10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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282 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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291 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
292 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
295 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
296 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
297 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
298 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
299 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
300 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
301 License'' in the Emacs manual.
303 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
304 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
305 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
307 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
308 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
309 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
310 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
318 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
320 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
321 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
323 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
324 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
325 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
326 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
327 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
328 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
329 License'' in the Emacs manual.
331 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
332 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
333 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
335 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
336 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
337 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
338 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
346 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
349 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
350 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
351 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
353 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
354 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
355 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
356 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
357 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
358 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
359 License'' in the Emacs manual.
361 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
362 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
363 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
365 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
366 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
367 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
368 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
377 @top The Gnus Newsreader
381 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
382 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
383 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
386 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v0.07.
397 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
398 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
400 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
401 being accused of plagiarism:
403 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
404 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
405 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
406 can even read news with it!
408 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
409 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
410 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
411 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
412 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
418 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
419 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
420 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
421 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
422 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
423 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
424 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
425 * Various:: General purpose settings.
426 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
427 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
428 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
429 * Key Index:: Key Index.
431 Other related manuals
433 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
434 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; MIME-specific parts.
435 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
436 * PGG:(pgg). PGP/MIME with Gnus.
439 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
443 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
444 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
445 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
446 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
447 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
448 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
449 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
450 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
451 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
452 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
453 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
457 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
458 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
459 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
463 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
464 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
465 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
466 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
467 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
468 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
469 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
470 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
471 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
472 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
473 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
474 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
475 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
476 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
477 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
478 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
479 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
483 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
484 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
485 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
489 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
490 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
491 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
492 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
493 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
497 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
498 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
499 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
500 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
501 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
505 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
506 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
507 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
508 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
509 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
510 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
511 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
512 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
513 * Threading:: How threads are made.
514 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
515 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
516 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
517 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
518 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
519 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
520 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
521 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
522 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
523 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
524 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
525 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
526 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
527 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
528 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
529 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
530 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
531 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
532 or reselecting the current group.
533 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
534 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
535 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
536 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
538 Summary Buffer Format
540 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
541 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
542 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
543 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
547 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
548 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
550 Reply, Followup and Post
552 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
553 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
554 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
555 * Canceling and Superseding::
559 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
560 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
561 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
563 * Generic Marking Commands::
564 * Setting Process Marks::
568 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
569 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
570 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
574 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
575 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
577 Customizing Threading
579 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
580 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
581 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
582 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
586 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
587 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
588 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
589 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
590 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
591 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
595 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
596 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
597 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
601 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
602 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
603 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
604 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
605 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
606 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
607 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
608 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
609 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
610 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
612 Alternative Approaches
614 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
615 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
617 Various Summary Stuff
619 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
620 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
621 * Summary Generation Commands::
622 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
626 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
627 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
628 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
629 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
630 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
634 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
635 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
636 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
637 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
638 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
639 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
640 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
641 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
645 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
646 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
647 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
648 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
649 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
650 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
651 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
652 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
656 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
657 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
658 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
659 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
660 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
661 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
662 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
666 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
667 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
671 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
672 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
673 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
677 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
678 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
679 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
680 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
681 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
682 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
683 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
684 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
685 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
686 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
687 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
688 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
689 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
693 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
694 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
695 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
697 Choosing a Mail Back End
699 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
700 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
701 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
702 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
703 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
704 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
709 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
710 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
711 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
712 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
713 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
714 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
718 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
719 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
720 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
721 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
722 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
726 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
727 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
728 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
729 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
730 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
734 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
738 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
739 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
740 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
744 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
745 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
749 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
750 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
751 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
752 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
753 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
754 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
755 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
756 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
757 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
758 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
759 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
763 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
764 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
765 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
769 * Group Agent Commands::
770 * Summary Agent Commands::
771 * Server Agent Commands::
775 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
776 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
777 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
778 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
779 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
780 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
781 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
782 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
783 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
784 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
785 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
786 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
787 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
788 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
789 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
790 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
791 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
795 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
796 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
797 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
798 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
802 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
803 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
804 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
808 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
809 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
810 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
811 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
812 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
813 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
814 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
815 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
816 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
817 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
818 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
819 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
820 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
821 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
822 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
823 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
824 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
825 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
826 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
830 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
831 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
832 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
833 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
834 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
835 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
836 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
837 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
841 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
842 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
843 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
844 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
845 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
849 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
850 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
851 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
852 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
853 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
857 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
858 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
859 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
860 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
861 * Filtering Spam Using spam.el::
862 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)::
866 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
867 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
868 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
869 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
870 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
871 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
872 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
873 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
874 * Frequently Asked Questions::
878 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
879 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
880 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
881 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
882 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
883 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
884 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
885 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
886 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
890 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
891 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
892 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
893 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
894 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
898 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
899 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
900 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
901 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
905 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
906 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
907 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
908 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
909 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
910 * Group Info:: The group info format.
911 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
912 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
913 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
917 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
918 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
919 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
920 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
921 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
922 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
926 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
927 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
931 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
932 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
938 @chapter Starting Gnus
943 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
944 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
947 @findex gnus-other-frame
948 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
949 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
950 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
952 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
953 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
954 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
956 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
957 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
960 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
961 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
962 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
963 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
964 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
965 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
966 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
967 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
968 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
969 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
970 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
974 @node Finding the News
975 @section Finding the News
978 @vindex gnus-select-method
980 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
981 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
982 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
983 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
986 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
987 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
990 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
993 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
996 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
999 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1000 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1001 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1003 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1005 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
1006 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1007 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1008 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1009 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1010 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1012 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1013 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1014 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1015 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1017 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1018 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1019 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1020 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1021 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1022 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1023 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1024 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1025 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1028 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1030 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1031 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1032 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1033 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1034 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1035 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1037 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1039 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1040 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1041 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1042 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1043 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1044 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1047 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1048 you would typically set this variable to
1051 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1055 @node The First Time
1056 @section The First Time
1057 @cindex first time usage
1059 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1060 be subscribed by default.
1062 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1063 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1064 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1065 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1068 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1069 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1070 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1072 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1073 help you with most common problems.
1075 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1076 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1080 @node The Server is Down
1081 @section The Server is Down
1082 @cindex server errors
1084 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1085 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1086 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1088 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1089 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1090 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1091 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1092 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1093 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1094 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1096 @findex gnus-no-server
1097 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1099 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1100 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1101 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1102 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1103 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1104 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1105 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1109 @section Slave Gnusae
1112 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1113 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1114 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1115 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1117 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1118 @code{.newsrc} file.
1120 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1121 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1122 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1123 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1124 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1125 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1126 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1128 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1129 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1130 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1131 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1132 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1133 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1134 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1135 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1137 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1138 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1140 If the @code{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1141 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1142 file. If you answer "yes", the unsaved changes to the master will be
1143 incorporated into the slave. If you answer "no", the slave may see some
1144 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1146 @node Fetching a Group
1147 @section Fetching a Group
1148 @cindex fetching a group
1150 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1151 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1152 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1153 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1154 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1155 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1161 @cindex subscription
1163 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1164 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1165 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1166 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1167 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1168 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1169 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1170 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1171 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1174 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1175 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1176 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1180 @node Checking New Groups
1181 @subsection Checking New Groups
1183 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1184 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1185 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1186 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1187 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1188 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1189 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1190 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1191 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1192 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1194 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1195 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1196 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1197 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1198 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1199 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1200 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1201 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1202 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1203 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1204 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1206 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1207 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1208 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1209 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1210 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1211 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1214 @node Subscription Methods
1215 @subsection Subscription Methods
1217 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1218 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1219 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1221 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1222 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1224 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1228 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1229 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1230 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1231 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1232 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1234 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1236 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1237 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1239 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1240 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1241 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1243 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1244 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1245 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1246 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1247 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1248 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1249 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1250 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1251 up. Or something like that.
1253 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1254 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1255 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1256 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1257 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1259 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1260 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1261 Kill all new groups.
1263 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1264 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1265 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1266 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1267 topic parameter that looks like
1273 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1276 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1281 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1282 A closely related variable is
1283 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1284 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1285 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1286 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1289 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1290 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1291 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1292 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1295 @node Filtering New Groups
1296 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1298 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1299 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1300 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1303 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1306 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1307 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1308 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1309 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1310 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1311 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1312 subscribing these groups.
1313 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1314 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1316 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1317 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1318 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1319 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1320 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1321 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1322 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1323 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1325 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1326 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1327 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1328 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1329 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1330 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1331 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1332 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1333 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1334 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1337 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1338 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1341 @node Changing Servers
1342 @section Changing Servers
1343 @cindex changing servers
1345 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1346 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1347 very flaky and you want to use another.
1349 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1350 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1354 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1355 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1356 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1357 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1360 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1361 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1362 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1363 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1365 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1366 @findex gnus-change-server
1367 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1368 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1369 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1370 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1371 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1373 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1374 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1375 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1376 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1377 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1379 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1380 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1381 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1382 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1383 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1384 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1386 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1387 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1388 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1389 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1391 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1392 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1393 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1394 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1395 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1396 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1397 cache for all groups).
1401 @section Startup Files
1402 @cindex startup files
1407 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1408 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1410 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1411 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1412 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1413 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1414 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1415 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1416 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1418 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1419 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1420 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1421 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1422 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1423 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1425 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1426 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1427 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1428 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1429 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1430 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1431 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1432 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1433 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1434 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1436 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1437 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1438 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1439 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1440 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1441 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1442 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1443 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1444 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1445 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1446 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1447 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1449 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1450 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1451 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1452 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1454 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1455 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1456 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1457 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1458 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1459 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1460 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1461 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1462 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1463 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1466 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1467 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1469 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1470 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1473 @vindex gnus-init-file
1474 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1475 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1476 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1477 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1478 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1479 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1480 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1481 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1482 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1488 @cindex dribble file
1491 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1492 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1493 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1494 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1495 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1498 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1499 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1502 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1503 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1504 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1506 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1507 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1508 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1509 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1510 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1511 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1513 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1514 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1515 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1518 @node The Active File
1519 @section The Active File
1521 @cindex ignored groups
1523 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1524 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1525 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1527 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1528 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1529 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1530 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1531 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1532 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1533 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1536 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1537 @c if you set it to anything else.
1539 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1541 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1542 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1543 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1545 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1546 you actually subscribe to.
1548 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1549 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1550 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1551 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1553 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1554 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1555 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1556 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1557 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1558 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1560 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1561 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1562 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1565 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1566 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1567 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1568 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1569 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1570 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1572 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1573 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1575 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1576 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1578 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1579 secondary select methods.
1582 @node Startup Variables
1583 @section Startup Variables
1587 @item gnus-load-hook
1588 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1589 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1590 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1591 times you start Gnus.
1593 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1594 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1595 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1597 @item gnus-startup-hook
1598 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1599 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1601 @item gnus-started-hook
1602 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1603 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1606 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1607 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1608 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1609 generating the group buffer.
1611 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1612 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1613 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1614 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1615 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1616 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1617 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1618 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1620 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1621 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1622 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1623 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1624 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1625 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1627 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1628 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1629 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1631 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1632 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1633 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1635 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1636 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1637 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1638 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1644 @chapter Group Buffer
1645 @cindex group buffer
1647 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1649 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1650 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1651 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1652 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1653 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1654 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1655 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1656 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1657 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1658 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1659 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1660 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1661 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1662 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1663 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1664 @c human rights at 9...
1667 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1668 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1669 long as Gnus is active.
1673 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1674 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1675 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1676 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1677 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1678 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1679 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1680 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1686 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1687 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1688 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1689 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1690 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1691 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1692 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1693 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1694 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1695 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1696 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1697 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1698 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1699 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1700 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1701 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1702 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1706 @node Group Buffer Format
1707 @section Group Buffer Format
1710 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1711 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1712 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1716 @node Group Line Specification
1717 @subsection Group Line Specification
1718 @cindex group buffer format
1720 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1721 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1723 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1726 25: news.announce.newusers
1727 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1732 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1733 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1734 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1735 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1737 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1738 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1739 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1740 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1741 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1742 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1744 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1746 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1747 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1748 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1749 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1750 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1752 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1753 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1754 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1756 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1761 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1764 Whether the group is subscribed.
1767 Level of subscribedness.
1770 Number of unread articles.
1773 Number of dormant articles.
1776 Number of ticked articles.
1779 Number of read articles.
1782 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1783 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1785 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1786 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1787 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1788 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1789 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1790 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1791 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1792 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1795 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1798 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1807 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1808 comment element in the group parameters.
1811 Newsgroup description.
1814 @samp{m} if moderated.
1817 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1826 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1830 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1833 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1834 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1835 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1836 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1837 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1840 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1842 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1846 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1849 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1853 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1854 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1855 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1856 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1857 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1858 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1863 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1864 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1865 group, or a bogus native group.
1868 @node Group Modeline Specification
1869 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1870 @cindex group modeline
1872 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1873 The mode line can be changed by setting
1874 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1875 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1879 The native news server.
1881 The native select method.
1885 @node Group Highlighting
1886 @subsection Group Highlighting
1887 @cindex highlighting
1888 @cindex group highlighting
1890 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1891 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1892 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1893 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1894 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1896 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1900 (cond (window-system
1901 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1902 (defface my-group-face-1
1903 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1904 (defface my-group-face-2
1905 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1906 (defface my-group-face-3
1907 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1908 (defface my-group-face-4
1909 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1910 (defface my-group-face-5
1911 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1913 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1914 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1915 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1916 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1917 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1918 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1921 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1923 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1930 The number of unread articles in the group.
1934 Whether the group is a mail group.
1936 The level of the group.
1938 The score of the group.
1940 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1942 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1943 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1945 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1946 topic being inserted.
1949 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1950 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1951 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1953 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1954 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1955 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1956 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1957 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1960 @node Group Maneuvering
1961 @section Group Maneuvering
1962 @cindex group movement
1964 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1965 expected, hopefully.
1971 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1972 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1973 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1979 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1980 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1981 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1985 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1986 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1990 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1991 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1995 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1996 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1997 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2001 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2002 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2003 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2006 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2012 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2013 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2014 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2019 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2020 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2021 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2025 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2026 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2027 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2030 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2031 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2032 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2033 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2037 @node Selecting a Group
2038 @section Selecting a Group
2039 @cindex group selection
2044 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2045 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2046 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2047 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2048 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2049 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2050 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2051 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2052 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2053 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2055 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2056 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2057 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2059 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2060 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2065 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2066 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2067 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2068 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2069 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2073 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2074 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2075 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2076 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2077 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2078 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2079 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2080 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2081 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2082 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2085 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2086 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2087 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2088 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2089 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2092 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2093 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2094 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2095 doing any processing of its contents
2096 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2097 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2098 manner will have no permanent effects.
2102 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2103 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
2104 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2105 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2106 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2107 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2108 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2109 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2112 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2113 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2114 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2115 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2116 Which article this is is controlled by the
2117 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2123 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2126 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2129 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2131 @item unseen-or-unread
2132 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2133 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2137 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2141 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2142 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2144 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2145 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2146 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2147 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2151 @node Subscription Commands
2152 @section Subscription Commands
2153 @cindex subscription
2161 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2162 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2163 Toggle subscription to the current group
2164 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2170 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2171 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2172 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2173 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2179 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2180 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2181 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2187 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2188 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2191 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2192 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2193 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2194 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2195 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2201 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2202 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2206 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2207 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2210 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2211 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2212 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2213 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2214 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2215 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2216 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2217 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2218 @file{.newsrc} file.
2222 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2232 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2233 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2234 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2235 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2236 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2237 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2242 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2243 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2244 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2248 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2249 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2250 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2252 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2253 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2254 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2255 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2256 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2257 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2264 @section Group Levels
2268 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2269 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2270 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2271 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2272 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2274 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2280 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2281 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2282 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2283 prompted for a level.
2286 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2287 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2288 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2289 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2290 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2291 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2292 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2293 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2294 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2295 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2296 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2297 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2298 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2299 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2300 reasons of efficiency.
2302 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2303 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2305 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2306 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2307 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2308 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2309 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2310 groups are hidden, in a way.
2312 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2313 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2314 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2315 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2316 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2317 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2319 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2320 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2321 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2322 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2323 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2324 list of killed groups.)
2326 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2327 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2328 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2330 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2331 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2332 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2333 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2334 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2335 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2336 relevant valid ranges.
2338 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2339 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2340 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2341 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2342 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2343 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2346 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2347 one with the best level.
