspool-active-file
7380 The path of the active file.
7382 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
7383 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
7384 The path of the group descriptions file.
7386 @item nnspool-history-file
7387 @vindex nnspool-history-file
7388 The path of the news history file.
7390 @item nnspool-active-times-file
7391 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
7392 The path of the active date file.
7394 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
7395 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
7396 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
7399 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
7400 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
7402 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
7403 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
7404 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
7410 @section Getting Mail
7411 @cindex reading mail
7414 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
7418 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
7419 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
7420 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
7421 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
7422 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
7423 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
7424 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
7425 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
7426 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
7427 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
7431 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
7432 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
7434 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
7435 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
7436 and things will happen automatically.
7438 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a one file per
7439 mail backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
7442 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
7443 '((nnml "private")))
7446 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
7447 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
7448 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
7449 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
7450 like any other group.
7452 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
7455 (setq nnmail-split-methods
7456 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
7457 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
7461 This will result in three new mail groups being created:
7462 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
7463 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
7466 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
7467 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though,
7468 especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
7471 @node Splitting Mail
7472 @subsection Splitting Mail
7473 @cindex splitting mail
7474 @cindex mail splitting
7476 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
7477 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
7478 to be split into groups.
7481 (setq nnmail-split-methods
7482 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
7483 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
7487 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
7488 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
7489 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
7490 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
7491 determine if it belongs in this mail group.
7493 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
7494 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
7495 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
7496 mail belongs in that group.
7498 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
7499 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any
7500 mails that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps.
7502 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
7503 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
7504 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
7505 message. The function should return a list of groups names that it
7506 thinks should carry this mail message.
7508 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent
7509 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
7510 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
7511 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
7513 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
7514 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
7515 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
7516 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
7517 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
7519 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
7522 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
7523 the crossposted articles. However, not all files systems support hard
7524 links. If that's the case for you, set
7525 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
7526 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
7528 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
7529 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
7530 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
7531 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
7532 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
7533 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
7534 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
7535 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
7539 @node Mail Backend Variables
7540 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
7542 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
7546 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
7547 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
7548 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
7549 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
7551 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
7552 @item nnmail-spool-file
7556 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
7557 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
7558 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
7559 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
7560 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
7561 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
7562 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
7563 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
7564 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
7565 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
7567 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
7568 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
7569 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
7570 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
7571 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
7572 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
7574 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
7575 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
7576 @item nnmail-use-procmail
7577 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
7578 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
7579 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
7580 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
7583 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
7584 @item nnmail-crash-box
7585 When the mail backends read a spool file, it is first moved to this
7586 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
7587 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
7590 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
7591 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
7592 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
7593 used for, well, anything, really.
7595 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
7596 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
7597 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
7598 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
7599 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
7600 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
7601 starting to handle the new mail) and
7602 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
7603 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
7604 default file modes the new mail files get:
7607 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
7608 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
7610 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
7611 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
7614 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
7615 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
7616 This variable says where to move the incoming mail to while processing
7617 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
7618 inhabits (i.e., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
7619 it will be used instead.
7621 @item nnmail-movemail-program
7622 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
7623 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
7624 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
7626 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
7627 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
7628 @cindex incoming mail files
7629 @cindex deleting incoming files
7630 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
7631 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{nil} by
7632 default for reasons of security.
7634 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
7635 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
7636 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
7637 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories like
7638 @file{mail.misc/}. If it is @code{nil}, the same group will end up in
7641 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
7642 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
7644 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
7649 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
7650 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
7651 @cindex mail splitting
7652 @cindex fancy mail splitting
7654 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
7655 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
7656 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
7657 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
7658 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
7659 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
7661 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
7664 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
7665 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
7666 ;; from real errors.
7667 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
7669 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
7670 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
7671 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
7672 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
7673 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
7674 ;; Other mailing lists...
7675 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
7676 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
7678 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen"))
7679 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
7683 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
7684 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
7685 the four possible split syntaxes:
7690 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
7692 @item (FIELD VALUE SPLIT)
7693 If the split is a list, and the first element is a string, then that
7694 means that if header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp),
7695 then store the message as specified by SPLIT.
7698 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
7699 bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them matches. A SPLIT is
7700 said to match if it will cause the mail message to be stored in one or
7704 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then process
7705 all SPLITs in the list.
7708 In these splits, FIELD must match a complete field name. VALUE must
7709 match a complete word according to the fundamental mode syntax table.
7710 You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial field names or
7713 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
7714 FIELD and VALUE can also be lisp symbols, in that case they are expanded
7715 as specified by the variable @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is
7716 an alist of cons cells, where the car of the cells contains the key, and
7717 the cdr contains a string.
7719 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
7720 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
7721 when all this splitting is performed.
7724 @node Mail and Procmail
7725 @subsection Mail and Procmail
7730 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
7731 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
7732 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
7733 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
7734 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
7736 This also means that you probably don't want to set
7737 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
7740 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
7741 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
7742 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends (except
7743 @code{nnmh}) actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
7744 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
7745 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
7747 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) what groups
7750 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example.
7752 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
7753 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
7755 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
7756 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
7757 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
7758 to include all your mail groups.
7760 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
7761 method will be created automatically.
7763 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
7764 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
7765 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
7766 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
7767 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
7768 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
7769 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
7770 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
7772 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
7773 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
7774 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
7775 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
7776 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
7778 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
7779 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an @code{nnmh}
7780 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
7781 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
7782 ever expiring the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is quite,
7786 @node Incorporating Old Mail
7787 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
7789 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
7790 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
7791 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
7794 Doing so can be quite easy.
7796 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
7797 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
7798 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
7799 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
7800 your @code{nnml} groups.
7806 Go to the group buffer.
7809 Type `G f' and give the path of the mbox file when prompted to create an
7810 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
7813 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
7816 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group (@pxref{Setting
7820 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
7821 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7824 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
7825 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
7826 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
7827 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
7828 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
7830 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
7831 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
7832 using the new mail backend.
7836 @subsection Expiring Mail
7837 @cindex article expiry
7839 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
7840 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
7841 different approach to mail reading.
7843 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
7844 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
7845 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
7846 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
7847 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
7848 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
7851 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
7852 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
7853 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
7854 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
7855 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
7856 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
7857 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
7858 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
7860 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
7861 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
7862 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
7863 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
7864 articles that are marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
7865 column in the summary buffer.
7867 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
7868 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
7871 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
7872 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
7875 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
7876 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
7878 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
7879 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
7880 expirable article has to live. The default is seven days.
7882 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
7883 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
7884 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
7885 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
7888 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
7890 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
7892 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
7894 ((string= group "mail.junk")
7896 ((string= group "important")
7902 The group names that this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
7903 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
7905 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
7906 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can be either a number (not
7907 necessarily an integer) or the symbols @code{immediate} or
7910 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
7911 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7913 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
7914 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
7915 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
7916 easier for procmail users.
7918 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
7919 By the way, that line up there about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
7920 articles is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
7921 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
7922 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
7923 caution. Even more dangerous is the
7924 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
7925 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
7926 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
7927 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
7928 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
7929 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
7930 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
7935 @subsection Duplicates
7937 @vindex nnmail-delete-duplicates
7938 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
7939 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
7940 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
7941 @cindex duplicate mails
7942 If you are a member of a couple of mailing list, you will sometime
7943 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
7944 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
7945 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s -
7946 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
7947 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
7948 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
7949 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
7950 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
7951 @code{nnmail-delete-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
7952 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
7953 will generate a brand new @code{Message-ID} for the mail and insert a
7954 warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks that this is a
7955 duplicate of a different message.
7957 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
7958 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
7959 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
7960 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
7962 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
7965 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
7966 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
7970 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
7971 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
7972 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
7973 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
7974 (any mail "mail.misc")
7981 (setq nnmail-split-methods
7982 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
7987 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
7988 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
7989 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
7990 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
7991 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
7994 @node Not Reading Mail
7995 @subsection Not Reading Mail
7997 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
7998 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
7999 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
8001 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
8002 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
8004 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8005 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8006 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8007 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8008 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8009 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
8010 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
8011 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
8012 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
8013 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
8014 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
8016 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
8017 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
8021 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
8022 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
8024 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
8025 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
8026 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
8029 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
8030 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
8031 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
8032 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
8033 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
8038 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
8040 @cindex unix mail box
8042 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8043 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8044 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
8045 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
8046 which group it belongs in.