2349 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2350 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2351 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2354 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2355 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2356 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2357 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2360 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2361 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2362 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2363 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2365 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2366 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2367 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2368 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2369 to 5. The default is 6.
2373 @section Group Score
2378 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2379 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2380 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2383 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2384 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2385 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2386 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2387 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2388 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2389 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2390 least significant part.))
2392 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2393 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2394 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2395 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2396 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2397 action after each summary exit, you can add
2398 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2399 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2400 slow things down somewhat.
2403 @node Marking Groups
2404 @section Marking Groups
2405 @cindex marking groups
2407 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2408 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2409 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2410 bidding on those groups.
2412 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2413 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2414 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2422 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2423 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2429 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2430 Remove the mark from the current group
2431 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2435 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2436 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2440 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2441 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2445 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2446 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2450 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2451 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2452 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2455 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2457 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2458 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2459 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2460 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2461 the command to be executed.
2464 @node Foreign Groups
2465 @section Foreign Groups
2466 @cindex foreign groups
2468 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2469 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2470 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2471 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2478 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2479 @cindex making groups
2480 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2481 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2482 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2486 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2487 @cindex renaming groups
2488 Rename the current group to something else
2489 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2490 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2496 @findex gnus-group-customize
2497 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2501 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2502 @cindex renaming groups
2503 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2504 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2508 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2509 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2510 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2514 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2515 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2516 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2520 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2522 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2523 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2528 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2529 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2533 @cindex (ding) archive
2534 @cindex archive group
2535 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2536 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2537 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2538 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2539 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2540 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2541 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2545 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2547 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2548 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2549 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2550 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2554 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2556 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2557 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2558 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2562 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2563 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2565 Make a group based on some file or other
2566 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2567 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2568 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2569 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2570 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2571 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2572 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2573 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2574 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2578 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2579 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2580 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2581 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2585 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2589 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2590 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2591 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2592 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2593 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2594 @xref{Web Searches}.
2596 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2597 to a particular group by using a match string like
2598 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2601 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2602 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2603 This function will delete the current group
2604 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2605 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2606 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2607 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2608 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2612 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2613 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2614 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2618 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2619 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2620 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2623 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2626 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2627 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2628 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2629 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2630 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2631 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2635 @node Group Parameters
2636 @section Group Parameters
2637 @cindex group parameters
2639 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2640 Here's an example group parameter list:
2643 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2647 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2648 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2649 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2650 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2652 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2653 is an alist of regexps and values.
2655 The following group parameters can be used:
2660 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2663 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2666 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2667 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2668 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2669 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2670 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2672 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2673 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2674 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2675 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2676 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2677 list address instead.
2679 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2683 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2686 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2689 It is totally ignored
2690 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2691 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2693 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2694 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2695 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2696 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2697 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2699 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2700 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2701 sending the message.
2703 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2704 @cindex Mail List Groups
2705 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2706 entering summary buffer.
2708 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2713 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2714 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2715 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2716 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2717 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2718 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2720 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2721 directly uses this group parameter.
2725 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2726 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2727 of whether it has any unread articles.
2729 @item broken-reply-to
2730 @cindex broken-reply-to
2731 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2732 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2733 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2734 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2735 broken behavior. So there!
2739 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2740 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2744 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2745 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2746 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2751 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2752 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2753 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2754 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2755 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2756 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2757 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2758 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2759 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept artciles.
2763 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2764 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2765 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2767 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2770 @cindex total-expire
2771 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2772 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2773 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2774 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2777 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2781 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2782 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2783 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2784 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2785 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2786 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2787 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2790 @cindex score file group parameter
2791 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2792 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2793 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2796 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2797 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2798 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2799 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2802 @cindex admin-address
2803 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2804 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2805 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2806 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2810 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2811 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2815 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2818 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2819 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2822 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2826 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2828 Here are some examples:
2832 Display only unread articles.
2835 Display everything except expirable articles.
2837 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2838 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2842 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2843 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2844 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2845 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2846 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2850 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2851 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2852 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2856 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2857 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2858 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2862 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2863 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2864 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2866 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2868 @item ignored-charsets
2869 @cindex ignored-charset
2870 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2871 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2872 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2874 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2877 @cindex posting-style
2878 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2879 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2880 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2881 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2882 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2884 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2885 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2886 like this in the group parameters:
2891 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2896 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2897 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2901 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2902 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2903 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2904 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2905 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2909 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2910 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2911 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2912 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2914 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2915 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2916 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2917 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2920 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2921 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2925 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2928 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2929 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2930 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2931 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2932 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2933 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2934 @code{eval}ed there.
2936 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2937 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2938 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2939 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2940 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2941 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2942 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2943 parameters for the group.
2946 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2947 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2948 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2949 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2950 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2954 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2955 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2956 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2957 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2958 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2960 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2961 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2965 (setq gnus-parameters
2967 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2968 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2969 (gnus-summary-line-format
2970 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2974 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2978 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2982 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2985 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2986 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2989 @node Listing Groups
2990 @section Listing Groups
2991 @cindex group listing
2993 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3001 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3002 List all groups that have unread articles
3003 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3004 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3005 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
3006 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3013 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3014 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3015 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3016 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3017 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3018 unsubscribed groups).
3022 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3023 List all unread groups on a specific level
3024 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3025 with no unread articles.
3029 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3030 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3031 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3032 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3037 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3038 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3042 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3043 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3044 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3048 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3049 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3053 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3054 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3055 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3056 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3057 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3058 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3059 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3060 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3064 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3065 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3066 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3070 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3071 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3072 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3076 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3077 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3081 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3082 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3086 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3087 List groups limited within the current selection
3088 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3092 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3093 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3097 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3098 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3102 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3103 @cindex visible group parameter
3104 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3105 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3106 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3107 get the same effect.
3109 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3110 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3111 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3112 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3113 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3116 @node Sorting Groups
3117 @section Sorting Groups
3118 @cindex sorting groups
3120 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3121 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3122 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3123 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3124 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3125 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3130 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3131 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3132 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3134 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3135 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3136 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3138 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3139 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3140 Sort by group level.
3142 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3143 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3144 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3146 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3147 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3148 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3149 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3151 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3152 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3153 Sort by number of unread articles.
3155 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3156 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3157 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3159 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3160 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3161 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3166 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3167 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3171 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3172 some sorting criteria:
3176 @kindex G S a (Group)
3177 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3178 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3179 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3182 @kindex G S u (Group)
3183 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3184 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3185 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3188 @kindex G S l (Group)
3189 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3190 Sort the group buffer by group level
3191 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3194 @kindex G S v (Group)
3195 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3196 Sort the group buffer by group score
3197 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3200 @kindex G S r (Group)
3201 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3202 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3203 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3206 @kindex G S m (Group)
3207 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3208 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3209 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3212 @kindex G S n (Group)
3213 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3214 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3215 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3219 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3220 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3222 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3223 commands will sort in reverse order.
3225 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3229 @kindex G P a (Group)
3230 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3231 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3232 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3235 @kindex G P u (Group)
3236 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3237 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3238 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3241 @kindex G P l (Group)
3242 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3243 Sort the groups by group level
3244 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3247 @kindex G P v (Group)
3248 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3249 Sort the groups by group score
3250 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3253 @kindex G P r (Group)
3254 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3255 Sort the groups by group rank
3256 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3259 @kindex G P m (Group)
3260 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3261 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3262 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3265 @kindex G P n (Group)
3266 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3267 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3268 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3271 @kindex G P s (Group)
3272 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3273 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3277 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3281 @node Group Maintenance
3282 @section Group Maintenance
3283 @cindex bogus groups
3288 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3289 Find bogus groups and delete them
3290 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3294 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3295 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3296 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3297 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3298 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3302 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3303 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3304 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3305 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3306 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3307 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3310 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3311 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3312 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3313 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3318 @node Browse Foreign Server
3319 @section Browse Foreign Server
3320 @cindex foreign servers
3321 @cindex browsing servers
3326 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3327 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3328 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3329 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3332 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3333 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3334 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3335 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3337 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3342 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3343 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3347 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3348 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3351 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3352 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3353 Enter the current group and display the first article
3354 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3357 @kindex RET (Browse)
3358 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3359 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3363 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3364 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3365 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3371 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3372 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3376 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3377 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3381 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3382 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3383 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3388 @section Exiting Gnus
3389 @cindex exiting Gnus
3391 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3396 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3397 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3398 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3399 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3403 @findex gnus-group-exit
3404 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3405 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3409 @findex gnus-group-quit
3410 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3411 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3414 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3415 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3416 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3417 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3418 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3423 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3424 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3425 trying to customize meta-variables.
3430 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3431 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3432 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3438 @section Group Topics
3441 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3442 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3443 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3444 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3445 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3446 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3450 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3451 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3462 2: alt.religion.emacs
3465 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3467 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3468 13: comp.sources.unix
3471 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3473 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3474 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3475 is a toggling command.)
3477 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3478 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3479 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3480 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3483 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3484 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3485 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3488 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3492 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3493 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3494 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3495 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3496 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3500 @node Topic Commands
3501 @subsection Topic Commands
3502 @cindex topic commands
3504 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3505 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3506 definitions slightly.
3508 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3509 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3510 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3511 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3512 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3513 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3515 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3522 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3523 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3524 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3528 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3530 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3531 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3532 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3533 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3536 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3537 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3538 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3539 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3543 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3544 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3545 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3546 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3552 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3553 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3554 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3558 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3559 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3560 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3563 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3564 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3565 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3566 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3567 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3569 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3570 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3574 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3575 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3582 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3584 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3585 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3586 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3587 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3588 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3589 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3593 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3599 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3600 Move the current group to some other topic
3601 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3602 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3606 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3607 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3611 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3612 Copy the current group to some other topic
3613 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3614 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3618 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3619 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3620 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3624 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3625 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3626 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3630 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3631 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3632 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3633 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3634 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3635 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3636 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3639 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3640 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3644 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3645 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3646 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3650 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3651 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3652 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3656 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3657 Toggle hiding empty topics
3658 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3662 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3663 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3664 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3667 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3668 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3669 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3670 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3673 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3674 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3675 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3676 expiry process (if any)
3677 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3681 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3682 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3685 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3686 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3687 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3691 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3692 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3693 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3696 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3697 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3698 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3701 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3702 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3703 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3707 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3708 @cindex group parameters
3709 @cindex topic parameters
3711 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3712 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3717 @node Topic Variables
3718 @subsection Topic Variables
3719 @cindex topic variables
3721 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3722 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3724 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3725 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3726 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3739 Number of groups in the topic.
3741 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3743 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3746 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3747 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3748 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3751 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3752 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3754 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3755 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3756 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3760 @subsection Topic Sorting
3761 @cindex topic sorting
3763 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3769 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3770 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3771 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3772 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3775 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3776 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3777 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3778 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3781 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3782 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3783 Sort the current topic by group level
3784 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3787 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3788 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3789 Sort the current topic by group score
3790 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3793 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3794 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3795 Sort the current topic by group rank
3796 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3799 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3800 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3801 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3802 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3805 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3806 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3807 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3808 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3812 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3813 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3814 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3815 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3819 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3820 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3824 @node Topic Topology
3825 @subsection Topic Topology
3826 @cindex topic topology
3829 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3835 2: alt.religion.emacs
3838 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3840 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3841 13: comp.sources.unix
3844 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3845 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3846 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3851 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3852 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3856 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3857 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3858 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3859 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3860 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3861 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3863 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3864 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3865 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3868 @node Topic Parameters
3869 @subsection Topic Parameters
3870 @cindex topic parameters
3872 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3873 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3874 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3876 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3881 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3882 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3883 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3886 @item subscribe-level
3887 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3888 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3889 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3893 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3894 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3895 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3896 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3902 2: alt.religion.emacs
3906 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3908 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3909 13: comp.sources.unix
3913 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3914 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3915 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3916 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3917 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3918 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3920 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3921 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3922 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3923 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3924 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3926 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3927 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3928 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3929 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3930 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3931 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3932 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3933 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3936 @node Misc Group Stuff
3937 @section Misc Group Stuff
3940 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3941 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3942 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3943 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3944 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3951 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3952 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3953 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3957 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3958 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3959 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3960 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3961 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3962 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3963 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3967 @findex gnus-group-mail
3968 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3969 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3970 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3971 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3975 @findex gnus-group-news
3976 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3977 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3978 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3980 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3981 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3982 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3983 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
3984 for this to work though.
3988 Variables for the group buffer:
3992 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3993 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3994 is called after the group buffer has been
3997 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3998 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3999 is called after the group buffer is
4000 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4003 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4004 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4005 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4006 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4008 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4009 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4010 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4011 whether they are empty or not.
4013 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4014 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4015 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4016 non-ASCII group names.
4020 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4021 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4024 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4025 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4026 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4027 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4028 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4029 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
4033 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4034 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4039 @node Scanning New Messages
4040 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4041 @cindex new messages
4042 @cindex scanning new news
4048 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4049 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4050 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4051 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4052 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4053 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4058 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4059 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4060 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4061 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4062 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4063 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4064 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4066 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4067 @cindex activating groups
4069 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4070 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4075 @findex gnus-group-restart
4076 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4077 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4078 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4082 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4083 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4085 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4086 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4090 @node Group Information
4091 @subsection Group Information
4092 @cindex group information
4093 @cindex information on groups
4100 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4101 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4104 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4105 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4106 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4107 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4108 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4109 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4110 for fetching the file.
4112 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4113 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4117 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4118 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4120 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4121 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4124 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4125 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4126 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4130 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4131 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4132 @cindex control message
4133 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4134 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4135 group if given a prefix argument.
4137 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-nil, Gnus
4138 will open the control messages in a browser using @code{browse-url}.
4139 Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp} and displayed in an
4142 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4143 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode}
4144 (@pxref{(emacs)Compressed Files}).
4148 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4150 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4151 @cindex describing groups
4152 @cindex group description
4153 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4154 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4155 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4159 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4160 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4161 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4168 @findex gnus-version
4169 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4173 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4174 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4177 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4180 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4181 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4185 @node Group Timestamp
4186 @subsection Group Timestamp
4188 @cindex group timestamps
4190 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4191 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4192 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4195 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4198 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4200 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4201 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4204 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4205 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4208 This will result in lines looking like:
4211 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4212 0: custom 19961002T012713
4215 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4216 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4220 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4221 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4224 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4225 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4229 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4230 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4231 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4232 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4234 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4240 @subsection File Commands
4241 @cindex file commands
4247 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4248 @vindex gnus-init-file
4249 @cindex reading init file
4250 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4251 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4255 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4256 @cindex saving .newsrc
4257 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4258 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4259 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4262 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4263 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4264 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4269 @node Sieve Commands
4270 @subsection Sieve Commands
4271 @cindex group sieve commands
4273 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4274 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4275 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4276 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4277 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4279 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4280 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4281 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4282 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4283 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4284 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4285 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4286 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4287 regenerate the Sieve script.
4289 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4290 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4291 is generated. If it is non-nil (the default) articles is placed in
4292 all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article is only
4293 placed in the group with the first matching rule. For example, the
4294 group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4295 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4296 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is nil. (When
4297 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-nil, it looks the same except that
4298 the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4301 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4302 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4307 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4313 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4314 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4315 @cindex generating sieve script
4316 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4317 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4321 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4322 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4323 @cindex updating sieve script
4324 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4325 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4326 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4331 @node Summary Buffer
4332 @chapter Summary Buffer
4333 @cindex summary buffer
4335 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4336 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4338 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4339 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4341 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4344 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4345 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4346 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4347 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4348 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4349 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4350 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4351 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4352 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4353 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4354 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4355 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4356 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4357 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4358 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4359 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4360 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4361 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4362 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4363 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4364 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4365 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4366 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4367 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4368 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4369 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4370 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4371 or reselecting the current group.
4372 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4373 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4374 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4375 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4379 @node Summary Buffer Format
4380 @section Summary Buffer Format
4381 @cindex summary buffer format
4385 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4386 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4387 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4393 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4394 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4395 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4396 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4399 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4400 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4401 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4402 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4403 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4404 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4405 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4406 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4407 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4408 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4409 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4412 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4413 'mail-extract-address-components)
4416 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4417 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4418 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4419 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4422 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4423 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4425 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4426 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4427 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4428 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4429 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4431 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4432 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4433 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4434 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4435 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4436 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4438 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4440 The following format specification characters and extended format
4441 specification(s) are understood:
4447 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4448 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4450 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4451 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4452 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4454 Full @code{From} header.
4456 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4458 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4461 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4462 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4463 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4464 may be more thorough.
4466 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4469 Number of lines in the article.
4471 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4472 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4474 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4475 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4477 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4479 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4482 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4483 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4485 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4486 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4488 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4489 for adopted articles.
4491 One space for each thread level.
4493 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4495 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4498 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4499 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4500 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4503 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4505 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4506 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4507 default level. If the difference between
4508 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4509 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4517 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4519 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4525 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4526 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4528 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4529 article has any children.
4535 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4536 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4538 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4539 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4540 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4541 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4542 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4543 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4546 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4547 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4548 There can only be one such area.
4550 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4551 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4552 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4553 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4554 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4555 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4557 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4558 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4560 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4563 @node To From Newsgroups
4564 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4568 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4569 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4570 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4571 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4572 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4576 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4577 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4578 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4582 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4583 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4586 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4587 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4590 @findex gnus-extra-header
4591 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4592 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4593 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4596 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4600 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4601 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4602 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4603 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4604 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4605 headers are used instead.
4609 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4610 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4611 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4612 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4613 this variable, by entering the server buffer using `^', and then `g' on
4614 the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause regeneration.
4616 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4617 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4618 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4619 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4621 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4625 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4627 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4628 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4629 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4630 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4634 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4637 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4638 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4641 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4642 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4643 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4649 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4650 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4653 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4654 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4656 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4657 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4658 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4659 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4661 Here are the elements you can play with:
4667 Unprefixed group name.
4669 Current article number.
4671 Current article score.
4675 Number of unread articles in this group.
4677 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4680 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4681 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4682 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4683 and no unselected ones.
4685 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4686 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4688 Subject of the current article.
4690 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4692 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4694 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4696 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4698 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4700 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4704 @node Summary Highlighting
4705 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4709 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4710 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4711 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4712 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4713 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4715 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4716 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4717 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4718 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4720 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4721 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4722 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4723 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4725 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4726 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4727 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4728 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4729 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4730 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4733 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4734 ((> score default) . bold))
4736 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4737 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4741 @node Summary Maneuvering
4742 @section Summary Maneuvering
4743 @cindex summary movement
4745 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4746 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4748 None of these commands select articles.
4753 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4754 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4755 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4756 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4757 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4761 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4762 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4763 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4764 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4765 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4768 @kindex G g (Summary)
4769 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4770 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4771 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4774 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4775 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4776 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4777 to the group buffer.
4779 Variables related to summary movement:
4783 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4784 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4785 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4786 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4787 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4788 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4789 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4790 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4791 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4792 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4793 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4794 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4795 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4796 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4798 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4799 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4800 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4801 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4802 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4803 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4804 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4806 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4808 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4809 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4810 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4811 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4812 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4814 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4815 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4816 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4817 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4818 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4819 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4820 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4821 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4824 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4825 the given number of lines from the top.
4830 @node Choosing Articles
4831 @section Choosing Articles
4832 @cindex selecting articles
4835 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4836 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4840 @node Choosing Commands
4841 @subsection Choosing Commands
4843 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4844 and they all select and display an article.
4846 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4847 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4851 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4852 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4853 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4854 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4859 @kindex G n (Summary)
4860 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4861 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4862 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4867 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4868 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4869 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4874 @kindex G N (Summary)
4875 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4876 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4881 @kindex G P (Summary)
4882 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4883 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4886 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4887 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4888 Go to the next article with the same subject
4889 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4892 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4893 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4894 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4895 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4899 @kindex G f (Summary)
4901 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4902 Go to the first unread article
4903 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4907 @kindex G b (Summary)
4909 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4910 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4911 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4912 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4917 @kindex G l (Summary)
4918 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4919 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4922 @kindex G o (Summary)
4923 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4925 @cindex article history
4926 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4927 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4928 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4929 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4930 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4931 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4936 @kindex G j (Summary)
4937 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4938 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4939 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4944 @node Choosing Variables
4945 @subsection Choosing Variables
4947 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4950 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4951 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4952 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4953 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4954 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4955 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4957 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4958 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4959 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4960 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4962 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4963 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4964 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4965 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4966 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4967 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4968 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4969 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4970 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4971 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4972 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4973 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4974 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4975 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4980 @node Paging the Article
4981 @section Scrolling the Article
4982 @cindex article scrolling
4987 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4988 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4989 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4990 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4991 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4994 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4995 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4996 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4999 @kindex RET (Summary)
5000 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5001 Scroll the current article one line forward
5002 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5005 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5006 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5007 Scroll the current article one line backward
5008 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5012 @kindex A g (Summary)
5014 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5015 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5016 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5017 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5018 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5019 the way it came from the server.
5021 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5022 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5023 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5026 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5031 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5036 @kindex A < (Summary)
5037 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5038 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5039 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5044 @kindex A > (Summary)
5045 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5046 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5050 @kindex A s (Summary)
5052 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5053 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5054 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5058 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5059 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5064 @node Reply Followup and Post
5065 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5068 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5069 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5070 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5071 * Canceling and Superseding::
5075 @node Summary Mail Commands
5076 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5078 @cindex composing mail
5080 Commands for composing a mail message:
5086 @kindex S r (Summary)
5088 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5089 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5090 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5091 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5092 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5097 @kindex S R (Summary)
5098 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5099 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5100 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5101 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5102 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5105 @kindex S w (Summary)
5106 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5107 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5108 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5109 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5110 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5113 @kindex S W (Summary)
5114 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5115 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5116 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5117 the process/prefix convention.
5120 @kindex S v (Summary)
5121 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5122 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5123 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5124 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5125 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5126 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5129 @kindex S V (Summary)
5130 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5131 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5132 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5133 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5136 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5137 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5138 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5139 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5142 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5143 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5144 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5145 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5146 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5150 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5151 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5152 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5153 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5154 Forward the current article to some other person
5155 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5156 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5157 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5158 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5159 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5160 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5161 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5162 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5163 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime}
5169 @kindex S m (Summary)
5170 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5171 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5172 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5173 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5174 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5179 @kindex S i (Summary)
5180 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5181 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5182 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5183 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5185 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5186 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
5187 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5188 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5189 for this to work though.
5192 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5193 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5194 @cindex bouncing mail
5195 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5196 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5197 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5198 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5199 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5200 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5201 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5202 very well fail, though.
5205 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5206 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5207 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5208 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5209 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5210 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5211 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5212 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5213 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5214 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5216 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5217 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5218 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5219 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5220 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5222 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5223 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5226 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5227 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5228 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5229 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5230 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5233 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5234 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5235 @cindex crossposting
5236 @cindex excessive crossposting
5237 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5238 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5240 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5241 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5242 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5243 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5244 command understands the process/prefix convention
5245 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5249 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5250 Manual}, for more information.
5253 @node Summary Post Commands
5254 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5256 @cindex composing news
5258 Commands for posting a news article:
5264 @kindex S p (Summary)
5265 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5266 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5267 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5268 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5269 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5274 @kindex S f (Summary)
5275 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5276 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5277 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5281 @kindex S F (Summary)
5283 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5284 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5285 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5286 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5287 process/prefix convention.
5290 @kindex S n (Summary)
5291 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5292 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5293 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5296 @kindex S N (Summary)
5297 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5298 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5299 message through mail and include the original message
5300 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5301 the process/prefix convention.
5304 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5305 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5306 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5307 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5308 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5309 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5310 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5311 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5312 as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5313 forward as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5314 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5315 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5316 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @sc{mime} section.
5319 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5320 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5322 @cindex making digests
5323 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5324 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5325 process/prefix convention.
5328 @kindex S u (Summary)
5329 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5330 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5331 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5332 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5335 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5336 Manual}, for more information.
5339 @node Summary Message Commands
5340 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5344 @kindex S y (Summary)
5345 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5346 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5347 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5348 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5349 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5354 @node Canceling and Superseding
5355 @subsection Canceling Articles
5356 @cindex canceling articles
5357 @cindex superseding articles
5359 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5360 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5362 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5364 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5366 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5367 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5368 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5369 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5370 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5371 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5373 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5374 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5377 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5378 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5379 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5381 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5382 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5383 your original article.
5385 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5387 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5388 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5389 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5392 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5393 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5394 have posted almost the same article twice.
5396 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5397 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5398 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5399 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5400 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5401 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5402 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5403 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5404 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5405 canceled/superseded.
5407 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5409 @node Delayed Articles
5410 @section Delayed Articles
5411 @cindex delayed sending
5412 @cindex send delayed
5414 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5415 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5416 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5417 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5420 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5423 @findex gnus-delay-article
5424 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5425 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5426 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5427 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5431 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5432 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5433 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5434 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5437 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5438 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5439 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5442 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5443 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5444 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5445 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5446 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5447 that means a time tomorrow.
5450 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5451 couple of variables:
5454 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5455 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5456 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5457 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5459 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5460 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5461 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5462 formats described above.
5464 @item gnus-delay-group
5465 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5466 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5467 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5468 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5470 @item gnus-delay-header
5471 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5472 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5473 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5474 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5477 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5478 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5479 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5480 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5481 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5483 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5484 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5485 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5486 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5487 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5488 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5491 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5492 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5493 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5494 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5495 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-nil,
5496 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5497 argument is ignored.
5499 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5500 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5501 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5505 @node Marking Articles
5506 @section Marking Articles
5507 @cindex article marking
5508 @cindex article ticking
5511 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5513 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5514 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5515 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5517 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5520 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5521 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5522 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5526 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5530 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5531 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5532 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5536 @node Unread Articles
5537 @subsection Unread Articles
5539 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5544 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5545 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5547 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5548 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5549 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5550 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5551 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5552 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5553 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5556 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5557 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5559 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5560 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5561 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5562 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5566 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5567 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5569 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5574 @subsection Read Articles
5575 @cindex expirable mark
5577 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5582 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5583 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5584 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5587 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5588 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5591 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5592 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5593 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5596 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5597 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5600 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5601 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5604 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5605 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5608 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5609 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5612 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5613 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5616 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5617 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5620 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5621 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5625 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5626 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5627 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5631 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5632 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5634 One more special mark, though:
5638 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5639 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5641 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5642 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5643 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5644 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5650 @subsection Other Marks
5651 @cindex process mark
5654 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5660 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5661 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5662 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5663 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5664 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5667 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5668 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5669 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5670 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5673 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5674 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5675 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5678 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5679 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5680 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5683 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5684 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5685 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5686 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5689 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5690 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5691 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5692 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5693 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5694 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5697 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5698 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5699 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5700 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5703 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5704 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might not
5705 have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you are
5706 offline (unplugged). These articles get the @samp{@@} mark in the
5707 first column. (The variable @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls
5708 which character to use.)
5711 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5712 The Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics} downloads some articles
5713 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5714 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5715 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5716 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5720 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5721 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5722 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5723 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5724 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5727 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5728 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5729 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5730 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5731 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5732 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5736 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5737 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5738 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5740 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5741 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5742 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5746 @subsection Setting Marks
5747 @cindex setting marks
5749 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5754 @kindex M c (Summary)
5755 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5756 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5757 @cindex mark as unread
5758 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5759 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5765 @kindex M t (Summary)
5766 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5767 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5768 @xref{Article Caching}.
5773 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5774 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5775 Mark the current article as dormant
5776 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5780 @kindex M d (Summary)
5782 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5783 Mark the current article as read
5784 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5788 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5789 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5790 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5795 @kindex M k (Summary)
5796 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5797 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5798 and then select the next unread article
5799 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5803 @kindex M K (Summary)
5804 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5805 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5806 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5807 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5810 @kindex M C (Summary)
5811 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5812 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5813 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5816 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5817 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5818 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5819 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5822 @kindex M H (Summary)
5823 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5824 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5825 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5828 @kindex M h (Summary)
5829 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5830 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5831 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5834 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5835 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5836 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5837 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5840 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5841 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5842 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5843 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5847 @kindex M e (Summary)
5849 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5850 Mark the current article as expirable
5851 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5854 @kindex M b (Summary)
5855 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5856 Set a bookmark in the current article
5857 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5860 @kindex M B (Summary)
5861 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5862 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5863 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5866 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5867 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5868 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5869 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5872 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5873 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5874 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5875 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5878 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5879 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5880 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5881 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5882 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5885 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5886 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5887 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5888 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5889 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5890 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5891 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5892 The default is @code{t}.
5895 @node Generic Marking Commands
5896 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5898 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5899 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5900 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5901 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5902 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5905 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5906 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5909 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5910 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5911 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5912 to list in this manual.
5914 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5915 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5916 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5917 article, you could say something like:
5920 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5921 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5922 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5928 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5929 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5933 @node Setting Process Marks
5934 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5935 @cindex setting process marks
5942 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5943 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5944 Mark the current article with the process mark
5945 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5946 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5950 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5951 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5952 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5953 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5956 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5957 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5958 Remove the process mark from all articles
5959 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5962 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5963 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5964 Invert the list of process marked articles
5965 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5968 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5969 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5970 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5971 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5974 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5975 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5976 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5977 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5980 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5981 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5982 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5986 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
5987 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
5990 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5991 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5992 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5993 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5996 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5997 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5998 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5999 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6002 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6003 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6004 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6005 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6008 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6009 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6010 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6013 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6014 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6015 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6016 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6019 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6020 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6021 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6024 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6025 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6026 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6027 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6030 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6031 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6032 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6033 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6036 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6037 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6038 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6039 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6042 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6043 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6044 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6045 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6049 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
6050 set process marks based on article body contents.
6057 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6058 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6059 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6062 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6063 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6064 additional articles.
6070 @kindex / / (Summary)
6071 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6072 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6073 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6077 @kindex / a (Summary)
6078 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6079 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6080 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6084 @kindex / x (Summary)
6085 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6086 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6087 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6088 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6093 @kindex / u (Summary)
6095 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6096 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6097 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6098 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6099 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6102 @kindex / m (Summary)
6103 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6104 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6105 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6108 @kindex / t (Summary)
6109 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6110 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6111 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6112 articles younger than that number of days.
6115 @kindex / n (Summary)
6116 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6117 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6118 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6119 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6122 @kindex / w (Summary)
6123 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6124 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6125 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6129 @kindex / . (Summary)
6130 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6131 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6132 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6135 @kindex / v (Summary)
6136 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6137 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6138 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6141 @kindex / p (Summary)
6142 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6143 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6144 group parameter predicate
6145 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6146 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6150 @kindex M S (Summary)
6151 @kindex / E (Summary)
6152 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6153 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6154 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6157 @kindex / D (Summary)
6158 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6159 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6160 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6163 @kindex / * (Summary)
6164 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6165 Include all cached articles in the limit
6166 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6169 @kindex / d (Summary)
6170 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6171 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6172 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6175 @kindex / M (Summary)
6176 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6177 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6180 @kindex / T (Summary)
6181 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6182 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6185 @kindex / c (Summary)
6186 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6187 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6188 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6191 @kindex / C (Summary)
6192 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6193 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6194 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6195 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6198 @kindex / N (Summary)
6199 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6200 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6201 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6204 @kindex / o (Summary)
6205 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6206 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6207 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6215 @cindex article threading
6217 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6218 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6219 hierarchical fashion.
6221 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6222 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6223 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6224 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6225 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6226 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6227 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6229 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6233 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6236 A tree-like article structure.
6239 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6242 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6243 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6244 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6245 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6246 called loose threads.
6248 @item thread gathering
6249 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6251 @item sparse threads
6252 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6253 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6259 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6260 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6264 @node Customizing Threading
6265 @subsection Customizing Threading
6266 @cindex customizing threading
6269 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6270 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6271 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6272 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6277 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6280 @cindex loose threads
6283 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6284 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6285 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6286 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6287 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6288 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6290 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6291 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6292 There are four possible values:
6296 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6297 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6298 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6299 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6300 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6305 @cindex adopting articles
6310 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6311 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6312 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6313 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6316 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6317 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6318 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6319 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6320 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6321 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6322 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6323 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6324 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6325 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to t.
6328 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6329 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6330 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6334 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6335 display them after one another.
6338 Don't gather loose threads.
6341 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6342 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6343 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6344 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6345 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6346 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6347 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6348 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6349 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6350 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6351 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6353 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6354 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6355 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6358 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6359 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6360 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6361 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6362 simplification is used.