8048 Virtual server settings:
8051 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
8052 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
8053 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
8055 @item nnmbox-active-file
8056 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
8057 The name of the active file for the mail box.
8059 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
8060 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
8061 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
8067 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
8071 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8072 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8073 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
8074 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
8075 article to say which group it belongs in.
8077 Virtual server settings:
8080 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
8081 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
8082 The name of the rmail mbox file.
8084 @item nnbabyl-active-file
8085 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
8086 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
8088 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8089 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
8090 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
8095 @subsubsection Mail Spool
8097 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
8099 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
8100 format. It should be used with some caution.
8102 @vindex nnml-directory
8103 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files;
8104 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the correct
8105 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
8106 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
8108 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
8111 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
8112 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
8113 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
8114 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
8115 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
8116 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
8117 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
8118 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
8120 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
8121 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
8122 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes is the fastest
8123 backend when it comes to reading mail.
8125 Virtual server settings:
8128 @item nnml-directory
8129 @vindex nnml-directory
8130 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
8132 @item nnml-active-file
8133 @vindex nnml-active-file
8134 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
8136 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
8137 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
8138 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
8141 @item nnml-get-new-mail
8142 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
8143 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
8145 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
8146 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
8147 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
8149 @item nnml-nov-file-name
8150 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
8151 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
8153 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8154 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
8155 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
8159 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
8160 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
8161 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
8162 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
8163 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
8164 might take a while to complete.
8168 @subsubsection MH Spool
8170 @cindex mh-e mail spool
8172 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
8173 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
8174 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
8175 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
8177 Virtual server settings:
8180 @item nnmh-directory
8181 @vindex nnmh-directory
8182 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
8184 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
8185 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
8186 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
8189 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
8190 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
8191 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
8192 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
8193 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
8194 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
8195 to set this variable to @code{t}.
8200 @subsubsection Mail Folders
8202 @cindex mbox folders
8203 @cindex mail folders
8205 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
8206 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
8207 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
8210 Virtual server settings:
8213 @item nnfolder-directory
8214 @vindex nnfolder-directory
8215 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
8217 @item nnfolder-active-file
8218 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
8219 The name of the active file.
8221 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
8222 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
8223 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
8225 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
8226 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
8227 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
8230 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
8231 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
8232 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
8233 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
8234 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
8235 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
8239 @section Other Sources
8241 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
8242 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
8246 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
8247 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
8248 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
8249 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
8253 @node Directory Groups
8254 @subsection Directory Groups
8256 @cindex directory groups
8258 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
8259 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
8262 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp}, that most
8263 wonderful of all wonderful Emacs packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I
8264 didn't think much about it---a backend to read directories. Big deal.
8266 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
8267 enter @file{"/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/"} as the the
8268 directory name, ange-ftp will actually allow you to read this directory
8269 over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
8271 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
8273 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
8274 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
8275 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
8276 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
8279 @node Anything Groups
8280 @subsection Anything Groups
8283 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
8284 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
8285 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
8288 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
8289 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
8290 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
8291 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
8292 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
8293 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
8294 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
8295 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (eg. a C source
8296 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
8297 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
8300 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
8301 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
8302 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
8303 in the article buffer, just as usual.
8305 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
8306 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
8307 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
8308 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
8310 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
8311 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
8312 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
8313 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
8314 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
8315 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
8316 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
8317 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
8322 @item nneething-map-file-directory
8323 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
8324 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
8325 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
8327 @item nneething-exclude-files
8328 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
8329 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
8330 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
8332 @item nneething-map-file
8333 @vindex nneething-map-file
8334 Name of the map files.
8338 @node Document Groups
8339 @subsection Document Groups
8341 @cindex documentation group
8344 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
8345 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
8352 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
8357 The standard Unix mbox file.
8359 @cindex MMDF mail box
8361 The MMDF mail box format.
8364 Several news articles appended into a file.
8367 @cindex rnews batch files
8368 The rnews batch transport format.
8369 @cindex forwarded messages
8378 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
8379 @cindex RFC 341 digest
8380 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
8382 @item standard-digest
8383 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
8386 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
8389 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
8390 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
8391 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
8394 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
8395 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
8396 group. And that's it.
8398 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
8399 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
8400 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
8401 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
8402 @code{nndoc}, set the process mark on all the articles in the buffer
8403 (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r}) using
8404 @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL} file is
8405 now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can delete
8406 that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
8408 Virtual server variables:
8411 @item nndoc-article-type
8412 @vindex nndoc-article-type
8413 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
8414 @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{news}, @code{rnews},
8415 @code{mime-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, or @code{guess}.
8417 @item nndoc-post-type
8418 @vindex nndoc-post-type
8419 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
8420 a mail group. There are two legal values: @code{mail} (the default)
8430 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
8431 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
8432 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
8434 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
8435 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
8436 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
8439 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
8440 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
8441 that interested in doing things properly.
8443 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
8444 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
8450 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
8451 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie, or you can use Gnus to create the
8452 packet with the @kbd{O s} command.
8455 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
8458 You put the packet in your home directory.
8461 You fire up Gnus using the @code{nnsoup} backend as the native server.
8464 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
8468 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
8472 You transfer this packet to the server.
8475 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
8478 You then repeat until you die.
8482 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
8483 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
8486 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
8487 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
8488 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
8493 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
8497 @kindex G s b (Group)
8498 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
8499 Pack all unread articles in the current group
8500 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
8501 process/prefix convention.
8504 @kindex G s w (Group)
8505 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
8506 Save all data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
8509 @kindex G s s (Group)
8510 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
8511 Send all replies from the replies packet
8512 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
8515 @kindex G s p (Group)
8516 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
8517 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
8520 @kindex G s r (Group)
8521 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
8522 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
8525 @kindex O s (Summary)
8526 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
8527 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
8528 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
8534 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
8539 @item gnus-soup-directory
8540 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
8541 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
8542 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
8544 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
8545 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
8546 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
8547 reply packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/}.
8549 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
8550 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
8551 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
8554 @item gnus-soup-packer
8555 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
8556 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
8557 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
8559 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
8560 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
8561 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
8562 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
8564 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
8565 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
8566 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
8568 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
8569 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
8570 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
8571 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
8577 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
8580 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
8581 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
8582 you can read them at leisure.
8584 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
8588 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
8589 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
8590 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
8591 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
8593 @item nnsoup-directory
8594 @vindex nnsoup-directory
8595 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
8596 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
8598 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
8599 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
8600 All replies will stored in this directory before being packed into a
8601 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
8603 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
8604 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
8605 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
8606 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
8607 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
8609 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
8610 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
8611 The index type of the replies packet. The is @samp{?n}, which means
8612 ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
8614 @item nnsoup-active-file
8615 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
8616 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
8617 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
8618 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
8619 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
8622 @vindex nnsoup-packer
8623 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
8624 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
8626 @item nnsoup-unpacker
8627 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
8628 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
8629 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
8631 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
8632 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
8633 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
8636 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
8637 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
8638 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
8645 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
8647 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
8648 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
8649 more for that to happen.
8651 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
8652 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
8653 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
8656 In specific, this is what it does:
8659 (setq gnus-inews-article-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
8660 (setq send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
8663 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
8664 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
8665 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
8668 @node Combined Groups
8669 @section Combined Groups
8671 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
8675 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
8676 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
8680 @node Virtual Groups
8681 @subsection Virtual Groups
8683 @cindex virtual groups
8685 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
8688 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small group, you can
8689 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
8690 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
8692 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
8693 regexp to match component groups.
8695 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
8696 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
8697 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
8698 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
8701 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
8702 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
8705 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
8708 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
8709 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
8711 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
8712 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
8713 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
8714 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
8717 "^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
8720 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
8721 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
8722 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
8723 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
8724 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}.
8726 One limitation, however---all groups that are included in a virtual
8727 group has to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
8728 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
8730 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
8731 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
8732 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
8733 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
8734 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
8735 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
8736 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
8737 effect if you have two virtual groups that contain the same component
8738 group. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
8739 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
8740 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
8743 @node Kibozed Groups
8744 @subsection Kibozed Groups
8748 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
8749 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
8750 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
8751 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
8753 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
8754 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
8755 @code{nnkiboze} group. There most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
8756 and @code{nnvirtual} ends.
8758 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
8759 must have a score file to say what articles that are to be included in
8760 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
8762 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
8763 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
8764 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
8765 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
8766 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
8767 all the articles in all the components groups and run them through the
8768 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
8769 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
8771 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
8772 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
8773 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
8774 Stranger things have happened.
8776 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
8777 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
8779 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
8780 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
8781 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
8782 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
8783 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
8784 on what groups that have been searched through to find component
8787 Articles that are marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have their
8788 @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
8795 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
8796 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
8797 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
8800 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
8801 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
8802 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
8803 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
8804 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
8806 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
8807 before generating the summary buffer.