6364 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6365 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6366 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6367 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6369 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6371 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6377 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6378 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6379 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6380 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6385 (mapconcat 'identity
6386 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6388 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6391 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6394 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6395 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6396 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6397 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6398 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6399 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6401 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6404 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6405 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6406 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6408 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6409 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6412 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6413 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6414 Remove excessive whitespace.
6416 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6417 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6418 Remove all whitespace.
6421 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6424 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6425 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6426 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6427 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6428 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6429 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6430 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6431 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6433 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6434 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6435 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6436 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6437 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6438 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6439 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6440 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6441 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6445 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6446 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6447 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6448 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6450 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6451 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6452 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6455 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6459 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6460 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6466 @node Filling In Threads
6467 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6470 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6471 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6472 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6473 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6474 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6475 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6476 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6477 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6478 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6479 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6480 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6481 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6484 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6485 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6486 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6488 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6489 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6490 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6491 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6492 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6493 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6494 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6495 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6496 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6497 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6498 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6499 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6500 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6501 @code{nil} by default.
6503 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6504 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6505 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6506 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6507 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6508 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6509 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6511 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6512 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6513 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6518 @node More Threading
6519 @subsubsection More Threading
6522 @item gnus-show-threads
6523 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6524 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6525 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6526 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6527 slower and more awkward.
6529 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6530 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6531 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6534 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6535 Avaliable predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6536 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6541 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6542 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6543 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6546 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6547 unread, but you get my drift.)
6550 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6551 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6552 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6553 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6554 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6555 threads are expunged.
6557 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6558 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6559 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6562 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6563 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6564 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6565 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6566 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6567 result in a new thread.
6569 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6570 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6571 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6574 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6575 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6576 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6577 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6578 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6579 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6580 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6581 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6582 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6583 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6584 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6589 @node Low-Level Threading
6590 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6594 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6595 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6596 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6598 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6599 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6600 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6601 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6602 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6603 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6604 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6605 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6606 meaningful. Here's one example:
6609 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6611 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6612 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6614 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6616 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6623 @node Thread Commands
6624 @subsection Thread Commands
6625 @cindex thread commands
6631 @kindex T k (Summary)
6632 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6633 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6634 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6635 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6636 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6641 @kindex T l (Summary)
6642 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6643 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6644 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6645 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6648 @kindex T i (Summary)
6649 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6650 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6651 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6654 @kindex T # (Summary)
6655 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6656 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6657 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6660 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6661 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6662 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6663 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6666 @kindex T T (Summary)
6667 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6668 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6671 @kindex T s (Summary)
6672 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6673 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6674 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6677 @kindex T h (Summary)
6678 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6679 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6682 @kindex T S (Summary)
6683 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6684 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6687 @kindex T H (Summary)
6688 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6689 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6692 @kindex T t (Summary)
6693 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6694 Re-thread the current article's thread
6695 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6696 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6699 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6700 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6701 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6702 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6706 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6707 understand the numeric prefix.
6712 @kindex T n (Summary)
6714 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6716 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6717 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6718 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6721 @kindex T p (Summary)
6723 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6725 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6726 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6727 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6730 @kindex T d (Summary)
6731 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6732 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6735 @kindex T u (Summary)
6736 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6737 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6740 @kindex T o (Summary)
6741 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6742 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6745 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6746 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6747 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6748 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6749 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6750 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6751 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6752 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6753 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6754 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6755 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6756 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6760 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6761 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6763 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6764 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6765 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6766 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6767 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6768 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6769 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6770 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6771 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6772 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6773 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6774 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6775 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6777 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6778 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6779 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6780 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6781 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6782 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6783 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6784 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6786 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6787 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6788 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6790 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6791 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6792 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6793 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6794 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6795 ascending article order.
6797 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6798 by number, you could do something like:
6801 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6802 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6803 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6804 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6807 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6808 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6809 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6810 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6811 which the articles arrived.
6813 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6817 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6819 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6820 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6823 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6824 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6825 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6826 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6829 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6830 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6831 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6832 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6833 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6834 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6835 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6836 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6837 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6838 variable. It is very similar to the
6839 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6840 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6841 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6842 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6843 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6844 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6845 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6847 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6851 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6852 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6853 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6858 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6859 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6860 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6861 @cindex article pre-fetch
6864 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6865 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6866 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6867 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6868 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6870 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6871 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6873 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6874 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6875 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6876 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6877 connection is blocked.
6879 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6880 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6881 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6882 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6884 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6885 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6886 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6887 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6890 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6893 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6894 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6895 happen automatically.
6897 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6898 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6899 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6900 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6901 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6902 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6903 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6905 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6906 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6907 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6908 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6909 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6910 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6911 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6912 data structure as the only parameter.
6914 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6917 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6918 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6919 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6920 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6923 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6926 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6927 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6928 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6930 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6931 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6932 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6933 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6937 Remove articles when they are read.
6940 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6943 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6945 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6946 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6947 @c from the next group.
6950 @node Article Caching
6951 @section Article Caching
6952 @cindex article caching
6955 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6956 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6957 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6958 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6959 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6961 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6963 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6964 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6965 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6966 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6967 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6968 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6969 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6970 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6972 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6973 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6974 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6975 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6976 as dormant, and don't worry.
6978 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6980 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6981 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6982 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6983 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6984 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6985 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6986 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6987 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6988 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6989 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6991 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6992 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6993 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6994 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6995 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6996 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6997 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6998 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6999 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7000 not then be downloaded by this command.
7002 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7003 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7004 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7005 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7006 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7007 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7009 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7010 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7011 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7012 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7013 variables, the group is not cached.
7015 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7016 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7017 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7018 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7019 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7020 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7021 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7022 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
7023 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7026 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7027 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7028 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7029 where, isn't that cool?
7031 @node Persistent Articles
7032 @section Persistent Articles
7033 @cindex persistent articles
7035 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7036 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7037 useful in my opinion.
7039 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7040 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7041 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7042 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7043 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7044 the expiry going on at the news server.
7046 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7047 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7048 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7054 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7055 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7058 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7059 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7060 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7061 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7065 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7067 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7068 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7069 interested in persistent articles:
7072 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7076 @node Article Backlog
7077 @section Article Backlog
7079 @cindex article backlog
7081 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7082 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7083 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7084 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7085 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7086 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7087 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7088 increase memory usage some.
7090 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7091 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7092 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7093 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7094 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7095 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7096 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7098 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
7101 @node Saving Articles
7102 @section Saving Articles
7103 @cindex saving articles
7105 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7106 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7107 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7108 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7109 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7111 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7112 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7113 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7115 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7116 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7117 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7119 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7120 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7121 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7122 deleted before saving.
7128 @kindex O o (Summary)
7130 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7131 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7132 Save the current article using the default article saver
7133 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7136 @kindex O m (Summary)
7137 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7138 Save the current article in mail format
7139 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7142 @kindex O r (Summary)
7143 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7144 Save the current article in rmail format
7145 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7148 @kindex O f (Summary)
7149 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7150 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7151 Save the current article in plain file format
7152 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7155 @kindex O F (Summary)
7156 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7157 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7158 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7161 @kindex O b (Summary)
7162 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7163 Save the current article body in plain file format
7164 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7167 @kindex O h (Summary)
7168 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7169 Save the current article in mh folder format
7170 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7173 @kindex O v (Summary)
7174 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7175 Save the current article in a VM folder
7176 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7180 @kindex O p (Summary)
7182 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7183 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7184 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7185 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7186 complete headers in the piped output.
7189 @kindex O P (Summary)
7190 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7191 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7192 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7193 external program Muttprint (see
7194 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7195 options to use is controlled by the variable
7196 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7200 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7201 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7202 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7203 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7204 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7205 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7206 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7207 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7208 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7209 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7210 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7211 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7215 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7216 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7217 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7218 functions below, or you can create your own.
7222 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7223 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7224 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7225 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7226 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7227 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7228 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7230 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7231 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7232 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7233 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7234 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7235 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7237 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7238 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7239 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7240 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7241 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7242 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7243 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7245 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7246 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7247 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7248 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7249 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7250 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7252 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7253 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7254 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7255 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7256 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7258 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7259 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7260 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7261 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7262 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7265 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7266 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7267 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7268 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7269 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7271 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7272 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7273 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7274 reader to use this setting.
7277 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7278 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7279 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7280 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7283 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7284 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7285 available functions that generate names:
7289 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7290 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7291 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7293 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7294 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7295 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7297 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7298 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7299 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7301 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7302 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7303 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7305 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7306 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7307 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7310 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7311 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7312 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7313 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7314 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7318 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7319 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7320 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7321 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7324 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7325 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7326 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7327 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7328 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7329 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7330 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7331 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7332 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7334 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7335 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7336 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7337 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7339 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7340 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7341 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7344 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7345 lots of mail groups called things like
7346 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7347 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7348 following will do just that:
7351 (defun my-save-name (group)
7352 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7353 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7355 (setq gnus-split-methods
7356 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7361 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7362 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7363 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7364 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7365 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7366 all the files in the top level directory
7367 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7368 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7369 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7370 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7372 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7373 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7374 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7375 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7376 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7379 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7383 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7384 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7385 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7388 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7389 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7390 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7391 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7394 @node Decoding Articles
7395 @section Decoding Articles
7396 @cindex decoding articles
7398 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7399 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7402 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7403 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7404 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7405 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7406 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7407 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7411 @cindex article series
7412 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7413 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7414 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7415 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7416 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7418 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7419 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7420 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7422 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7423 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7424 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7426 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7427 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7428 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7431 @node Uuencoded Articles
7432 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7434 @cindex uuencoded articles
7439 @kindex X u (Summary)
7440 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7441 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7442 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7445 @kindex X U (Summary)
7446 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7447 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7448 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7451 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7452 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7453 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7456 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7457 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7458 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7459 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7463 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7464 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7465 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7466 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7467 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7469 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7470 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7471 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7472 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7475 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7476 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7477 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7478 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7479 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7480 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7484 @node Shell Archives
7485 @subsection Shell Archives
7487 @cindex shell archives
7488 @cindex shared articles
7490 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7491 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7492 some commands to deal with these:
7497 @kindex X s (Summary)
7498 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7499 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7502 @kindex X S (Summary)
7503 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7504 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7507 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7508 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7509 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7512 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7513 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7514 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7515 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7519 @node PostScript Files
7520 @subsection PostScript Files
7526 @kindex X p (Summary)
7527 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7528 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7531 @kindex X P (Summary)
7532 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7533 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7534 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7537 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7538 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7539 View the current PostScript series
7540 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7543 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7544 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7545 View and save the current PostScript series
7546 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7551 @subsection Other Files
7555 @kindex X o (Summary)
7556 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7557 Save the current series
7558 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7561 @kindex X b (Summary)
7562 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7563 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7564 doesn't really work yet.
7568 @node Decoding Variables
7569 @subsection Decoding Variables
7571 Adjective, not verb.
7574 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7575 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7576 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7580 @node Rule Variables
7581 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7582 @cindex rule variables
7584 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7585 variables are of the form
7588 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7595 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7596 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7598 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7599 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7602 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7603 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7606 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7607 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7608 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7609 user and default view rules.
7611 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7612 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7613 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7618 @node Other Decode Variables
7619 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7622 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7624 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7625 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7626 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7627 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7628 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7632 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7633 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7636 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7637 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7638 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7641 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7642 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7643 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7644 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7645 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7648 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7649 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7650 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7652 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7653 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7654 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7655 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7656 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7659 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7660 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7661 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7663 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7664 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7665 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7666 looking for files to display.
7668 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7669 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7670 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7673 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7674 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7675 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7678 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7679 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7680 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7683 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7684 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7685 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7688 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7689 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7690 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7691 decoded articles as unread.
7693 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7694 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7695 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7696 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7698 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7699 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7700 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7702 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7703 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7705 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7706 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7707 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7708 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7710 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7711 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7712 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7713 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7714 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7715 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7716 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7717 simply dropped them.
7722 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7723 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7727 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7728 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7729 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7730 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7731 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7732 for you when you post the article.
7734 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7735 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7736 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7737 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7739 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7740 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7741 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7742 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7743 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7744 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7745 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7747 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7748 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7749 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7750 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7751 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7752 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7753 Default is @code{t}.
7759 @subsection Viewing Files
7760 @cindex viewing files
7761 @cindex pseudo-articles
7763 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7764 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7765 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7766 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7767 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7768 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7769 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7771 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7772 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7773 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7774 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7776 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7777 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7778 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7780 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7781 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7782 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7783 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7784 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7786 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7787 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7788 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7789 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7790 a list of parameters to that command.
7792 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7793 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7794 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7796 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7797 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7798 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7801 @node Article Treatment
7802 @section Article Treatment
7804 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7805 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7806 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7807 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7808 these articles easier.
7811 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7812 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7813 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7814 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7815 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7816 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7817 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7818 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7819 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7820 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7824 @node Article Highlighting
7825 @subsection Article Highlighting
7826 @cindex highlighting
7828 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7829 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7834 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7835 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7836 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7837 Do much highlighting of the current article
7838 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7839 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7842 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7843 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7844 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7845 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7846 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7847 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7848 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7849 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7850 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7851 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7852 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7853 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7856 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7857 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7858 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7860 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7863 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7865 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7866 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7867 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7869 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7870 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7871 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7873 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7874 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7875 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7876 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7877 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7878 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7880 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7881 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7882 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7884 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7885 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7886 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7888 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7889 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7890 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7891 that it's a citation.
7893 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7894 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7895 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7897 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7898 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7899 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7901 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7902 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7903 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7904 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7910 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7911 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7912 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7913 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7914 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7915 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7916 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7917 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7922 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7925 @node Article Fontisizing
7926 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7928 @cindex article emphasis
7930 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7931 @kindex W e (Summary)
7932 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7933 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7934 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7935 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7937 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7938 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7939 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7940 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7941 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7942 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7943 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7944 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7948 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7949 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7950 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7959 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7960 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7961 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7962 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7963 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7964 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7965 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7966 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7967 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7968 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7969 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7970 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7971 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7973 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7974 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7975 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7979 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7982 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7984 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7985 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7986 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7987 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7989 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7992 @node Article Hiding
7993 @subsection Article Hiding
7994 @cindex article hiding
7996 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7997 too much cruft in most articles.
8002 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8003 @findex gnus-article-hide
8004 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8005 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8006 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
8009 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8010 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8011 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8015 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8016 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8017 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8018 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8021 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8022 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8023 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8027 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8028 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8029 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8030 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8031 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8032 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8033 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8034 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8038 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8039 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8040 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8041 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8046 @kindex W W p (Summary)
8047 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
8048 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
8049 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
8050 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
8051 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
8052 articles that have signatures in them do:
8054 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
8056 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
8058 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
8059 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
8061 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
8064 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
8069 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8070 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8071 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8072 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8075 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8076 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8077 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8078 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8081 @cindex stripping advertisements
8082 @cindex advertisements
8083 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8084 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8085 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8086 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8087 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8088 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8089 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8090 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8091 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8092 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8095 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8096 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8097 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8101 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8102 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8103 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8104 @code{(ADDRESS . BANNER)}, where ADDRESS is a regexp matching a mail
8105 address in the From header, BANNER is one of a symbol @code{signature},
8106 an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}, a regexp and @code{nil}.
8107 If ADDRESS matches author's mail address, it will remove things like
8108 advertisements. For example, if a sender has the mail address
8109 @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a banner something like
8110 @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he sends, you can use the
8111 following element to remove them:
8114 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" . "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8120 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8121 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8122 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8123 customizing the hiding:
8127 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8128 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8129 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8130 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8131 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8132 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8133 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8138 Starting point of the hidden text.
8140 Ending point of the hidden text.
8142 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8144 Number of lines of hidden text.
8147 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8148 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8149 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8150 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8151 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8156 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8157 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8159 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8160 following two variables:
8163 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8164 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8165 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8166 50), hide the cited text.
8168 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8169 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8170 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8175 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8176 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8177 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8178 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8179 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8180 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8184 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8185 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8186 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8188 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8189 citation customization.
8191 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8195 @node Article Washing
8196 @subsection Article Washing
8198 @cindex article washing
8200 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8201 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8203 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8204 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8207 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8208 articles by default.
8213 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8214 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8218 @kindex W l (Summary)
8219 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8220 Remove page breaks from the current article
8221 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8225 @kindex W r (Summary)
8226 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8227 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8228 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8229 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8230 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8231 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8233 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8234 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8235 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8236 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8239 @kindex W m (Summary)
8240 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8241 @c @icon{gnus-summary-morse-message}
8242 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8246 @kindex W t (Summary)
8248 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8249 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8250 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8253 @kindex W v (Summary)
8254 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8255 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8256 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8259 @kindex W o (Summary)
8260 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8261 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8264 @kindex W d (Summary)
8265 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8266 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8268 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8270 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8271 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8272 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8273 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8276 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8277 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8278 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8279 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8282 @kindex W k (Summary)
8283 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8284 @cindex Outlook Express
8285 Deuglify broken Outlook (Express) articles and redisplay
8286 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8289 @kindex W w (Summary)
8290 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8291 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8293 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8297 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8298 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8299 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8302 @kindex W C (Summary)
8303 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8304 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8305 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8308 @kindex W c (Summary)
8309 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8310 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8311 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8312 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8313 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8316 @kindex W q (Summary)
8317 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8318 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8319 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
8320 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
8321 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
8322 readable to me. Note that this is usually done automatically by
8323 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
8324 header that says that this encoding has been done.
8325 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8328 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8329 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8330 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8331 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8332 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8333 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8334 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8336 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8339 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8340 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8341 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8342 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8343 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8346 @kindex W u (Summary)
8347 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8348 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8349 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8350 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8351 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8354 @kindex W h (Summary)
8355 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8356 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8357 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8358 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8360 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8362 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8363 The default is to use the function specified by
8364 @code{mm-inline-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Customization, , , emacs-mime})
8365 to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by the
8366 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8374 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8378 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8381 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8384 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8389 @kindex W b (Summary)
8390 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8391 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8392 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8395 @kindex W B (Summary)
8396 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8397 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8398 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8401 @kindex W p (Summary)
8402 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8403 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8404 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8405 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8406 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8407 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8408 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8411 @kindex W s (Summary)
8412 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8413 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8414 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8417 @kindex W a (Summary)
8418 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8419 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8420 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8423 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8424 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8425 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8426 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8429 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8430 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8431 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8432 lines with a single empty line.
8433 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8436 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8437 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8438 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8439 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8442 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8443 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8444 Do all the three commands above
8445 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8448 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8449 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8450 Remove all blank lines
8451 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8454 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8455 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8456 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8457 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8460 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8461 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8462 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8463 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8467 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8470 @node Article Header
8471 @subsection Article Header
8473 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8478 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8479 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8480 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8483 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8484 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8485 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8486 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8489 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8490 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8491 Fold all the message headers
8492 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8496 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8497 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8498 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8503 @node Article Buttons
8504 @subsection Article Buttons
8507 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8508 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8509 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8510 button on these references.
8512 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8513 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8514 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links and man pages.
8515 This is controlled by two variables, one that handles article bodies and
8516 one that handles article heads:
8520 @item gnus-button-alist
8521 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8522 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8525 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8531 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
8532 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
8533 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a variable containing a
8534 regexp, useful variables to use include @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8537 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8538 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8539 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8542 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8543 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8544 avoid false matches.
8547 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8550 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8551 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8555 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8558 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8561 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8562 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8563 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8564 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8565 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8568 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8571 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8573 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8574 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8575 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8576 default values of the variables above.
8578 @item gnus-article-button-face
8579 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8580 Face used on buttons.
8582 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8583 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8584 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8588 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8592 @subsection Article Date
8594 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8595 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8596 when the article was sent.
8601 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8602 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8603 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8604 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8607 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8608 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8610 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8611 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8614 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8615 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8616 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8619 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8620 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8621 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8622 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8625 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8626 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8627 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8628 @findex format-time-string
8629 Display the date using a user-defined format
8630 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8631 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8632 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8633 for a list of possible format specs.
8636 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8637 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8638 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8639 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8640 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8641 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8644 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8647 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8648 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8651 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8652 into wonderful absurdities.
8654 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8657 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8660 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8661 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8665 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8666 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8667 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8668 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8669 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8670 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8671 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8675 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8676 preferred format automatically.
8679 @node Article Display
8680 @subsection Article Display
8685 These commands add various frivolous display gimmics to the article
8686 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8688 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8689 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8691 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8692 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8694 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8695 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8697 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8702 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8703 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8704 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8705 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8708 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8709 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8710 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8713 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8714 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8715 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8718 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8719 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8720 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8721 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8724 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8725 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8726 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8727 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8730 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8731 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8732 Remove all images from the article buffer
8733 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8739 @node Article Signature
8740 @subsection Article Signature
8742 @cindex article signature
8744 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8745 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8746 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8747 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8748 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8749 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8750 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8751 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8752 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8755 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8756 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8757 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8758 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8759 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8760 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8761 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8762 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8765 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8768 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8769 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8770 signature when displaying articles.
8774 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8777 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8780 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8781 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8783 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8784 in question is not a signature.
8787 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8788 listed above. Here's an example:
8791 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8792 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8795 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8796 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8797 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8798 signature after all.
8801 @node Article Miscellania
8802 @subsection Article Miscellania
8806 @kindex A t (Summary)
8807 @findex gnus-article-babel
8808 Translate the article from one language to another
8809 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8815 @section MIME Commands
8816 @cindex MIME decoding
8818 @cindex viewing attachments
8820 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8821 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8827 @kindex K v (Summary)
8828 View the @sc{mime} part.
8831 @kindex K o (Summary)
8832 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8835 @kindex K c (Summary)
8836 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8839 @kindex K e (Summary)
8840 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8843 @kindex K i (Summary)
8844 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8847 @kindex K | (Summary)
8848 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8851 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8856 @kindex K b (Summary)
8857 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8858 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8862 @kindex K m (Summary)
8863 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8864 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8865 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8866 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8867 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8870 @kindex X m (Summary)
8871 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8872 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8873 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8874 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8877 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8878 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8879 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8880 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8883 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8884 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8885 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8886 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8889 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8890 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
8891 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8892 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8894 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8895 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8896 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8897 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
8898 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
8899 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8902 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8903 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
8904 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8905 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8912 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8913 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8914 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8915 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8918 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8921 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8925 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8926 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8927 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8928 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8929 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8930 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8933 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8934 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8935 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8936 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8937 displayed. This variable overrides
8938 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8940 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8941 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8942 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
8944 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
8945 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
8946 If this is non-nil, then all @sc{mime} parts get buttons. The default
8947 value is @code{nil}.
8949 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8950 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8951 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8952 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8953 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8954 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8955 save all jpegs into some directory).
8957 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8960 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8961 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8963 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8964 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8965 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8966 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8967 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8970 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8971 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8972 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8974 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8975 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8976 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8977 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8979 Ready-made functions include@*
8980 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8981 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8982 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8983 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8984 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8985 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8986 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8987 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8988 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8989 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8990 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8991 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8993 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8994 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8996 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8997 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8998 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9001 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9002 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9003 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9004 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9008 to your @file{.gnus} file.
9017 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
9018 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9019 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
9020 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9021 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9022 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9023 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9025 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9026 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9027 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9028 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9030 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
9031 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9032 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9033 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9034 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9035 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9036 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9037 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9039 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9040 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9041 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
9042 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9043 quoted-printable header encoding.
9045 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9046 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9047 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9051 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9054 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9055 means encode all charsets),
9057 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9058 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9059 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9066 @cindex coding system aliases
9067 @cindex preferred charset
9069 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9071 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9072 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9075 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9076 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9079 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9080 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
9082 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9085 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9088 This will almost do the right thing.
9090 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9094 (codepage-setup 1251)
9095 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9099 @node Article Commands
9100 @section Article Commands
9107 @kindex A P (Summary)
9108 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9109 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9110 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9111 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9112 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9113 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9118 @node Summary Sorting
9119 @section Summary Sorting
9120 @cindex summary sorting
9122 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9123 can't really see why you'd want that.
9128 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9129 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9130 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9133 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9134 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9135 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9138 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9139 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9140 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9143 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9144 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9145 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9148 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9149 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9150 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9153 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9154 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9155 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9158 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9159 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9160 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9163 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9164 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9165 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9168 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9169 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9170 Sort using the default sorting method
9171 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9174 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9175 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9176 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9177 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9178 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9182 @node Finding the Parent
9183 @section Finding the Parent
9184 @cindex parent articles
9185 @cindex referring articles
9190 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9191 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9192 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9193 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9194 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9195 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9196 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9197 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9198 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9200 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9201 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9202 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9203 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9204 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9208 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9209 @kindex A R (Summary)
9210 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9211 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9214 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9215 @kindex A T (Summary)
9216 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9217 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9218 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9219 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9220 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9221 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9222 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9224 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9225 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9226 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9227 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9228 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9229 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9232 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9233 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9235 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9236 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9237 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9238 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9239 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9240 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9241 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9244 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9245 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9246 by giving this command a prefix.
9248 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9249 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9250 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9251 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9252 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9253 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9256 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9257 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9258 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9261 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9262 then ask Google if that fails:
9265 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9267 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9270 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9271 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9272 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9273 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9274 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9275 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9276 support this at all.
9279 @node Alternative Approaches
9280 @section Alternative Approaches
9282 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9283 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9286 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9287 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9292 @subsection Pick and Read
9293 @cindex pick and read
9295 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9296 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9297 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9298 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9300 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9301 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9302 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9303 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9304 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9305 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9307 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9312 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9313 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9314 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9315 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9316 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9317 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9318 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9319 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9322 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9323 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9324 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9325 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9329 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9330 Unpick the thread or article
9331 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9332 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9333 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9334 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9335 the thread or article at that line.
9339 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9340 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9341 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9342 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9343 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9344 will still be visible when you are reading.
9348 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9349 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9350 which is mapped to the same function
9351 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9353 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9356 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9359 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9360 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9362 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9363 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9364 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9366 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9367 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9368 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9369 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9370 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9371 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9372 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9376 @subsection Binary Groups
9377 @cindex binary groups
9379 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9380 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9381 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9382 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9383 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9384 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9385 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9388 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9389 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9390 command, when you have turned on this mode
9391 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9393 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9394 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9398 @section Tree Display
9401 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9402 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9403 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9404 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9407 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9410 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9411 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9412 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9414 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9415 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9416 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9417 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9418 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9420 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9421 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9422 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9423 default is @code{modeline}.
9425 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9426 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9427 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9428 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9429 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9430 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9431 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9437 The name of the poster.
9439 The @code{From} header.
9441 The number of the article.
9443 The opening bracket.
9445 The closing bracket.
9450 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9452 Variables related to the display are:
9455 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9456 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9457 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9458 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9459 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9460 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9462 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9463 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9464 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9465 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9469 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9470 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9471 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9472 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9473 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9474 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9475 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9476 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9477 other windows displayed next to it.
9479 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9483 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9484 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9487 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9488 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9489 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9490 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9491 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9492 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9493 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9497 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9500 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9510 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9514 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9515 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9517 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9519 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9524 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9525 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9526 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9529 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9530 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9531 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9532 (gnus-add-configuration
9536 (summary 0.75 point)
9541 @xref{Window Layout}.
9544 @node Mail Group Commands
9545 @section Mail Group Commands
9546 @cindex mail group commands
9548 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9549 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9551 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9552 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9557 @kindex B e (Summary)
9558 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9559 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9560 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9561 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9562 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9565 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9566 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9567 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9568 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9569 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9570 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9573 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9574 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9575 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9576 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9577 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9578 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9581 @kindex B m (Summary)
9583 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9584 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9585 Move the article from one mail group to another
9586 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9587 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9590 @kindex B c (Summary)
9592 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9593 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9594 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9595 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9596 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9599 @kindex B B (Summary)
9600 @cindex crosspost mail
9601 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9602 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9603 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9604 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9605 be properly updated.
9608 @kindex B i (Summary)
9609 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9610 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9611 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9612 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9615 @kindex B I (Summary)
9616 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9617 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9618 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9619 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9622 @kindex B r (Summary)
9623 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9624 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9625 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9626 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9627 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9628 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9629 (which is the default).
9633 @kindex B w (Summary)
9635 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9636 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9637 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9638 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9639 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9640 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9641 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9644 @kindex B q (Summary)
9645 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9646 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9647 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9648 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9651 @kindex B t (Summary)
9652 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9653 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9654 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9657 @kindex B p (Summary)
9658 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9659 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9660 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9661 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9662 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9663 article from your news server (or rather, from
9664 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9665 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9666 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9667 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9668 just not have arrived yet.
9671 @kindex K E (Summary)
9672 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9673 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9674 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9675 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9676 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9680 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9681 @cindex moving articles
9682 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
9683 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9684 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9685 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9686 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9687 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9688 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9691 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9692 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9693 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9694 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9698 @node Various Summary Stuff
9699 @section Various Summary Stuff
9702 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9703 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9704 * Summary Generation Commands::
9705 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9709 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9710 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9711 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9713 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9714 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9715 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9716 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9717 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9718 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9721 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9722 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9723 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9724 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9725 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9727 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9728 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9729 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9732 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9733 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9734 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9735 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9736 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9737 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9738 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
9739 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9740 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9741 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9743 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9744 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9745 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9746 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9747 list of articles to be selected.
9749 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9750 the list in one particular group:
9753 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9754 (if (string= group "some.group")
9755 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9759 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9760 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9761 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9762 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9763 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9764 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9765 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9766 buffers. For example:
9769 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9770 '(message-use-followup-to
9771 (gnus-visible-headers .
9772 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9778 @node Summary Group Information
9779 @subsection Summary Group Information
9784 @kindex H f (Summary)
9785 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9786 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9787 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9788 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9789 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9790 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9791 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9792 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9793 be used for fetching the file.
9796 @kindex H d (Summary)
9797 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9798 Give a brief description of the current group
9799 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9800 rereading the description from the server.
9803 @kindex H h (Summary)
9804 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9805 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9806 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9809 @kindex H i (Summary)
9810 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9811 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9815 @node Searching for Articles
9816 @subsection Searching for Articles
9821 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9822 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9823 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9824 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9827 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9828 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9829 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9830 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9834 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9835 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9836 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9837 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9838 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9839 search backward instead.
9841 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9842 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9845 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9846 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9847 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9848 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9851 @node Summary Generation Commands
9852 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9857 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9858 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9859 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9862 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9863 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9864 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9865 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9870 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9871 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9877 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9878 @kindex A D (Summary)
9879 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9880 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9881 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9882 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9883 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9884 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9885 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9886 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9890 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9891 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9892 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9893 several documents into one biiig group
9894 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9895 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9896 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9897 command understands the process/prefix convention
9898 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9901 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9902 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9903 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9904 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9905 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9906 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9910 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9911 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9912 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9915 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
9916 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9917 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9918 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9921 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
9922 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9923 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9924 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9929 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9930 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9931 @cindex summary exit
9932 @cindex exiting groups
9934 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9935 group and return you to the group buffer.
9941 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9943 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9944 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9945 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9946 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9947 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9948 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9949 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9950 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9951 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9952 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9953 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9957 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9959 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9960 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9961 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9965 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9967 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9968 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9969 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9970 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9973 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9974 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9975 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9976 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9979 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9980 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9981 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9982 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9985 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9986 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9987 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9988 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9989 all articles, both read and unread.
9993 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9994 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9995 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9996 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9997 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9998 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9999 articles, both read and unread.
10002 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10003 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10004 Exit the group and go to the next group
10005 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10008 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10009 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10010 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10011 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10014 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10015 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10016 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10017 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10018 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10019 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10022 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10023 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10024 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10025 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10027 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10028 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10029 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10030 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10031 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10032 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10033 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10034 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10035 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10036 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10037 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10038 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10040 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10042 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10043 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10044 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10045 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10046 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10047 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10048 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10049 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10050 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10053 @node Crosspost Handling
10054 @section Crosspost Handling
10058 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10059 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10060 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10061 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10062 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10063 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10066 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10067 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10068 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10069 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10070 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10072 @cindex cross-posting
10075 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10076 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
10077 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10078 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
10079 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10080 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10081 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10082 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10083 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10084 the cross reference mechanism.
10086 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10087 @cindex overview.fmt
10088 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10089 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10090 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10091 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10092 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10093 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10096 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10097 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10098 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10103 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10106 @node Duplicate Suppression
10107 @section Duplicate Suppression
10109 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10110 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10111 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10112 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10117 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10118 is evil and not very common.