8809 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
8810 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
8811 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
8813 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
8814 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
8815 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
8816 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
8819 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
8820 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
8821 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
8822 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
8823 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
8824 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus *knows* what you read.
8825 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
8826 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
8827 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
8828 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
8829 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
8830 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
8834 @node Summary Score Commands
8835 @section Summary Score Commands
8836 @cindex score commands
8838 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
8839 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
8840 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
8841 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
8842 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
8844 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
8845 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
8846 some other score file (eg. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
8847 score file the current one.
8849 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
8854 @kindex V s (Summary)
8855 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
8856 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
8859 @kindex V S (Summary)
8860 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
8861 Display the score of the current article
8862 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
8865 @kindex V t (Summary)
8866 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
8867 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
8868 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
8871 @cindex V R (Summary)
8872 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
8873 Run the current summary through the scoring process
8874 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
8875 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
8876 effect you're having.
8879 @kindex V a (Summary)
8880 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
8881 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
8882 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
8885 @kindex V c (Summary)
8886 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
8887 Make a different score file the current
8888 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
8891 @kindex V e (Summary)
8892 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
8893 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
8894 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
8898 @kindex V f (Summary)
8899 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
8900 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
8901 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
8904 @kindex V F (Summary)
8905 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
8906 Flush the score cahe (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
8907 after editing score files.
8910 @kindex V C (Summary)
8911 @findex gnus-score-customize
8912 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
8913 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
8916 @kindex I C-i (Summary)
8917 @findex gnus-summary-raise-score
8918 Increase the score of the current article
8919 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
8922 @kindex L C-l (Summary)
8923 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
8924 Lower the score of the current article
8925 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
8928 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
8933 @kindex V m (Summary)
8934 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
8935 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
8936 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
8939 @kindex V E (Summary)
8940 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
8941 Expunge all articles with a score below the default score (or the
8942 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
8945 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
8946 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
8951 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
8952 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
8954 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
8959 Score on the author name.
8962 Score on the subject line.
8965 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
8968 Score on thread---the References line.
8974 Score on the number of lines.
8977 Score on the Message-ID.
8990 The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
8991 what headers you are scoring on.
9035 Greater than number.
9040 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
9041 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
9042 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
9046 Temporary score entry.
9049 Permanent score entry.
9052 Immediately scoring.
9057 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
9058 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
9059 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
9060 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
9062 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
9063 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
9064 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
9065 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
9066 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
9068 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
9069 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
9070 pretend they are keymaps or not.
9073 @node Group Score Commands
9074 @section Group Score Commands
9075 @cindex group score commands
9077 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
9083 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
9084 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
9085 all the time. This command will flush the cache
9086 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
9091 @node Score Variables
9092 @section Score Variables
9093 @cindex score variables
9097 @item gnus-use-scoring
9098 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
9099 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
9100 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
9102 @item gnus-kill-killed
9103 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
9104 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
9105 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
9106 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
9107 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
9108 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
9109 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
9111 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
9112 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
9113 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
9114 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
9115 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
9117 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
9118 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
9119 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
9120 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
9122 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9123 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
9125 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
9126 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
9127 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files that are
9128 unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
9129 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
9130 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
9131 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
9134 @item gnus-save-score
9135 @vindex gnus-save-score
9136 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
9137 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
9138 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
9140 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9141 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
9142 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
9143 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
9144 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
9145 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
9146 manually entered data.
9148 @item gnus-summary-default-score
9149 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
9150 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
9152 @item gnus-score-over-mark
9153 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
9154 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
9155 default. Default is @samp{+}.
9157 @item gnus-score-below-mark
9158 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
9159 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
9160 default. Default is @samp{-}.
9162 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9163 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
9164 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
9165 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
9167 Predefined functions available are:
9170 @item gnus-score-find-single
9171 @findex gnus-score-find-single
9172 Only apply the group's own score file.
9174 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
9175 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
9176 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
9177 default. For instance, if the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus},
9178 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
9179 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
9180 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
9181 then a regexp match is done.
9183 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
9184 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
9186 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
9187 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
9188 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
9189 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE} or @file{all.emacs.SCORE},
9190 but you can have @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and
9191 @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
9194 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
9195 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
9196 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
9197 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
9198 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
9199 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
9202 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
9203 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
9204 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
9205 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
9206 are expired. It's 7 by default.
9208 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
9209 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
9210 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
9211 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
9212 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
9213 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
9214 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
9217 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
9218 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
9219 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
9224 @node Score File Format
9225 @section Score File Format
9226 @cindex score file format
9228 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
9229 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
9230 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
9232 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
9236 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
9238 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
9240 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
9242 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
9247 (mark-and-expunge -10)
9251 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
9252 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
9253 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
9254 (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
9258 This example demonstrates absolutely everything about a score file.
9260 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
9261 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
9262 has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
9264 Six keys are supported by this alist:
9269 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
9270 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
9271 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
9272 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
9273 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
9274 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
9275 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
9276 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
9277 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
9278 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
9279 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
9280 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
9281 to articles that matches these score entries.
9283 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
9284 score entry has one to four elements.
9288 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
9289 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
9293 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
9294 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
9295 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
9296 is successful. If this element is not present, the
9297 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
9298 instead. This is 1000 by default.
9301 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
9302 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
9303 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
9304 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
9305 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 ce.
9308 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
9309 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
9310 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
9311 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
9314 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
9315 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp) as
9316 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types and @code{e} and
9317 @code{E} (exact match) types. If this element is not present, Gnus will
9318 assume that substring matching should be used. @code{R} and @code{S}
9319 differ from the other two in that the matches will be done in a
9320 case-sensitive manner. All these one-letter types are really just
9321 abbreviations for the @code{regexp}, @code{string} and @code{exact}
9322 types, which you can use instead, if you feel like.
9325 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
9326 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
9329 For the Date header we have three match types: @code{before}, @code{at}
9330 and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this ever being useful, but,
9331 like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide this function. Just in
9332 case. You never know. Better safe than sorry. Once burnt, twice shy.
9333 Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have sex on a first date.
9335 @item Head, Body, All
9336 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
9340 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that followup to
9341 some author. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header uses.
9344 This match key will add a score entry on all articles that are part of
9345 a thread. Uses the same match types as the @code{References} header
9351 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9352 lower than this number will be marked as read.
9355 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9356 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
9358 @item mark-and-expunge
9359 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
9360 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
9363 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
9364 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
9365 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
9366 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
9367 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
9370 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
9371 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
9375 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. This files will
9376 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
9380 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
9381 ignored when handling global score files.
9384 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
9385 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
9388 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
9389 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
9390 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
9391 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
9393 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
9397 (mark-and-expunge -100)
9400 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
9401 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
9402 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
9403 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
9404 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
9406 I.e. -- the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
9407 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
9408 ordinary scoring rules.
9411 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
9412 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
9413 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
9414 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
9415 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
9416 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
9417 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
9418 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
9419 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
9420 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
9421 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
9425 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
9426 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
9427 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
9428 file for a number of groups.
9431 @cindex local variables
9432 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
9433 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
9434 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
9435 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
9440 @node Score File Editing
9441 @section Score File Editing
9443 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
9444 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
9445 with a mode for that.
9447 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
9448 additional commands:
9453 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
9454 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
9455 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
9456 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
9459 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
9460 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
9461 Insert the current date in numerical format
9462 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
9466 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
9467 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
9468 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
9469 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
9470 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
9475 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
9477 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
9478 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
9480 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
9481 e} to begin editing score files.
9484 @node Adaptive Scoring
9485 @section Adaptive Scoring
9486 @cindex adaptive scoring
9488 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
9489 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
9490 stupidity, to be precise.
9492 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
9493 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
9494 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
9495 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
9496 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
9499 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
9500 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
9501 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
9502 might look something like this:
9505 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
9506 '((gnus-unread-mark)
9507 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
9508 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
9509 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
9510 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
9511 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
9512 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
9513 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
9515 (gnus-low-score-mark)
9516 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
9519 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
9520 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
9521 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
9522 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
9523 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
9524 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
9527 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
9528 will be applied to each article.
9530 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
9531 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
9532 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
9533 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
9535 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
9536 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
9537 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
9538 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
9540 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
9541 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
9542 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
9543 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
9544 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
9545 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
9547 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
9548 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
9549 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
9550 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
9551 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
9552 aspirins afterwards.)