10121 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10122 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10125 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10126 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10129 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10132 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10133 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10135 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10136 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10137 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10138 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10139 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10140 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10141 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10144 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10145 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10146 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10147 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10148 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10149 saw the article in.
10152 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10153 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10154 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10156 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10157 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10158 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10159 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10160 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10161 session are suppressed.
10163 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10164 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10165 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10166 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10168 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10169 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10170 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10171 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10174 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10175 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10176 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10177 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10178 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10179 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10180 to you to figure out, I think.
10185 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10186 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10187 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10191 To handle PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or gpg.el as
10192 well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG).
10195 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10196 or newer is recommended.
10200 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10201 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10204 @item mm-verify-option
10205 @vindex mm-verify-option
10206 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10207 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10208 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10210 @item mm-decrypt-option
10211 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10212 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10213 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10214 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10219 @section Mailing List
10221 @kindex A M (summary)
10222 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10223 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10224 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10225 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10226 summary buffer, or say:
10229 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
10232 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10237 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10238 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10239 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10242 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10243 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10244 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10247 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10248 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10249 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10253 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10254 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10255 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10258 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10259 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10260 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10263 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10264 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10265 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10269 @node Article Buffer
10270 @chapter Article Buffer
10271 @cindex article buffer
10273 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10274 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10275 tell Gnus otherwise.
10278 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10279 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10280 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10281 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10282 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10286 @node Hiding Headers
10287 @section Hiding Headers
10288 @cindex hiding headers
10289 @cindex deleting headers
10291 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10292 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10294 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10295 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10296 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10297 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10298 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10299 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10300 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10301 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10302 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10304 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10308 @item gnus-visible-headers
10309 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10310 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10311 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10312 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10314 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10315 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10318 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10321 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10324 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10325 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10326 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10327 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10328 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10329 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10331 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10332 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10335 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10338 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10341 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10342 variable will have no effect.
10346 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10347 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10348 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10349 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10350 the headers are to be displayed.
10352 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10353 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10356 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10359 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10360 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10362 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10363 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10364 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10365 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10366 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10367 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10368 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10371 These conditions are:
10374 Remove all empty headers.
10376 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10377 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10379 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10380 @code{From} header.
10382 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10385 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10386 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10388 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10391 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10393 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10396 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10399 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10400 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10403 This is also the default value for this variable.
10407 @section Using MIME
10410 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10411 while people stand around yawning.
10413 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10414 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10416 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10417 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10418 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10420 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10421 @findex gnus-display-mime
10422 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10423 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10424 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10425 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
10427 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10431 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10432 @item RET (Article)
10433 @kindex RET (Article)
10434 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10435 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
10436 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If builtin viewers can not display
10437 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
10438 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
10439 object is displayed inline.
10441 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10442 @item M-RET (Article)
10443 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10445 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10446 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10448 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10450 @kindex t (Article)
10451 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
10452 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10454 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10456 @kindex C (Article)
10457 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10458 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10460 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10462 @kindex o (Article)
10463 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
10464 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10466 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10467 @item C-o (Article)
10468 @kindex C-o (Article)
10469 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
10470 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10471 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10472 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
10473 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
10474 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10476 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10478 @kindex c (Article)
10479 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10480 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
10482 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10484 @kindex p (Article)
10485 Print the @sc{mime} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10486 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10487 @file{.mailcap} file.
10489 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10491 @kindex i (Article)
10492 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
10493 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10494 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10495 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10496 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
10499 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
10501 @kindex E (Article)
10502 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10503 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10504 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
10506 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
10508 @kindex e (Article)
10509 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
10510 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
10512 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
10514 @kindex | (Article)
10515 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
10517 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
10519 @kindex . (Article)
10520 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
10521 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
10525 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
10526 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
10529 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
10530 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
10531 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
10532 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
10533 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
10534 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
10535 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
10536 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
10537 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
10539 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10541 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10544 @node Customizing Articles
10545 @section Customizing Articles
10546 @cindex article customization
10548 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10549 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10550 called automatically when you select the articles.
10552 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10553 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10554 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10555 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10557 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10558 for sensible values.
10562 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10565 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10568 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10571 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10574 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10578 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10579 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10580 regexps in the list.
10583 A list where the first element is not a string:
10585 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10586 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10587 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10591 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10596 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10597 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10598 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10599 considered to contain just a single part.
10601 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10602 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10603 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10604 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10605 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10606 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10607 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10609 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10610 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10611 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10612 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10615 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10616 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10618 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10620 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10621 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10622 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10623 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10624 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10625 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10626 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10627 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10628 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10629 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10631 @xref{Article Washing}.
10633 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10634 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10635 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10636 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10637 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10638 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10639 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10641 @xref{Article Date}.
10643 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10644 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10645 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10649 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10651 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10653 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10654 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10655 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10659 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10663 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10664 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10665 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10666 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10667 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10668 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10669 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10670 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10672 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10674 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10675 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10676 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10678 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10680 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10681 @item gnus-treat-translate
10682 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10684 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10685 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10686 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10687 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10689 @xref{Article Header}.
10694 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10695 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10696 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10697 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10698 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10702 @node Article Keymap
10703 @section Article Keymap
10705 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10706 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10707 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10708 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10711 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10716 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10717 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10718 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10721 @kindex DEL (Article)
10722 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10723 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10726 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10727 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10728 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10729 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10730 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10733 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10734 @findex gnus-article-mail
10735 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10736 given a prefix, include the mail.
10739 @kindex s (Article)
10740 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10741 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10742 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10745 @kindex ? (Article)
10746 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10747 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10748 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10751 @kindex TAB (Article)
10752 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10753 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10754 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10757 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10758 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10759 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10762 @kindex R (Article)
10763 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10764 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10765 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10766 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10770 @kindex F (Article)
10771 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10772 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10773 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10774 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10782 @section Misc Article
10786 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10787 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10788 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10789 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10792 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10793 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10795 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10796 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10798 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10799 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10800 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10801 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10802 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10803 the contents of the article buffer.
10805 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10806 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10807 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10809 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10810 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10811 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10812 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10814 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10815 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10816 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10817 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10818 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10824 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10825 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10826 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10831 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10834 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10837 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10838 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10839 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10842 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10845 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10848 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10853 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10857 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10859 @item gnus-break-pages
10860 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10861 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10862 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10863 paging will not be done.
10865 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10866 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10867 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10872 @node Composing Messages
10873 @chapter Composing Messages
10874 @cindex composing messages
10877 @cindex sending mail
10882 @cindex using s/mime
10883 @cindex using smime
10885 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10886 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10887 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10888 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10889 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10890 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10893 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10894 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
10895 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10896 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10897 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10898 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10899 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10900 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10903 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10904 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10910 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10913 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10914 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10915 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10916 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
10917 @code{nil} include all headers.
10919 @item gnus-add-to-list
10920 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10921 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10922 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10924 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10925 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10926 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus requests confirmation when replying to news.
10927 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
10928 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
10933 @node Posting Server
10934 @section Posting Server
10936 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10937 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10939 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10941 It can be quite complicated.
10943 @vindex gnus-post-method
10944 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
10945 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
10946 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
10947 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
10948 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
10949 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
10950 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
10951 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
10952 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10955 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10958 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10959 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10960 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10961 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10963 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10964 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10966 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10967 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10970 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10971 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10973 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
10974 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
10975 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
10976 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
10977 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
10978 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
10979 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
10980 package correctly. An example:
10983 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
10984 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
10987 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
10988 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
10989 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
10991 Other possible choises for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
10992 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
10993 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
10995 @node Mail and Post
10996 @section Mail and Post
10998 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11002 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11003 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11004 @cindex mailing lists
11006 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11007 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
11008 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11009 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11010 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11011 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11012 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11013 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11014 still a pain, though.
11018 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11019 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11020 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11023 @findex ispell-message
11025 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11028 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11029 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11032 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11036 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11037 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11039 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11042 Modify to suit your needs.
11045 @node Archived Messages
11046 @section Archived Messages
11047 @cindex archived messages
11048 @cindex sent messages
11050 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11051 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11052 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11053 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11056 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11057 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11060 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11061 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11062 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11065 (nnfolder "archive"
11066 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11067 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11068 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11069 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11072 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11073 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11074 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11075 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11078 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11079 '(nnfolder "archive"
11080 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11081 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11082 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11085 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11087 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11088 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11089 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11091 This variable can be used to do the following:
11096 Messages will be saved in that group.
11098 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11099 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11100 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11101 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11102 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11103 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11104 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11105 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11109 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11111 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11112 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11115 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11120 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11122 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11125 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11127 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11130 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11132 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11133 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11134 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11135 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11138 More complex stuff:
11140 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11141 '((if (message-news-p)
11146 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11147 messages in one file per month:
11150 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11151 '((if (message-news-p)
11153 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11156 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11157 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11159 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11160 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11161 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11162 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11163 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11164 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11165 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11166 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11167 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11168 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11170 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11171 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11172 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11173 this will disable archiving.
11176 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11177 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11178 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11179 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11180 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11183 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11184 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11185 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11188 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11189 but the latter is the preferred method.
11191 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11192 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11193 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11195 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11196 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11197 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11198 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11199 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11200 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11201 changed in the future.
11206 @node Posting Styles
11207 @section Posting Styles
11208 @cindex posting styles
11211 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11213 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11214 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11215 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11218 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11219 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11220 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11221 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11222 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11227 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11228 (organization "What me?"))
11230 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11231 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11232 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11235 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11236 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11237 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11238 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11239 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11240 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11241 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11242 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11244 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11245 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11246 If it is the form @code{(header MATCH REGEXP)}, then Gnus will look in
11247 the original article for a header whose name is MATCH and compare that
11248 REGEXP. MATCH and REGEXP are strings. (There original article is the
11249 one you are replying or following up to. If you are not composing a
11250 reply or a followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11251 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with no
11252 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11253 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11254 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
11257 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11258 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11259 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11260 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11261 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11262 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11263 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11264 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11265 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11266 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11269 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11270 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11271 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11272 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11273 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11274 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11275 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11276 references chars lines xref extra.
11278 @vindex message-reply-headers
11280 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11281 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11282 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11284 @findex message-mail-p
11285 @findex message-news-p
11287 So here's a new example:
11290 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11292 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11294 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11295 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11297 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11298 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11299 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11300 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11301 (signature my-news-signature))
11302 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11303 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11304 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11305 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11306 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11307 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11308 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11309 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11310 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11311 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11313 (From (save-excursion
11314 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11315 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11317 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11320 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11321 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11322 if you fill many roles.
11329 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11330 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11331 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11332 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11333 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11335 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11336 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11337 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11338 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11339 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11343 @vindex nndraft-directory
11344 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11345 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11346 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11347 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11348 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11349 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11351 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11352 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11355 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11356 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11357 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11358 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11359 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11360 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11361 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11362 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11363 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11364 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11365 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11366 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11367 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11368 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11370 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11371 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11372 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11374 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11375 @kindex D e (Draft)
11376 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11377 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11378 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11380 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11383 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11384 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11385 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11386 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11387 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11388 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11389 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11392 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11393 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11394 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11397 @node Rejected Articles
11398 @section Rejected Articles
11399 @cindex rejected articles
11401 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11402 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11403 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11404 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11406 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11407 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11408 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11409 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11410 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11412 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11413 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11414 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11416 @node Signing and encrypting
11417 @section Signing and encrypting
11419 @cindex using s/mime
11420 @cindex using smime
11422 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11423 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11424 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11425 (@pxref{Security}).
11427 For PGP, Gnus supports two external libraries, @sc{gpg.el} and
11428 @sc{Mailcrypt}, you need to install at least one of them. The
11429 @sc{s/mime} support in Gnus requires the external program OpenSSL.
11431 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11432 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11433 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11434 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11435 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11436 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11437 automatically encrypted messages.
11439 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11440 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11441 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11446 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11447 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11449 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11452 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11453 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11455 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11458 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11459 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11461 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11464 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11465 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11467 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11470 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11471 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11473 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11476 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11477 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11479 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11482 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11483 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11484 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11488 Also @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}.
11490 @node Select Methods
11491 @chapter Select Methods
11492 @cindex foreign groups
11493 @cindex select methods
11495 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11496 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11497 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11498 personal mail group.
11500 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11501 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11502 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11503 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11504 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11505 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11507 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11508 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11510 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11513 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11514 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11515 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11516 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11517 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11519 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11522 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11523 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11524 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11525 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11526 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11527 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11528 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11529 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11533 @node Server Buffer
11534 @section Server Buffer
11536 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11537 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11538 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11539 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11540 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11541 back end represents a virtual server.
11543 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11544 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11545 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11546 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11548 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11549 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11550 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11551 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11552 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11553 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11554 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11556 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11557 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11560 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11561 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11562 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11563 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11564 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11565 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11566 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11569 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11570 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11573 @node Server Buffer Format
11574 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11575 @cindex server buffer format
11577 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11578 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11579 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11580 variable, with some simple extensions:
11585 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11588 The name of this server.
11591 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11594 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11597 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11598 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11599 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11600 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11610 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11613 @node Server Commands
11614 @subsection Server Commands
11615 @cindex server commands
11621 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11622 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11626 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11627 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11630 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11631 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11632 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11636 @findex gnus-server-exit
11637 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11641 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11642 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11646 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11647 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11651 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11652 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11656 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11657 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11661 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11662 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11663 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11668 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11669 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11670 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11671 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11676 @node Example Methods
11677 @subsection Example Methods
11679 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11682 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11685 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11691 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11692 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11695 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11696 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11698 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11699 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11703 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11706 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11707 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11709 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11710 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11711 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11715 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11718 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11721 Here's the method for a public spool:
11725 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11726 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11732 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11733 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11734 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11735 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11736 should probably look something like this:
11740 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11741 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11742 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11743 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11746 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11747 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11748 configuration to the example above:
11751 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11754 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11756 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11757 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11758 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11762 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11763 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11764 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11765 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11768 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11769 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11770 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11771 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11774 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11775 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11777 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11778 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11780 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11781 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11782 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11784 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11786 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11787 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11788 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11789 will contain the following:
11799 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11800 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11801 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11804 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11805 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11806 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11809 @node Server Variables
11810 @subsection Server Variables
11812 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11813 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11814 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11815 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11816 won't change the "derived" variables.
11818 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11819 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11820 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11821 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11822 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11823 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11824 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11825 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11826 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11830 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11831 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11832 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11836 @node Servers and Methods
11837 @subsection Servers and Methods
11839 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11840 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11841 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11842 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11846 @node Unavailable Servers
11847 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11849 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11850 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11851 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11852 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11853 actually the case or not.
11855 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11856 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11857 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11858 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11859 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11860 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11861 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11862 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11864 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11865 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11867 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11868 with the following commands:
11874 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11875 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11876 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11880 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11881 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11882 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11886 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11887 Mark the current server as unreachable
11888 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11891 @kindex M-o (Server)
11892 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11893 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11894 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11897 @kindex M-c (Server)
11898 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11899 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11900 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11904 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11905 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11906 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11910 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
11911 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
11917 @section Getting News
11918 @cindex reading news
11919 @cindex news back ends
11921 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11922 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11923 or it can read from a local spool.
11926 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11927 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11935 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11936 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11937 server as the, uhm, address.
11939 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11940 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11941 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11942 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11944 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11945 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11946 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11948 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11953 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11954 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11955 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11957 @cindex authentification
11958 @cindex nntp authentification
11959 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11960 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11961 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11962 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11963 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11964 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11965 present in this hook.
11967 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11968 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11969 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11970 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11971 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11972 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11973 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11974 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11975 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11976 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11977 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11978 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11982 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11985 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11987 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11988 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11989 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11990 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11991 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11992 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
11993 @samp{force} is explained below.
11997 Here's an example file:
12000 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12001 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12004 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12005 have to be first, for instance.
12007 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12008 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12009 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12010 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12011 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12012 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12013 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12015 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12016 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12022 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12023 previously mentioned.
12025 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12027 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12028 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12029 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12030 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12031 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12034 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12035 '(("innd" (ding))))
12038 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12040 The default value is
12043 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12044 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12045 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12048 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12049 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12051 @item nntp-maximum-request
12052 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12053 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
12054 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12055 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12056 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12057 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12058 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12060 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12061 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12062 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12063 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
12064 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12065 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12066 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12067 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12068 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12069 no timeouts are done.
12071 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12072 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12073 @c @cindex PPP connections
12074 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12075 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12076 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12077 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
12078 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12079 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12080 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12081 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12082 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12083 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12085 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12086 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12087 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12088 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12089 @c described above.