9554 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
9555 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
9556 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
9558 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
9559 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
9560 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
9562 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
9563 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
9564 let you use different rules in different groups.
9566 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
9567 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
9568 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
9571 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
9572 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
9573 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
9574 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
9575 the length of the match is less than
9576 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
9577 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
9581 @node Followups To Yourself
9582 @section Followups To Yourself
9584 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
9585 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
9586 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
9587 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
9588 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
9589 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
9593 @item gnus-score-followup-article
9594 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
9595 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
9598 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
9599 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
9600 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
9604 @vindex gnus-inews-article-hook
9605 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
9606 @code{gnus-inews-article-hook}.
9610 @section Scoring Tips
9611 @cindex scoring tips
9617 @cindex scoring crossposts
9618 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
9619 the @code{Xref} header.
9621 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
9624 @item Multiple crossposts
9625 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
9626 more than, say, 3 groups:
9628 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
9631 @item Matching on the body
9632 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
9633 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
9634 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
9635 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
9636 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
9637 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
9638 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
9641 @item Marking as read
9642 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
9643 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
9644 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
9648 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
9650 @item Negated character classes
9651 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
9652 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
9653 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
9657 @node Reverse Scoring
9658 @section Reverse Scoring
9659 @cindex reverse scoring
9661 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
9662 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
9663 like this in your score file:
9667 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
9672 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
9673 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
9676 @node Global Score Files
9677 @section Global Score Files
9678 @cindex global score files
9680 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
9681 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
9682 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
9684 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
9685 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
9686 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
9688 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
9689 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
9690 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
9691 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
9692 files are applicable to which group.
9694 Say you want to use all score files in the
9695 @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory and the single score
9696 file @file{/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE}:
9699 (setq gnus-global-score-files
9700 '("/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
9701 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
9704 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
9705 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
9706 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
9707 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
9708 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
9710 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
9711 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
9713 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
9714 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
9715 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
9716 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
9717 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
9718 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
9720 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
9726 Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
9728 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
9730 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
9732 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
9733 lowered out of existence.
9735 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
9736 articles completely.
9739 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
9740 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
9741 old articles for a long time.
9744 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
9745 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
9746 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
9747 holding our breath yet?
9754 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
9755 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
9756 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
9758 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
9759 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
9760 files into score files.
9762 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
9763 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
9764 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
9765 that isn't a very good idea.
9767 XCNormal kill files look like this:
9770 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9771 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
9775 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
9776 the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
9778 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
9779 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
9782 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
9787 @kindex M-k (Summary)
9788 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
9789 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
9792 @kindex M-K (Summary)
9793 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
9794 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
9797 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
9803 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
9804 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
9808 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
9809 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
9812 Kill file variables:
9815 @item gnus-kill-file-name
9816 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
9817 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
9818 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
9819 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
9820 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
9821 course) is called just @file{KILL}.
9823 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
9824 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
9825 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
9826 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
9829 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
9830 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
9831 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
9832 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
9833 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
9834 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
9835 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
9836 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
9837 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
9839 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
9840 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
9841 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
9850 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
9851 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
9852 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
9854 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
9855 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
9856 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
9857 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
9858 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
9859 Once it has found for you some people you agree with it tells you, in
9860 the form of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use
9861 this prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
9865 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
9866 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
9867 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
9868 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
9872 @node Using GroupLens
9873 @subsection Using GroupLens
9875 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
9876 Bit Bureau (BBB). At the moment the only better bit in town is at
9877 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html}.
9879 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
9883 @item gnus-use-grouplens
9884 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
9885 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
9886 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
9888 @item grouplens-pseudonym
9889 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
9890 This variable should be set to the pseudonum you got when registering
9891 with the Better Bit Bureau.
9893 @item grouplens-newsgroups
9894 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
9895 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
9899 Thats the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
9900 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
9901 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
9902 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
9903 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
9904 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
9907 @node Rating Articles
9908 @subsection Rating Articles
9910 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
9911 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
9912 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
9913 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
9916 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
9921 @kindex r (GroupLens)
9922 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
9923 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
9926 @kindex k (GroupLens)
9927 @findex grouplens-score-thread
9928 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
9929 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
9930 threads in rec.humor.
9934 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
9935 the score of the article you're reading.
9940 @kindex n (GroupLens)
9941 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
9942 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
9945 @kindex , (GroupLens)
9946 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
9947 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
9951 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
9952 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
9955 @node Displaying Predictions
9956 @subsection Displaying Predictions
9958 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
9959 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
9960 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
9961 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
9962 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
9964 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
9965 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
9966 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
9967 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
9968 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
9969 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
9970 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
9971 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
9972 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
9973 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
9974 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
9975 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
9976 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
9978 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
9979 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
9980 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
9981 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
9983 The following are legal values for that variable.
9986 @item prediction-spot
9987 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
9990 @item confidence-interval
9991 A numeric confidence interval.
9993 @item prediction-bar
9994 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
9996 @item confidence-bar
9997 Numerical confidence.
9999 @item confidence-spot
10000 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
10002 @item prediction-num
10003 Plain-old numeric value.
10005 @item confidence-plus-minus
10006 Prediction +/i confidence.
10011 @node GroupLens Variables
10012 @subsection GroupLens Variables
10016 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
10017 The summary line format used in summary buffers that are GroupLens
10018 enhanced. It accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format
10019 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). The default is
10020 @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
10022 @item grouplens-bbb-host
10023 Host running the bbbd server. The default is
10024 @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu}.
10026 @item grouplens-bbb-port
10027 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
10029 @item grouplens-score-offset
10030 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
10031 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
10034 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
10035 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
10036 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
10046 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
10047 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
10048 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
10049 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
10050 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
10051 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
10052 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
10053 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
10054 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
10055 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
10056 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
10057 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
10061 @node Process/Prefix
10062 @section Process/Prefix
10063 @cindex process/prefix convention
10065 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
10066 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
10068 This is a method for figuring out what articles that the user wants the
10069 command to be performed on.
10073 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
10074 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
10075 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
10076 with the current one.
10078 @vindex transient-mark-mode
10079 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
10080 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
10082 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
10083 process mark, perform the operation on the articles that are marked with
10086 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
10087 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
10089 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
10092 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
10093 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
10094 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
10095 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
10096 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
10097 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
10098 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
10099 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
10103 @section Interactive
10104 @cindex interaction
10108 @item gnus-novice-user
10109 @vindex gnus-novice-user
10110 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
10111 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
10112 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
10113 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
10116 @item gnus-expert-user
10117 @vindex gnus-expert-user
10118 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
10119 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
10120 matter how strange.
10122 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
10123 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
10124 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
10125 is @code{t} by default.
10127 @item gnus-interactive-post
10128 @vindex gnus-interactive-post
10129 If non-@code{nil}, the user will be prompted for a group name when
10130 posting an article. It is @code{t} by default.
10132 @item gnus-interactive-exit
10133 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
10134 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
10139 @node Formatting Variables
10140 @section Formatting Variables
10141 @cindex formatting variables
10143 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables that
10144 are called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
10145 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
10146 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
10147 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
10150 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
10151 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
10152 lots of percentages everywhere.
10154 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
10155 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
10156 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''. Just like a
10157 normal format spec, almost.
10159 You can also say @samp{%6,4y}, which means that the field will never be
10160 more than 6 characters wide and never less than 4 characters wide.
10162 There are also specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the
10163 format variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers
10164 will get the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it
10165 will be highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse
10168 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
10169 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
10170 default. If you say @samp{%1[} instead, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1}
10171 instead, and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes
10172 for the @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
10173 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
10175 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
10178 ;; Create three face types.
10179 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
10180 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
10182 ;; We want the article count to be in
10183 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
10184 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
10185 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
10187 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
10188 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
10190 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
10191 (setq gnus-group-line-format
10192 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
10195 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
10196 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
10198 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
10199 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
10200 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
10201 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
10202 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
10203 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
10204 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}.
10206 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
10207 mode-line variables.
10209 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
10210 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
10212 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
10213 @findex gnus-update-format
10214 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
10215 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
10216 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
10217 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
10220 @node Windows Configuration
10221 @section Windows Configuration
10222 @cindex windows configuration
10224 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
10226 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
10227 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
10228 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
10229 @code{t} by default.
10231 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
10232 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
10233 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
10236 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
10237 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
10238 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
10242 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
10243 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
10244 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
10245 possible names is listed below.
10247 The @dfn{value} (i. e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
10248 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
10251 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
10255 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
10256 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
10257 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
10258 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
10259 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
10260 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
10261 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
10262 size spec per split.
10264 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
10267 Here's a more complicated example:
10270 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
10271 (summary 0.25 point)
10272 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
10276 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
10277 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
10278 occupy, not a percentage.
10280 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
10281 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
10282 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
10283 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
10284 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
10287 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
10290 (article (horizontal 1.0
10295 (summary 0.25 point)
10300 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
10301 @code{horizontal} thingie?
10303 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
10304 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
10305 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
10306 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
10307 the screen is to be given to this strip.
10309 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
10310 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
10311 lines from the splits.
10313 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a legal split
10317 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
10318 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
10319 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
10320 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
10321 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] ")"
10322 size = number | frame-params
10323 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
10326 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
10327 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
10328 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
10329 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
10331 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
10332 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
10333 @cindex window height
10334 @cindex window width
10335 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
10336 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 2) characters high, and all
10337 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
10338 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
10339 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
10340 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
10342 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
10343 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
10344 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
10345 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
10347 @findex gnus-configure-frame
10348 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
10349 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
10350 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
10351 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
10352 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
10353 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
10354 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
10355 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
10356 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
10357 configuration list.
10360 (gnus-configure-frame
10364 (article 0.3 point))
10372 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
10373 @code{frame} split:
10376 (gnus-configure-frame
10379 (summary 0.25 point)
10381 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
10382 (user-position . t)
10383 (left . -1) (top . 1))
10388 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
10389 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
10390 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
10391 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
10392 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
10393 @xref{(elisp)Frame Parameters}.
10395 Here's a list of all possible keys for
10396 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
10398 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
10399 @code{browse}, @code{group-mail}, @code{summary-mail},
10400 @code{summary-reply}, @code{info}, @code{summary-faq},
10401 @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server}, @code{reply}, @code{reply-yank},
10402 @code{followup}, @code{followup-yank}, @code{edit-score}.
10404 @findex gnus-add-configuration
10405 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
10406 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
10407 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
10408 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
10411 (gnus-add-configuration
10412 '(article (vertical 1.0
10414 (summary .25 point)
10418 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
10419 @file{.gnus} file or in some startup hook -- they should be run after
10420 Gnus has been loaded.
10424 @section Compilation
10425 @cindex compilation
10426 @cindex byte-compilation
10428 @findex gnus-compile
10430 Remember all those line format specification variables?
10431 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
10432 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
10433 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
10434 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
10435 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
10438 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
10439 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
10440 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
10441 you'll get top speed again.
10445 @section Mode Lines
10448 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
10449 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
10450 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
10451 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
10452 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
10453 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
10454 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
10457 @cindex display-time
10459 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
10460 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
10461 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
10462 to display (eg. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
10463 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
10464 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
10465 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
10466 additional elements on the mode line (eg. a clock), you should modify
10469 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
10471 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
10472 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
10474 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
10475 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
10476 (length display-time-string)))))
10479 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
10480 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either.
10483 @node Highlighting and Menus
10484 @section Highlighting and Menus
10486 @cindex highlighting
10489 @vindex gnus-visual
10490 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the prettifying Gnus
10491 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
10492 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
10495 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
10496 following elements are legal, and are all included by default:
10499 @item group-highlight
10500 Do highlights in the group buffer.
10501 @item summary-highlight
10502 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
10503 @item article-highlight
10504 Do highlights in the article buffer.
10506 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
10508 Create menus in the group buffer.
10510 Create menus in the summary buffers.
10512 Create menus in the article buffer.
10514 Create menus in the browse buffer.
10516 Create menus in the server buffer.
10518 Create menus in the score buffers.
10520 Create menus in all buffers.
10523 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
10524 buffers, you could say something like:
10527 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
10530 If you want only highlighting and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
10533 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
10536 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
10537 in all Gnus buffers.
10539 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
10542 @item gnus-mouse-face
10543 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
10544 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
10545 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
10547 @item gnus-display-type
10548 @vindex gnus-display-type
10549 This variable is symbol indicating the display type Emacs is running
10550 under. The symbol should be one of @code{color}, @code{grayscale} or
10551 @code{mono}. If Gnus guesses this display attribute wrongly, either set
10552 this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or set the resource
10553 @code{Emacs.displayType} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
10555 @item gnus-background-mode
10556 @vindex gnus-background-mode
10557 This is a symbol indicating the Emacs background brightness. The symbol
10558 should be one of @code{light} or @code{dark}. If Gnus guesses this
10559 frame attribute wrongly, either set this variable in your @file{~/.emacs} or
10560 set the resource @code{Emacs.backgroundMode} in your @file{~/.Xdefaults}.
10561 `gnus-display-type'.
10564 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
10568 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
10569 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
10570 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
10572 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
10573 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
10574 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
10576 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
10577 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
10578 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
10580 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
10581 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
10582 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
10584 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
10585 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
10586 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
10588 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
10589 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
10590 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
10601 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
10602 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
10603 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
10604 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
10605 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
10609 @vindex gnus-carpal
10610 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
10611 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
10612 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
10617 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
10618 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
10619 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
10621 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
10622 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
10623 Face used on buttons.
10625 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
10626 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
10627 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
10629 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
10630 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
10631 Buttons in the group buffer.
10633 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
10634 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
10635 Buttons in the summary buffer.
10637 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
10638 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
10639 Buttons in the server buffer.
10641 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
10642 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
10643 Buttons in the browse buffer.
10646 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
10647 is either a cons cell where the car contains a text to be displayed and
10648 the cdr contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
10656 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
10657 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
10658 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
10659 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
10660 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
10662 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
10663 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
10664 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
10666 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
10667 been idle for thirty minutes:
10670 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
10673 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
10677 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
10680 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter works together
10681 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
10682 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
10684 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
10685 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
10686 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
10687 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
10689 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
10690 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
10691 @var{idle} minutes.
10693 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
10694 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
10697 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
10698 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
10699 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
10701 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
10702 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
10703 seconds. This is @code{60} by default. If you change that variable,
10704 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
10706 @vindex gnus-use-demon
10707 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
10708 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
10710 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
10711 your @file{.gnus} file:
10713 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
10715 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
10718 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
10719 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
10720 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
10721 Some ready-made functions to do this has been created:
10722 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection}, and
10723 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
10724 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
10726 @findex gnus-demon-init
10727 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
10728 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
10729 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
10730 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
10731 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
10733 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
10734 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
10735 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
10744 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
10745 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
10747 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
10748 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
10749 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
10750 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
10753 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
10754 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
10755 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
10756 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
10758 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
10759 this will make spam disappear.
10761 There are some variables to customize, of course:
10764 @item gnus-use-nocem
10765 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
10766 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
10769 @item gnus-nocem-groups
10770 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
10771 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
10772 default is @code{("alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
10774 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
10775 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
10776 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
10777 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
10778 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;" "jem@@xpat.com;" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
10779 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
10781 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
10784 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
10785 @cindex Chris Lewis
10786 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
10787 usenet abuse than anybody else.
10790 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
10791 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
10792 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
10794 @item jem@@xpat.com;
10796 Jem---Korean despammer who is getting very busy these days.
10798 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
10799 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
10800 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
10803 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
10804 ones you want to listen to.
10806 @item gnus-nocem-directory
10807 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
10808 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
10809 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
10811 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
10812 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
10813 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
10814 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
10815 might then see old spam.
10823 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
10824 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
10825 over your shoulder as you read news.
10828 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
10829 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
10830 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons -- the easy way.
10831 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
10832 * Picon Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
10837 @subsection Picon Basics
10839 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site
10840 (@samp{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}):
10843 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
10844 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
10845 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
10846 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
10847 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
10848 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
10849 @code{GIF} formats.
10852 Please see the above mentioned web site for instructions on obtaining
10853 and installing the picons databases, or the following ftp site:
10854 @samp{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
10856 @vindex gnus-picons-database
10857 Gnus expects picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
10858 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
10861 @node Picon Requirements
10862 @subsection Picon Requirements
10864 To use have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
10865 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
10868 Additionally, you must have @code{xpm} support compiled into XEmacs.
10870 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
10871 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you must have
10872 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
10873 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
10877 @subsection Easy Picons
10879 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
10880 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
10883 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
10884 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
10885 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-prepare-hook 'gnus-group-display-picons t)
10886 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
10891 @subsection Hard Picons
10893 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
10894 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
10895 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
10896 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
10897 feature, you need to first decide where to display them.