12091 @item nntp-server-hook
12092 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12093 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
12096 @item nntp-buggy-select
12097 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12098 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12100 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12101 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12102 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
12103 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12106 @item nntp-xover-commands
12107 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12110 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12111 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12115 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12116 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12117 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12118 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12119 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12120 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12121 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12122 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12123 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12124 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12125 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12127 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12128 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12129 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12131 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12132 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12133 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12134 server closes connection.
12136 @item nntp-record-commands
12137 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12138 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12139 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12140 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12141 that doesn't seem to work.
12143 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12144 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12145 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12146 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12147 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12148 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12149 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12150 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12152 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12153 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12154 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12155 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12156 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12157 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12158 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12161 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12164 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12165 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12169 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12170 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12171 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12175 @node Direct Functions
12176 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12177 @cindex direct connection functions
12179 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12180 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12181 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12182 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12185 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12186 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12187 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12190 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12191 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12192 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12193 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12194 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
12195 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
12196 define a server as follows:
12199 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12201 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12202 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports
12204 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12205 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12206 (nntp-port-number 563)
12207 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12210 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12211 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12212 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12213 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12214 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12215 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12216 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12217 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12221 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12222 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12223 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12226 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12227 session, which is not a good idea.
12231 @node Indirect Functions
12232 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12233 @cindex indirect connection functions
12235 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12236 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12237 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12238 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
12239 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12240 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12243 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12244 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12245 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12246 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12247 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12249 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12252 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12253 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12254 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12255 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12257 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12258 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12259 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12260 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12261 @samp{ssh} for `nntp-via-rlogin-command', you may set this to
12262 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12263 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12264 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12267 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12268 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12269 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12270 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12272 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12275 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12276 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12277 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12280 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12281 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12282 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12283 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12285 @item nntp-via-user-password
12286 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12287 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12289 @item nntp-via-envuser
12290 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12291 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12292 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12293 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12295 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12296 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12297 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12298 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12305 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12310 @item nntp-via-user-name
12311 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12312 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12314 @item nntp-via-address
12315 @vindex nntp-via-address
12316 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12321 @node Common Variables
12322 @subsubsection Common Variables
12324 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12325 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12330 @item nntp-pre-command
12331 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12332 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12333 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12334 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12335 wrapper for instance.
12338 @vindex nntp-address
12339 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12341 @item nntp-port-number
12342 @vindex nntp-port-number
12343 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12344 If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12345 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews}), because
12346 external SSL tools may not work with named ports.
12348 @item nntp-end-of-line
12349 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12350 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12351 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12352 using a non native connection function.
12354 @item nntp-telnet-command
12355 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12356 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12357 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12358 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12360 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12361 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12362 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12369 @subsection News Spool
12373 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12374 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12375 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12378 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12379 anything else) as the address.
12381 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12382 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12383 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12384 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12388 @item nnspool-inews-program
12389 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12390 Program used to post an article.
12392 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12393 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12394 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12396 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12397 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12398 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12399 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12401 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12402 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12403 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12404 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12406 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12407 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12408 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12410 @item nnspool-active-file
12411 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12412 The path to the active file.
12414 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12415 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12416 The path to the group descriptions file.
12418 @item nnspool-history-file
12419 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12420 The path to the news history file.
12422 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12423 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12424 The path to the active date file.
12426 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12427 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12428 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12431 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12432 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12434 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12435 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12436 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12442 @section Getting Mail
12443 @cindex reading mail
12446 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12450 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12451 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12452 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12453 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12454 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12455 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12456 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12457 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12458 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12459 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12460 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12461 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12462 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12466 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12467 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12469 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12470 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12471 of a culture shock.
12473 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12474 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12476 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12477 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12478 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12479 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12481 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12483 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12484 deleted? How awful!
12486 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12487 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12488 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12489 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12492 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12493 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12494 they want to treat a message.
12496 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12497 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12498 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12499 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12500 archived somewhere else.
12502 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12503 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12504 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12505 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12506 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12508 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12509 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12510 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12512 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12513 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12516 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12517 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12518 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12519 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12520 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12522 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12523 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12524 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12525 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12526 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12527 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12531 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12532 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12534 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12535 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12536 and things will happen automatically.
12538 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
12539 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
12542 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12545 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12546 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12547 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12548 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12549 like any other group.
12551 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12554 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12555 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12556 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12560 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12561 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12562 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12565 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12566 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12567 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12570 @node Splitting Mail
12571 @subsection Splitting Mail
12572 @cindex splitting mail
12573 @cindex mail splitting
12575 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12576 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12577 to be split into groups.
12580 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12581 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12582 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12583 ("mail.other" "")))
12586 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12587 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12588 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12589 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12590 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12591 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12592 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12595 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12598 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12599 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12600 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12601 mail belongs in that group.
12603 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12604 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
12605 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12606 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12607 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
12608 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
12610 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12611 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12612 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12613 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12614 thinks should carry this mail message.
12616 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12617 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12618 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12619 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12621 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12622 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12623 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12624 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12625 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12627 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12630 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12631 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12632 links. If that's the case for you, set
12633 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12634 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12636 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12637 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12638 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12639 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12640 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12641 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12644 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12645 Header lines longer than the value of
12646 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12649 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12650 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12651 By default the splitting codes MIME decodes headers so you can match
12652 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12653 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12654 can be turned off completely by binding
12655 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12656 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12658 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12659 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
12660 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
12661 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
12662 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
12663 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
12664 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
12667 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12668 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12669 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12670 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12671 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12672 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12673 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12674 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12675 month's rent money.
12679 @subsection Mail Sources
12681 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12682 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12686 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12687 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12688 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12692 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12693 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12695 @cindex mail server
12698 @cindex mail source
12700 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12701 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12706 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12709 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12710 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12711 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12714 The following mail source types are available:
12718 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12724 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12725 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12726 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12729 An example file mail source:
12732 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12735 Or using the default path:
12741 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12742 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12743 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12746 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12750 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12753 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12757 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12760 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12762 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12765 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12769 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
12770 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
12771 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
12772 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
12773 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
12774 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12775 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12776 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
12777 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
12778 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12780 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12781 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12782 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12783 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
12789 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12793 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12797 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12798 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12799 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12800 predicate are considered.
12804 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12808 An example directory mail source:
12811 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12816 Get mail from a POP server.
12822 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12823 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12826 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12827 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12828 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12829 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12830 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12833 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12837 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12841 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12842 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12845 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12848 The valid format specifier characters are:
12852 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12853 included in this string.
12856 The name of the server.
12859 The port number of the server.
12862 The user name to use.
12865 The password to use.
12868 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12869 corresponding keywords.
12872 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12873 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12876 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12877 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12880 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12881 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12884 @item :authentication
12885 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12886 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12891 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12892 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12894 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12895 default user name, and default fetcher:
12901 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12904 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12905 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12908 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12911 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12915 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12916 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12917 contains exactly one mail.
12923 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12924 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12927 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12928 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12930 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12931 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12932 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12935 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12936 from locking problems).
12940 Two example maildir mail sources:
12943 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12944 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12948 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12953 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12954 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12955 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12956 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12959 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12960 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12966 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12967 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12970 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12971 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12974 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12978 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12982 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12983 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12984 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12985 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12987 @item :authentication
12988 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12989 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12990 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12991 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
12994 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
12995 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
12996 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13002 The valid format specifier characters are:
13006 The name of the server.
13009 User name from `imap-default-user'.
13012 The port number of the server.
13015 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13016 corresponding keywords.
13019 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13020 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13023 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13024 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13025 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13026 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13027 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13028 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13031 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13032 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13033 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13034 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13037 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13038 after finishing the fetch.
13042 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13045 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13047 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13051 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13052 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13053 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13055 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13056 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13058 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13064 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13065 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13068 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13072 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13076 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13077 folder after finishing the fetch.
13081 An example webmail source:
13084 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13086 :password "secret")
13091 @item Common Keywords
13092 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13098 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13099 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13103 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13108 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13109 useful when you use local mail and news.
13114 @subsubsection Function Interface
13116 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13117 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13118 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13119 consider the following mail-source setting:
13122 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13123 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13126 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13127 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13128 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13129 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13130 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13132 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13135 @node Mail Source Customization
13136 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13138 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13139 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13143 @item mail-source-crash-box
13144 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13145 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13146 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13148 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13149 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13150 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
13152 @item mail-source-directory
13153 @vindex mail-source-directory
13154 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13155 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13156 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13159 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13160 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13161 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13162 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13163 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13164 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13166 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13167 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13168 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13170 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13171 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13172 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13173 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13178 @node Fetching Mail
13179 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13181 @vindex mail-sources
13182 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13183 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13184 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13185 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13187 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13188 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13191 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13192 mail server, you'd say something like:
13197 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13198 :password "secret")))
13201 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13205 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13206 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13209 :password "secret")))
13213 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13214 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13215 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13216 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13217 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13218 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13222 @node Mail Back End Variables
13223 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13225 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13229 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13230 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13231 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13232 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13234 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13235 @item nnmail-split-hook
13236 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
13237 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13238 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13239 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13240 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13241 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13242 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13243 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13244 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13247 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13248 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13249 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13250 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13251 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13252 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13253 starting to handle the new mail) and
13254 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13255 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13256 default file modes the new mail files get:
13259 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13260 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13262 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13263 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13266 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13267 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13268 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13269 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13270 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13271 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13272 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13274 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13275 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13276 @findex delete-file
13277 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13279 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13280 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13281 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13282 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13283 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13285 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13286 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13287 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13288 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13289 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13291 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13292 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13293 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13298 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13299 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13300 @cindex mail splitting
13301 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13303 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13304 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13305 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13306 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13307 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13308 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13310 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13313 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13314 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13315 ;; from real errors.
13316 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13318 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13319 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13320 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13321 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13322 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13323 ;; Other mailing lists...
13324 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13325 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13326 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13327 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13328 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13329 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13330 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13331 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13333 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13334 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13338 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13339 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13340 the five possible split syntaxes:
13345 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13346 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13350 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13351 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13352 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13353 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13354 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13355 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13356 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13357 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13360 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13361 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13362 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13363 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13366 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13367 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13370 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13371 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13374 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13375 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13376 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13377 function should return a @var{split}.
13380 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13381 body of the messages:
13384 (defun split-on-body ()
13386 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13387 (goto-char (point-min))
13388 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13392 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13393 when the @code{:} function is run.
13396 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13397 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
13398 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
13402 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13406 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13407 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13408 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13409 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13410 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13412 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13413 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13414 are expanded as specified by the variable
13415 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13416 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13419 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13420 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13421 when all this splitting is performed.
13423 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13424 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13425 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13428 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13431 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13432 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13434 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13435 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13436 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13437 groupings 1 through 9.
13439 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13440 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13441 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13442 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13443 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13444 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13445 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13446 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13447 it once per thread.
13449 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13450 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13451 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13454 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13455 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13457 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13458 ;; other splits go here
13462 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13463 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13464 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13465 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13466 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13467 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13468 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13469 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13470 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13471 unless the group name matches the regexp
13472 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13473 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13474 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13475 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13476 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13477 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13478 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13479 messages goes into the new group.
13481 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13482 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13483 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13484 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13485 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13489 @node Group Mail Splitting
13490 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13491 @cindex mail splitting
13492 @cindex group mail splitting
13494 @findex gnus-group-split
13495 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13496 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13497 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13498 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13499 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13500 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13501 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13502 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13504 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13505 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13506 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13507 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13509 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13510 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13511 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13512 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13513 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13514 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13515 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13517 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13518 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13519 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13520 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13521 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13522 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13523 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13525 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13526 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13527 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13528 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13529 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13530 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13531 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13532 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13533 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13534 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13535 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13536 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13537 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13539 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13544 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13545 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13547 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13548 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13549 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13550 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13552 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13555 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13556 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13557 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13560 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13561 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13562 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13566 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13567 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13568 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13572 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13575 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13576 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13577 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13578 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13579 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13580 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13581 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13582 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13583 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13585 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13586 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13587 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13588 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13589 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13590 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13591 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13592 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13593 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13595 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13596 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13597 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13598 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13599 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13600 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
13603 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13606 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13607 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13608 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13609 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13610 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13613 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13614 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13615 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13616 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13618 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13619 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13620 @cindex incorporating old mail
13621 @cindex import old mail
13623 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13624 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13625 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13628 Doing so can be quite easy.
13630 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13631 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13632 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13633 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13634 your @code{nnml} groups.
13640 Go to the group buffer.
13643 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13644 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13647 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
13650 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13651 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13654 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13655 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13658 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13659 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13660 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13661 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13662 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13664 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13665 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13666 using the new mail back end.
13669 @node Expiring Mail
13670 @subsection Expiring Mail
13671 @cindex article expiry
13673 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13674 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13675 different approach to mail reading.
13677 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13678 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13679 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13680 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13681 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13682 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13685 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13686 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default keybindings, this means
13687 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
13688 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13689 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13690 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13691 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13692 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13693 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13695 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
13696 two features, called `auto-expire' and `total-expire', that can help you
13697 with this. In a nutshell, `auto-expire' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
13698 for you when you select an article. And `total-expire' means that Gnus
13699 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
13700 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
13701 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
13704 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
13705 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
13706 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
13707 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
13708 into its own group.)
13710 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
13711 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
13712 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
13713 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
13714 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
13715 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
13716 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring @pxref{Adaptive
13717 Scoring}. Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
13720 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13721 Groups that match the regular expression
13722 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
13723 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
13724 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
13726 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13727 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13728 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13729 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13732 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13734 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13735 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13736 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13739 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13740 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13741 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13742 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13743 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13745 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13746 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13749 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13750 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13753 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13754 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13756 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13757 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13758 don't really mix very well.
13760 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13761 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13762 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13763 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13766 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13767 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13768 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13769 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13772 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13774 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13776 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13778 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13780 ((string= group "important")
13786 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13787 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13789 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13790 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13791 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13794 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13795 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13797 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13798 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13799 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13800 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13801 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13802 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13803 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13804 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13805 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13806 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13807 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13808 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13809 name or @code{delete}.
13811 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13813 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13816 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13817 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13818 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13819 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13820 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13823 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13824 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13825 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13826 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13827 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13830 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13831 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13832 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13833 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13834 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13835 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13837 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13838 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13839 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13840 easier for procmail users.
13842 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13843 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13844 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13845 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13846 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13847 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13848 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13849 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13850 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13851 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13852 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13853 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13854 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13857 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13859 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13860 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13861 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13862 auto-expire turned on.
13866 @subsection Washing Mail
13867 @cindex mail washing
13868 @cindex list server brain damage
13869 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13871 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13872 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13873 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
13874 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
13875 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
13876 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
13878 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
13879 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
13880 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13883 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13884 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13885 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13886 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13889 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13890 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13891 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13892 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13893 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13896 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13897 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13898 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13899 Emacs running on MS machines.
13903 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13904 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13905 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13906 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13909 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13910 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13911 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13912 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13914 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
13915 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
13916 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
13917 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
13918 into a feature by documenting it.)
13920 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13921 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13922 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13923 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13924 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13925 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13926 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13929 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13930 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13933 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13934 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13937 This can also be done non-destructively with
13938 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13940 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13941 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13942 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13944 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13945 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13947 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13948 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13949 @code{References} headers.
13953 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13954 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13955 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13959 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13960 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13961 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13968 @subsection Duplicates
13970 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13971 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13972 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13973 @cindex duplicate mails
13974 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13975 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13976 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13977 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13978 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13979 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13980 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13981 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13982 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13983 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13984 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13985 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13986 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13988 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13989 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13990 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13991 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
13993 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
13996 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
13997 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14001 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14002 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
14003 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14004 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
14005 (any mail "mail.misc")
14012 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14013 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14018 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14019 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14020 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14021 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14022 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14025 @node Not Reading Mail
14026 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14028 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14029 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14030 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14032 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14033 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14034 mail, which should help.
14036 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14037 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14038 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14039 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14040 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14041 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14042 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
14043 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14044 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14045 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14046 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14048 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14049 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14053 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14054 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14056 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14057 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14058 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14060 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14061 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14062 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14063 Spool}). You might notice that only five back ends are listed below;
14064 @code{nnmaildir}'s documentation has not yet been completely
14065 incorporated into this manual. Until it is, you can find it at
14066 @uref{http://multivac.cwru.edu./nnmaildir/}.