10901 @item gnus-picons-display-where
10902 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
10903 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
10904 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
10905 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
10906 @samp{"*scratch*"} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
10907 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration routines --
10908 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
10912 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
10913 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
10915 Now that you've made that decision, you need to add the following
10916 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get
10917 displayed at the right time.
10919 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
10920 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
10922 @item gnus-article-display-picons
10923 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
10924 Looks up and display the picons for the author and the author's domain
10925 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to
10926 the @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
10928 @item gnus-group-display-picons
10929 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
10930 Displays picons representing the current group. This function should
10931 be added to the @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook} or to the
10932 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} if @code{gnus-picons-display-where}
10933 is set to @code{article}.
10935 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
10936 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
10937 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
10938 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
10942 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
10943 to the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
10946 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
10950 @node Picon Configuration
10951 @subsection Picon Configuration
10953 The following variables offer further control over how things are
10954 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
10955 don't need to worry about.
10958 @item gnus-picons-database
10959 @vindex gnus-picons-database
10960 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
10961 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
10962 subdirectories. Defaults to @file{/usr/local/faces}.
10964 @item gnus-picons-news-directory
10965 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directory
10966 Sub-directory of the faces database containing the icons for
10969 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
10970 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
10971 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
10972 faces. Defaults to @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc/MISC")}.
10974 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
10975 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
10976 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
10977 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
10978 want to add @samp{unknown} to this list.
10980 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
10981 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
10982 The command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
10983 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
10984 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
10985 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
10987 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
10988 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
10989 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
10990 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
10992 @item gnus-picons-buffer
10993 @vindex gnus-picons-buffer
10994 The name of the buffer that @code{picons} points to. Defaults to
10995 @samp{*Icon Buffer*}.
11000 @node Various Various
11001 @section Various Various
11008 @vindex gnus-verbose
11009 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
11010 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
11011 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
11012 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
11013 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
11015 @item gnus-verbose-backends
11016 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
11017 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
11018 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
11020 @item nnheader-max-head-length
11021 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
11022 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
11023 as little as possible. This variable (default @code{4096}) specifies
11024 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
11025 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
11026 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
11027 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
11028 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
11031 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11032 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11034 @cindex illegal characters in file names
11035 @cindex characters in file names
11036 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
11037 For instance, if @samp{:} is illegal as a file character in file names
11038 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
11041 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
11045 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
11046 Windows (phooey) systems.
11048 @item gnus-hidden-properties
11049 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
11050 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
11051 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
11052 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
11054 @item gnus-parse-header-hook
11055 @vindex gnus-parse-header-hook
11056 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
11057 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
11058 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
11066 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
11067 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
11069 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
11071 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
11076 Not because of victories @*
11079 but for the common sunshine,@*
11081 the largess of the spring.
11084 but for the day's work done@*
11085 as well as I was able;@*
11086 not for a seat upon the dais@*
11087 but at the common table.@*
11092 @chapter Appendices
11095 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
11096 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
11097 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
11098 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
11099 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
11100 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
11101 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
11109 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
11110 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
11112 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
11113 can point your (feh!) web browser to
11114 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
11115 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
11116 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
11118 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
11119 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)}, is, of course, short for
11120 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
11121 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
11122 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
11123 appropriate name, don't you think?)
11125 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
11126 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
11127 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
11128 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
11130 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
11131 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution.
11133 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'') was
11134 released under the name ``Gnus 5.2''.
11137 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
11138 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
11139 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
11140 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
11141 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
11142 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
11143 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
11144 * Censorship:: This manual has been censored.
11151 What's the point of Gnus?
11153 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
11154 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
11155 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
11156 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
11157 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
11158 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
11159 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
11160 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
11161 keep track of millions of people who post?
11163 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
11164 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
11165 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
11166 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
11167 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
11168 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
11169 everywhere I could imagine useful. By doing so, I'm inviting every one
11170 of you to explore and invent.
11172 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x hail-emacs}.
11175 @node Compatibility
11176 @subsection Compatibility
11178 @cindex compatibility
11179 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
11180 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
11181 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
11186 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
11190 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
11193 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @pxref{Decoding
11196 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
11197 buffers. All variables that are relevant while reading a group are
11198 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
11199 important variables have their values copied into their global
11200 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
11201 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
11203 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
11204 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
11205 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
11206 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
11207 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
11211 @cindex highlighting
11212 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
11213 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
11214 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
11215 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
11216 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
11217 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
11220 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
11221 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
11222 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
11223 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
11225 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
11226 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
11227 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
11228 to stop doing it the old way.
11230 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
11232 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
11234 @cindex reporting bugs
11236 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
11237 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
11238 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
11242 @subsection Conformity
11244 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
11245 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
11252 There are no known breaches of this standard.
11256 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
11258 @item Usenet Seal of Approval
11259 @cindex Usenet Seal of Approval
11260 Gnus hasn't been formally through the Seal process, but I have read
11261 through the Seal text and I think Gnus would pass.
11263 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
11264 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
11265 We do have some breaches to this one.
11270 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
11271 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
11274 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
11275 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
11276 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
11277 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
11278 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
11281 Gnus does line breaking on this header. I infer from RFC1036 that being
11282 conservative in what you output is not creating 5000-character lines, so
11283 it seems like a good idea to me. However, this standard-to-be says that
11284 whitespace in the @code{References} header is to be preserved, so... It
11285 doesn't matter one way or the other to Gnus, so if somebody tells me
11286 what The Way is, I'll change it. Or not.
11291 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliantly with regards to the texts
11292 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
11297 @subsection Emacsen
11303 Gnus should work on :
11308 Emacs 19.30 and up.
11311 XEmacs 19.13 and up.
11314 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.30 and up.
11318 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
11319 reliably, at least.
11321 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various platforms:
11326 The mouse-face on Gnus lines under Emacs and Mule is delimited to
11327 certain parts of the lines while they cover the entire line under
11331 The same with current-article marking---XEmacs puts an underline under
11332 the entire summary line while Emacs and Mule are nicer and kinder.
11335 XEmacs features more graphics---a logo and a toolbar.
11338 Citation highlighting us better under Emacs and Mule than under XEmacs.
11341 Emacs 19.26-19.28 have tangible hidden headers, which can be a bit
11348 @subsection Contributors
11349 @cindex contributors
11351 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
11352 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
11353 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
11354 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
11355 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
11356 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
11357 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
11358 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
11359 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
11360 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
11362 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
11367 @item Masanobu @sc{Umeda}
11368 The writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
11370 @item Per Abrahamsen
11371 Custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as well as numerous
11374 @item Luis Fernandes
11375 Design and graphics.
11378 @file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on @dfn{picons}
11382 @file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section (@pxref{GroupLens}).
11384 @item Sudish Joseph
11385 Innumerable bug fixes.
11388 @file{gnus-topic.el}.
11390 @item Steven L. Baur
11391 Lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
11393 @item Vladimir Alexiev
11394 The refcard and reference booklets.
11396 @item Felix Lee & JWZ
11397 I stole some pieces from the XGnus distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
11400 @file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
11402 @item Peter Mutsaers
11403 Orphan article scoring code.
11408 @item Hallvard B Furuseth
11409 Various bits and pieces, especially dealing with .newsrc files.
11411 @item Brian Edmonds
11412 @file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
11414 @item Ricardo Nassif and Mark Borges
11417 @item Kevin Davidson
11418 Came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
11422 Peter Arius, Stainless Steel Rat, Ulrik Dickow, Jack Vinson, Daniel
11423 Quinlan, Frank D. Cringle, Geoffrey T. Dairiki, Fabrice Popineau and
11424 Andrew Eskilsson have all contributed code and suggestions.
11428 @subsection New Features
11429 @cindex new features
11434 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
11435 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
11438 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
11439 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
11442 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
11445 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
11446 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
11447 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
11450 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
11451 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
11452 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
11453 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
11456 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
11457 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
11460 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
11461 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
11462 (@pxref{The Active File}).
11465 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
11466 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
11469 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
11470 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
11471 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
11474 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
11475 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
11476 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
11479 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
11480 the @file{.emacs} file.
11483 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
11484 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11487 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
11488 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
11491 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
11492 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
11495 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
11496 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
11499 Gnus can fetch articles asynchronously on a second connection to the
11500 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
11503 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
11506 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
11507 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
11510 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
11511 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
11514 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
11515 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
11518 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
11521 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
11522 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
11525 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
11529 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
11533 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
11534 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
11537 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
11541 Gnus can use NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
11545 This is, of course, just a @emph{short} overview of the @emph{most}
11546 important new features. No, really. There are tons more. Yes, we have
11547 feeping creaturism in full effect, but nothing too gratuitous, I would
11551 @node Newest Features
11552 @subsection Newest Features
11555 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
11558 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
11562 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
11564 A better and simpler method for specifying mail composing methods.
11566 Allow posting through mail-to-news gateways.
11568 Really do unbinhexing.
11571 And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
11572 implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
11574 @code{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/sgnus/todo>} is where the actual
11575 up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
11576 could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
11580 @subsection Censorship
11583 This version of the Gnus manual (as well as Gnus itself) has been
11584 censored in accord with the Communications Decency Act. This law was
11585 described by its proponents as a ban on pornography---which was a
11586 deception, since it prohibits far more than that. This manual did not
11587 contain pornography, but part of it was prohibited nonetheless.
11589 For information on US government censorship of the Internet, and
11590 what you can do to bring back freedom of the press, see the web
11591 site @samp{http://www.vtw.org/}.
11595 @section Terminology
11597 @cindex terminology
11602 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
11603 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
11604 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
11605 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
11606 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
11610 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
11611 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
11612 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
11613 not posting, and replying is not following up.
11617 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
11621 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
11626 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
11627 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
11628 is all done by the backends.
11632 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
11633 default, way of getting news.
11637 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
11638 These are groups that use different backends for getting news.
11642 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
11643 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
11647 A nessage that has been posted as news.
11650 @cindex mail message
11651 A message that has been mailed.
11655 A mail message or news article
11659 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
11664 The rest of an article. Everything that is not in the head is in the
11669 A line from the head of an article.
11673 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
11674 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
11678 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
11679 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
11680 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
11681 normal @sc{head} format.
11685 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
11686 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
11687 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
11688 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
11689 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
11690 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
11692 @item killed groups
11693 @cindex killed groups
11694 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
11695 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
11697 @item zombie groups
11698 @cindex zombie groups
11699 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
11702 @cindex active file
11703 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
11704 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
11705 is rather large, as you might surmise.
11708 @cindex bogus groups
11709 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
11710 server (i. e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
11711 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
11715 A machine than one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
11717 @item select method
11718 @cindex select method
11719 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
11722 @item virtual server
11723 @cindex virtual server
11724 A named select method. Since a select methods defines all there is to
11725 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the who things as a
11726 whole is a virtual server.
11731 @node Customization
11732 @section Customization
11733 @cindex general customization
11735 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
11736 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
11737 for some quite common situations.
11740 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
11741 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
11742 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
11743 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
11747 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
11748 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
11750 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
11751 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
11752 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
11756 @item gnus-read-active-file
11757 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
11758 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
11759 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-news} and
11760 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
11761 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
11763 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
11764 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
11765 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
11766 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
11770 @node Slow Terminal Connection
11771 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
11773 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that
11774 runs Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce the
11775 amount of data that is sent over the wires as much as possible.
11779 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
11780 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
11781 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
11782 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
11783 horizontal and vertical recentering.
11785 @item gnus-visible-headers
11786 Cut down on the headers that are included in the articles to the
11787 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
11788 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
11789 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
11791 @item gnus-article-display-hook
11792 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
11794 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
11795 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
11796 gnus-article-hide-citation))
11799 @item gnus-use-full-window
11800 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
11801 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
11802 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
11803 want to read them anyway.
11805 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
11806 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
11809 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
11810 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
11811 lines, which might save some time.
11815 @node Little Disk Space
11816 @subsection Little Disk Space
11819 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
11820 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
11824 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
11825 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
11826 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
11827 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
11830 @item gnus-save-killed-list
11831 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
11832 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
11833 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
11834 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
11840 @subsection Slow Machine
11841 @cindex slow machine
11843 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
11844 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
11846 Set@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
11847 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
11849 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
11850 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
11851 summary buffer faster.
11853 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
11854 processing a bit faster.
11857 @node Troubleshooting
11858 @section Troubleshooting
11859 @cindex troubleshooting
11861 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
11869 Make sure your computer is switched on.
11872 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
11873 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
11877 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
11878 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
11879 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
11880 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
11883 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
11887 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
11890 @cindex reporting bugs
11892 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
11894 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
11895 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
11896 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
11897 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
11899 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
11900 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
11901 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
11902 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
11905 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
11906 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you send back
11907 just ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
11908 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
11909 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
11910 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
11912 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
11913 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
11914 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
11917 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
11918 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
11920 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
11921 @cindex ding mailing list
11922 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@ifi.uio.no}.
11923 Write to @samp{ding-request@@ifi.uio.no} to subscribe.
11926 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
11927 @section A Programmer's Guide to Gnus
11929 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
11930 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
11931 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
11932 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
11935 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
11936 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
11937 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
11938 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
11939 and general method of operations.
11942 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
11943 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
11944 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
11945 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
11946 * Group Info:: The group info format.
11947 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
11948 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
11952 @node Backend Interface
11953 @subsection Backend Interface
11955 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
11956 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
11957 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
11958 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
11959 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
11960 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
11962 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
11963 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
11964 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
11965 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
11966 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
11967 been opened, the function should fail.
11969 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
11970 name. Take this example:
11974 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
11975 (nntp-port-number 4324))
11978 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
11979 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
11981 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
11982 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
11983 server environments that it pulls down/pushes up when needed.
11985 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
11986 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
11987 always check whether are present before attempting to call.
11989 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
11990 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
11991 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
11992 ``resulting data'', I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
11993 talk about ``return value'', I talk about the function value returned by
11996 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
11997 some might be said to not be. The latter are backends that generally
11998 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
11999 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
12002 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
12005 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
12008 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
12009 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
12010 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
12014 @node Required Backend Functions
12015 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
12019 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
12021 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
12022 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
12023 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
12024 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
12026 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
12027 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
12028 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
12029 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
12031 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try to fetch "extra
12032 headers, in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
12033 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
12034 article number in @code{articles}, and fill in the gaps as well. The
12035 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
12036 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
12037 number, do maximum fetches.
12039 Here's an example HEAD:
12042 221 1056 Article retrieved.
12043 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
12044 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
12045 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
12046 Subject: Re: Something very droll
12047 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
12048 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
12050 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
12051 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
12052 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
12056 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
12057 these in the data buffer.
12059 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
12063 head = error / valid-head
12064 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
12065 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
12066 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
12067 header = <text> eol
12070 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
12071 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
12075 nov-buffer = *nov-line
12076 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
12077 field = <text except TAB>
12080 For a closer explanation what should be in those fields,
12084 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
12086 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
12087 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that defines this virtual server.
12089 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
12090 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
12091 server. In fact, it should do so.
12093 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
12094 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
12097 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
12099 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
12100 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
12103 There should be no data returned.
12106 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
12108 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
12109 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
12110 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
12111 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
12113 There should be no data returned.
12116 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
12118 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
12119 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
12120 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
12121 attempt to reconnect to a server that is has lost connection to.
12123 There should be no data returned.
12126 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
12128 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
12130 There should be no data returned.
12133 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
12135 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
12136 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
12137 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
12138 it would be nice if that were possible.
12140 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
12141 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
12142 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
12143 another, and Gnus mainly request articles to be inserted directly into
12144 its article buffer.
12146 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
12147 the car is the group name the article was fetched from, and the cdr is
12148 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
12149 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
12150 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
12151 on successful article retrievement.
12154 @item (nnchoke-open-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12156 Make @var{group} the current group.
12158 There should be no data returned by this function.
12161 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12163 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
12164 making @var{group} the current group.
12166 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
12169 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
12172 The first number is the status, which should be @code{211}. Next is the
12173 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
12174 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
12175 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
12176 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
12177 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
12178 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
12179 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
12182 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
12183 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
12184 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
12188 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12190 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
12191 a no-op on most backends.
12193 There should be no data returned.
12196 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
12198 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
12201 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
12204 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
12205 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
12208 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
12209 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
12212 active-file = *active-line
12213 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
12215 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
12218 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
12219 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
12220 (@samp{=other-group} or none of the above (@samp{y}).
12223 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
12225 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
12226 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
12227 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
12228 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
12229 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
12230 clear if the posting could not be completed.
12232 There should be no result data from this function.
12237 @node Optional Backend Functions
12238 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
12242 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
12244 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
12245 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
12246 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
12248 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
12249 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
12250 former is in the same format as the data from
12251 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
12252 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
12255 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
12259 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
12261 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
12262 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
12263 information (as is the case with virtual an imap groups). This function
12264 may alter the info in any manner it sees fit, and should return the
12265 (altered) group info. This function may alter the group info
12266 destructively, so no copying is needed before boogeying.
12268 There should be no result data from this function.
12271 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
12273 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
12274 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
12275 user is following up is news or mail. This function should return
12276 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
12277 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
12278 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
12279 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.)
12281 There should be no result data from this function.
12284 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
12286 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
12287 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
12288 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
12289 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
12290 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
12292 The only use for this that I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
12293 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
12294 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
12297 There should be no result data from this function.
12300 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
12302 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
12303 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
12304 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
12305 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
12306 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
12307 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
12308 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
12310 There should be no result data from this function.
12313 @item (nnchoke-request-asynchronous GROUP &optional SERVER ARTICLES)
12315 This is a request to fetch articles asynchronously later.
12316 @var{articles} is an alist of @var{(article-number line-number)}. One
12317 would generally expect that if one later fetches article number 4, for
12318 instance, some sort of asynchronous fetching of the articles after 4
12319 (which might be 5, 6, 7 or 11, 3, 909 depending on the order in that
12320 alist) would be fetched asynchronously, but that is left up to the
12321 backend. Gnus doesn't care.
12323 There should be no result data from this function.
12326 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
12328 The result data from this function should be a description of
12332 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
12334 description = <text>
12337 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
12339 The result data from this function should be the description of all
12340 groups available on the server.
12343 description-buffer = *description-line
12347 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
12349 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
12350 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
12351 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
12354 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
12356 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
12358 There should be no return data.
12361 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
12363 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
12364 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
12365 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
12366 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
12367 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
12370 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
12373 There should be no result data returned.
12376 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
12379 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
12380 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
12382 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
12383 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
12384 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
12385 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
12386 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
12387 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
12389 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
12390 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
12393 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
12394 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
12396 There should be no data returned.
12399 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
12401 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
12402 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
12403 this function in short order.
12405 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
12406 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
12408 There should be no data returned.
12411 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
12413 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
12414 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
12416 There should be no data returned.
12419 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
12421 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
12422 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
12423 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
12425 There should be no data returned.
12428 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
12430 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
12431 articles that are in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
12433 There should be no data returned.
12438 @node Writing New Backends
12439 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
12441 The various backends share many similarities. @code{nnml} is just like
12442 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
12443 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
12444 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
12445 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
12448 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
12449 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
12450 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
12452 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
12453 package called @code{nnoo}.
12455 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
12456 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
12463 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
12464 parameters. For instance:
12467 (nnoo-declare nndir
12471 @code{nndir} has here declared that it intends to inherit functions from
12472 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
12475 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
12476 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
12477 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
12479 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
12480 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
12481 a function in those backends.
12484 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
12485 "Where nndir will look for groups."
12486 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
12489 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
12490 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
12491 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
12493 @item nnoo-define-basics
12494 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
12498 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
12502 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
12503 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
12504 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
12506 @item nnoo-map-functions
12507 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
12508 functions from the parent backends.
12511 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
12512 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
12513 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
12516 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
12517 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
12518 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
12519 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
12522 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
12523 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
12524 haven't already been defined.
12530 nnmh-request-newgroups)
12534 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
12535 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
12536 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
12541 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
12544 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
12545 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
12549 (require 'nnheader)
12553 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
12555 (nnoo-declare nndir
12558 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
12559 "Where nndir will look for groups."
12560 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
12562 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
12563 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
12566 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
12567 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
12568 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
12570 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
12571 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
12573 ;;; Interface functions.
12575 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
12577 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
12578 (setq nndir-directory
12579 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
12581 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
12582 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
12583 (push `(nndir-current-group
12584 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
12586 (push `(nndir-top-directory
12587 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
12589 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
12591 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
12592 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
12593 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
12594 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
12595 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
12599 nnmh-status-message
12601 nnmh-request-newgroups))
12608 @node Score File Syntax
12609 @subsection Score File Syntax
12611 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
12612 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
12613 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
12615 Here's a typical score file:
12619 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
12626 BNF definition of a score file:
12629 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
12630 element = rule / atom
12631 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
12632 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
12633 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
12634 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
12636 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
12637 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
12638 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
12639 date-header = "date"
12640 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
12641 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
12642 score = "nil" / <integer>
12643 date = "nil" / <natural number>
12644 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
12645 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
12646 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
12647 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
12648 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
12649 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
12650 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
12651 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
12652 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
12653 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
12654 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
12655 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
12656 exclude-files / read-only / touched
12657 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
12658 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
12659 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
12660 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
12661 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
12662 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
12663 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
12664 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
12665 adapt = "adapt" [ space "nil" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
12666 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
12667 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
12668 eval = "eval" space <form>
12669 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
12672 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
12675 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
12676 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
12677 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
12678 one looong line, then that's ok.
12680 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
12685 @subsection Headers
12687 Gnus uses internally a format for storing article headers that
12688 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
12689 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
12690 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
12692 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
12693 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (eg.,
12694 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
12695 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
12696 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
12697 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
12698 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
12700 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
12701 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
12702 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these slots --
12703 they all have predictable names beginning with @code{mail-header-} and
12704 @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
12706 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
12713 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
12714 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
12716 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
12717 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
12718 that you want to callify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
12719 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
12721 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
12725 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
12728 is transformed into
12731 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
12734 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
12735 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
12738 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
12741 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
12742 is slightly tricky:
12745 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
12751 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
12754 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
12760 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
12767 and is equal to the previous range.
12769 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
12770 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
12771 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
12775 range = simple-range / normal-range
12776 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
12777 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
12778 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
12779 number *[ " " contents ]
12782 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
12783 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
12784 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
12785 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
12786 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
12791 @subsection Group Info
12793 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
12794 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
12795 describes the group.
12797 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
12798 second is a more complex one:
12801 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
12803 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
12804 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
12806 (auto-expire (to-address "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
12809 The first element is the group name as Gnus knows the group; the second
12810 is the group level; the third is the read articles in range format; the
12811 fourth is a list of article marks lists; the fifth is the select method;
12812 and the sixth contains the group parameters.
12814 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
12817 info = "(" group space level space read
12818 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
12819 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
12820 group = quote <string> quote
12821 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
12823 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
12824 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
12825 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
12826 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
12829 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
12830 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
12834 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
12835 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
12839 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
12840 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
12841 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
12843 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
12844 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
12845 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
12846 Gnus, that's very useful.
12848 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
12849 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
12850 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
12851 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
12852 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
12853 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
12854 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
12855 following function:
12858 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
12862 (,function ,@@args))
12866 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
12867 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs -- it
12868 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
12871 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
12872 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
12873 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
12876 @node Various File Formats
12877 @subsection Various File Formats
12880 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
12881 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
12885 @node Active File Format
12886 @subsubsection Active File Format
12888 The active file lists all groups that are available on the server in
12889 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
12892 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
12895 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
12896 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
12897 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
12898 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
12899 no.general 1000 900 y
12902 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
12905 active = *group-line
12906 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
12907 group = <non-white-space string>
12909 high-number = <non-negative integer>
12910 low-number = <positive integer>
12911 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
12915 @node Newsgroups File Format
12916 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
12918 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
12919 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
12920 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
12923 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
12924 Here's the definition:
12928 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
12929 group = <non-white-space string>
12931 description = <string>
12935 @node Emacs for Heathens
12936 @section Emacs for Heathens
12938 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
12939 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
12940 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
12941 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
12942 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
12943 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
12944 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
12948 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
12949 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
12954 @subsection Keystrokes
12958 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
12961 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
12964 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
12965 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
12966 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
12967 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
12968 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
12969 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
12971 The shift key is normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
12972 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
12973 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
12974 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
12975 keyboards. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
12976 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
12977 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
12979 Now, us Emacs people doesn't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
12980 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
12981 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
12982 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
12983 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
12984 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
12985 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
12987 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
12988 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
12989 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
12990 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
12991 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
12997 @subsection Emacs Lisp
12999 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
13000 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
13001 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
13002 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
13004 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
13005 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
13006 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
13007 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
13008 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
13009 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
13010 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
13013 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
13014 write the following:
13017 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
13020 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
13021 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
13022 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
13025 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
13026 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
13027 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
13028 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
13029 previous ``form'', which here is a simple @code{setq} statement.
13031 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
13032 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
13033 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
13037 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
13041 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
13044 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
13045 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
13048 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
13051 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
13052 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
13055 @include gnus-faq.texi