14069 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14070 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
14071 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14072 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14073 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14074 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14078 @node Unix Mail Box
14079 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14081 @cindex unix mail box
14083 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14084 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14085 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14086 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14087 which group it belongs in.
14089 Virtual server settings:
14092 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14093 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14094 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14097 @item nnmbox-active-file
14098 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14099 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14100 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14102 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14103 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14104 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14105 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14110 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14114 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14115 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14116 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
14117 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14118 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14120 Virtual server settings:
14123 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14124 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14125 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14127 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14128 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14129 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14130 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14132 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14133 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14134 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14140 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14142 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14144 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14145 format. It should be used with some caution.
14147 @vindex nnml-directory
14148 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14149 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14150 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14151 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14153 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14156 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14157 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14158 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14159 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14160 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14161 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14162 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14163 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14165 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14166 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14167 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14168 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14170 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14172 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14173 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14174 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14175 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14176 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14177 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14178 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14179 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14182 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14183 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14184 them next time it starts.
14186 Virtual server settings:
14189 @item nnml-directory
14190 @vindex nnml-directory
14191 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
14192 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
14195 @item nnml-active-file
14196 @vindex nnml-active-file
14197 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14198 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
14200 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14201 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14202 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14203 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
14205 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14206 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14207 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14210 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14211 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14212 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14213 default is @code{nil}.
14215 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14216 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14217 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14219 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14220 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14221 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14223 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14224 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14225 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14226 default is @code{nil}.
14228 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14229 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14230 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14232 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14233 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14234 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14239 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14240 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14241 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14242 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14243 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14244 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14245 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14250 @subsubsection MH Spool
14252 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14254 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14255 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14256 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14257 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14259 Virtual server settings:
14262 @item nnmh-directory
14263 @vindex nnmh-directory
14264 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14265 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14268 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14269 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14270 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14274 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14275 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14276 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14277 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14278 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14279 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14280 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14285 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14287 @cindex mbox folders
14288 @cindex mail folders
14290 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14291 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14292 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14295 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14297 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14298 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14299 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14300 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14301 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14302 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14303 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14304 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14305 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14306 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14308 Virtual server settings:
14311 @item nnfolder-directory
14312 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14313 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14314 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14317 @item nnfolder-active-file
14318 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14319 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14321 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14322 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14323 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14324 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
14326 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14327 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14328 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14331 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14332 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14333 @cindex backup files
14334 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14335 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14336 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14337 your @file{.emacs} file:
14340 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14341 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14343 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14346 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14347 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14348 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14349 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14350 extract some information from it before removing it.
14352 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14353 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14354 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14355 default is @code{nil}.
14357 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14358 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14359 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14361 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14362 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14363 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14364 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14366 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14367 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14368 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14369 default is @code{nil}.
14371 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14372 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14373 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14375 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14376 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14377 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14378 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14383 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14384 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14385 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14386 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14387 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14388 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14391 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14392 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14394 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14395 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14396 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14397 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14398 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14400 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14401 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14402 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14403 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14404 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14405 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14406 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14407 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14410 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14411 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14412 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14413 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14418 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14419 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14420 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14421 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14422 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14423 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14424 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14425 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14426 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14427 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14428 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14429 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14430 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14435 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14436 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14437 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14438 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14439 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14440 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14441 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14442 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14443 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14444 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14445 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14446 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14447 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14448 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14450 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14451 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14456 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14457 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14458 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14459 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14460 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14461 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14462 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14463 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14464 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14465 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14466 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14467 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14468 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14469 provided by the active file and overviews.
14471 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14472 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
14473 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14474 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14475 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14478 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14479 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14484 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14485 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14486 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14487 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14488 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14489 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14490 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14494 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14495 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14496 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14497 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14498 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14499 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14500 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14501 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14502 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14504 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14505 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
14506 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
14507 friendly mail back end all over.
14511 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
14512 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
14513 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
14514 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
14515 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
14516 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
14517 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
14518 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
14521 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
14522 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
14523 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
14524 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
14525 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
14526 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
14527 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
14528 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
14529 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
14530 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will undergo
14531 treatment such as duplicate checking.
14533 An article will not necessarily keep the same number across Gnus
14534 sessions; articles are renumbered starting from 1 for each Gnus session
14535 (more precisely, each time you open the @code{nnmaildir} server). This
14536 way, you don't get gaps in your article number ranges, and when entering
14537 large groups, Gnus is likely to give a more accurate article count. The
14538 price is that @code{nnmaildir} doesn't work with the cache or agent.
14539 This will probably be changed in the future.
14541 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
14542 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
14543 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
14544 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
14545 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
14548 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
14549 parameters slightly different from those of other mail back ends.
14551 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
14552 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
14553 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
14554 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
14555 parameter to somthing small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
14556 would) to make it use less memory.
14558 Startup and shutdown are likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than
14559 with other back ends. Everything in between is likely to be faster,
14560 depending in part on your filesystem.
14562 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
14563 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
14568 @node Browsing the Web
14569 @section Browsing the Web
14571 @cindex browsing the web
14575 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
14576 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
14577 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
14578 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
14579 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
14580 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
14581 even know what a news group is.
14583 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14584 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14585 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14586 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14587 you mad in the end.
14589 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14592 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14593 interfaces to these sources.
14597 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14598 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14599 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14600 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14601 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14602 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14605 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14607 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14608 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14609 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14610 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14611 though, you should be ok.
14613 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14614 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14615 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14616 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14617 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14619 @node Archiving Mail
14620 @subsection Archiving Mail
14621 @cindex archiving mail
14622 @cindex backup of mail
14624 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
14625 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
14626 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
14627 marks is fairly simple.
14629 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14630 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
14633 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
14634 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
14635 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
14636 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
14637 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
14638 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
14639 might interfer with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
14640 before you restore the data.
14642 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
14643 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
14644 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
14645 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
14646 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
14647 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
14648 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
14649 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
14650 is unnecessary in that case.
14653 @subsection Web Searches
14658 @cindex Usenet searches
14659 @cindex searching the Usenet
14661 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14662 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14663 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14664 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14665 searches without having to use a browser.
14667 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14668 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14669 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14670 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14671 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14673 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14674 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14675 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14676 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14677 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14678 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14679 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14680 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14681 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14682 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14685 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14686 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14687 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14688 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14689 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14690 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14692 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14693 to use @code{nnweb}.
14695 Virtual server variables:
14700 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14701 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
14702 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
14705 @vindex nnweb-search
14706 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14708 @item nnweb-max-hits
14709 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14710 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14713 @item nnweb-type-definition
14714 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14715 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14716 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14721 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14725 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14728 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14731 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14735 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14742 @subsection Slashdot
14746 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14747 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14748 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14750 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14751 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14754 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14755 '((nnslashdot "")))
14758 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14759 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14760 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14761 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14762 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14765 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14766 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14768 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14769 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14770 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14771 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14772 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14773 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14776 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14779 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14780 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14781 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14782 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14783 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14784 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14785 but much, much slower than untreaded.
14787 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14788 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14789 The login name to use when posting.
14791 @item nnslashdot-password
14792 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14793 The password to use when posting.
14795 @item nnslashdot-directory
14796 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14797 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14798 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14800 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14801 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14802 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14803 news articles and comments. The default is
14804 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14806 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14807 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14808 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14810 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14812 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14813 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14814 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14816 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14818 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14819 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14820 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14822 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14823 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14824 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14825 updated. The default is 0.
14832 @subsection Ultimate
14834 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14836 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14837 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14838 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14839 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14841 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14842 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14843 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14844 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14845 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14846 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14847 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14849 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14852 @item nnultimate-directory
14853 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14854 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14855 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
14860 @subsection Web Archive
14862 @cindex Web Archive
14864 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
14865 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
14866 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
14867 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14870 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
14871 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
14872 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
14873 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
14874 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
14875 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
14876 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
14878 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
14881 @item nnwarchive-directory
14882 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
14883 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
14884 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
14886 @item nnwarchive-login
14887 @vindex nnwarchive-login
14888 The account name on the web server.
14890 @item nnwarchive-passwd
14891 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
14892 The password for your account on the web server.
14900 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
14901 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
14902 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14905 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
14906 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
14909 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
14912 @item nnrss-directory
14913 @vindex nnrss-directory
14914 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
14915 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
14919 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
14920 the summary buffer.
14923 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
14924 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
14926 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
14928 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
14929 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
14932 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
14935 (require 'browse-url)
14937 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
14939 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
14942 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
14943 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
14946 (browse-url (cdr url))
14947 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
14948 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
14950 (eval-after-load "gnus"
14951 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
14952 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
14953 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
14956 @node Customizing w3
14957 @subsection Customizing w3
14963 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14964 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14965 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14967 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14968 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14969 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14972 (eval-after-load "w3"
14974 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14975 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14976 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14977 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14979 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14982 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14983 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14992 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14993 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14994 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14995 specify the network address of the server.
14997 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14998 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14999 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
15000 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
15001 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15003 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
15004 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
15005 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
15006 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
15008 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15009 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15010 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
15011 usage explained in this section.
15013 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
15014 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
15015 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
15018 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15019 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
15020 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
15022 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15023 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15024 ; a UW server running on localhost
15026 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15027 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15028 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15029 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
15030 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15031 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15032 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15033 (nnimap-stream network))
15034 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
15036 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15037 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15038 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15041 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15046 @item nnimap-address
15047 @vindex nnimap-address
15049 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
15050 server name if not specified.
15052 @item nnimap-server-port
15053 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15054 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
15056 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15059 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15060 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15063 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15064 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15065 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15066 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15067 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
15068 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15069 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15071 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15072 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15073 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15076 Example server specification:
15079 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15080 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15081 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15084 @item nnimap-stream
15085 @vindex nnimap-stream
15086 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15087 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15088 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
15089 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15091 Example server specification:
15094 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15095 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15098 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15102 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15103 @samp{imtest} program.
15105 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15107 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15108 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15111 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15112 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
15113 library @samp{ssl.el}.
15115 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
15117 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15120 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15121 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15122 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15123 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15124 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15125 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15126 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15127 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15128 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15131 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15132 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15133 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15134 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
15135 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15136 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15137 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15138 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
15139 distribution, for instance).
15141 @vindex imap-shell-program
15142 @vindex imap-shell-host
15143 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15144 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15146 @item nnimap-authenticator
15147 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15149 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15150 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15152 Example server specification:
15155 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15156 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15159 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15163 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15164 external program @code{imtest}.
15166 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15169 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15170 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15172 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15174 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15176 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
15179 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15181 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15182 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15183 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15184 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15185 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15186 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15189 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15190 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15191 running in circles yet?
15193 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15194 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15197 The possible options are:
15202 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
15205 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15206 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15207 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15208 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15210 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15215 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15216 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15218 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15219 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15220 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15221 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15222 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15225 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15226 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15229 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15230 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15231 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15232 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15235 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15236 as ticked for other users.
15238 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15240 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15242 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15243 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15244 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15245 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15247 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15248 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15249 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15250 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15252 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15253 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15255 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15256 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15257 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15263 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15264 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
15265 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15266 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
15267 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
15272 @node Splitting in IMAP
15273 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15274 @cindex splitting imap mail
15276 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15277 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15278 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15279 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15280 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15284 Here are the variables of interest:
15288 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15289 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15291 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15293 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15294 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15296 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15298 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15299 @cindex splitting, inbox
15301 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15303 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15304 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15308 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15309 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15312 No nnmail equivalent.
15314 @item nnimap-split-rule
15315 @cindex Splitting, rules
15316 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15318 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15321 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15322 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15323 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15324 Neither did I, we need examples.
15327 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15329 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15330 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15331 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15334 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15335 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15336 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15338 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15339 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15343 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15346 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
15347 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
15349 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15350 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15351 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15352 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15354 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15355 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15356 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15357 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15358 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15359 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15361 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15362 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
15363 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
15365 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15366 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15367 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15369 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15371 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15372 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15373 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15376 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15377 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15378 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15379 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15380 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15381 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15384 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15385 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15386 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15387 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15388 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15389 group/function elements.
15391 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15393 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15395 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15397 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15398 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15400 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15401 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15402 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15405 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15406 @cindex splitting, fancy
15407 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15408 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15410 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15411 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15412 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15414 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15415 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15416 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15417 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15422 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15423 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15426 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15430 @node Expiring in IMAP
15431 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
15432 @cindex expiring imap mail
15434 Even though @sc{nnimap} is not a proper @sc{nnmail} derived back end,
15435 it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
15436 Unlike splitting in IMAP (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}) it do not clone
15437 the @sc{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating @var{nnimap-expiry-wait})
15438 but reuse the @sc{nnmail} variables. What follows below are the
15439 variables used by the @sc{nnimap} expiry process.
15441 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @sc{imap} server is
15442 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
15443 @sc{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
15444 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
15445 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
15446 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
15447 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
15448 messages. Most do, fortunately.
15452 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
15453 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15455 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
15456 number, the symbol @var{immediate} or @var{never}.
15458 @item nnmail-expiry-target
15460 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
15461 @sc{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
15462 that if the destination is a IMAP group on the same server, the
15463 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
15467 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15468 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15469 @cindex editing imap acls
15470 @cindex Access Control Lists
15471 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15473 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15475 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15476 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15477 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15480 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15481 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15482 editing window with detailed instructions.
15484 Some possible uses:
15488 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15489 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15490 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15492 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15493 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
15494 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15498 @node Expunging mailboxes
15499 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
15503 @cindex Manual expunging
15505 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
15507 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
15508 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
15509 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
15511 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
15514 @node A note on namespaces
15515 @subsection A note on namespaces
15516 @cindex IMAP namespace
15519 The IMAP protocol has a concept called namespaces, described by the
15520 following text in the RFC:
15523 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
15525 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
15526 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
15527 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
15528 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
15530 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
15531 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
15532 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
15533 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
15534 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
15535 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
15538 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the IMAP
15539 implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace prefixes in a way
15540 that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
15542 Specifically, University of Washington's IMAP server uses mailbox
15543 names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only in the
15544 @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is created
15545 (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed without
15546 the namespace prefix, i.e @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do not make it
15547 possible for the user to guarantee that user entered mailbox names
15548 will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands, you should
15549 simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in Gnus.
15551 See the UoW @sc{imapd} documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
15552 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
15553 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
15555 @node Other Sources
15556 @section Other Sources
15558 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
15559 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
15563 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
15564 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
15565 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
15566 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
15567 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
15571 @node Directory Groups
15572 @subsection Directory Groups
15574 @cindex directory groups
15576 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
15577 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
15580 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
15581 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
15582 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
15583 back end to read directories. Big deal.
15585 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
15586 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
15587 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
15588 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
15589 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
15591 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
15593 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
15594 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
15595 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
15596 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
15599 @node Anything Groups
15600 @subsection Anything Groups
15603 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
15604 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
15605 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
15608 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
15609 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
15610 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
15611 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
15612 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
15613 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
15614 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
15615 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
15616 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
15617 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
15620 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
15621 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
15622 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
15623 in the article buffer, just as usual.
15625 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
15626 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
15627 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
15628 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
15630 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
15631 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
15632 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
15633 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
15634 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
15635 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
15636 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
15637 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
15642 @item nneething-map-file-directory
15643 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
15644 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
15645 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
15647 @item nneething-exclude-files
15648 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
15649 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
15650 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
15652 @item nneething-include-files
15653 @vindex nneething-include-files
15654 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
15655 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
15657 @item nneething-map-file
15658 @vindex nneething-map-file
15659 Name of the map files.
15663 @node Document Groups
15664 @subsection Document Groups
15666 @cindex documentation group
15669 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15670 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15677 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15682 The standard Unix mbox file.
15684 @cindex MMDF mail box
15686 The MMDF mail box format.
15689 Several news articles appended into a file.
15692 @cindex rnews batch files
15693 The rnews batch transport format.
15694 @cindex forwarded messages
15697 Forwarded articles.
15700 Netscape mail boxes.
15703 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
15705 @item standard-digest
15706 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15709 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
15711 @item lanl-gov-announce
15712 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
15714 @item rfc822-forward
15715 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
15718 The Outlook mail box.
15721 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
15724 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
15727 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
15730 An RFC934-forwarded message.
15736 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
15739 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15745 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15746 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15747 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15750 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15751 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15752 group. And that's it.
15754 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15755 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15756 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15757 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15758 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15759 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15760 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15761 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15762 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15763 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15765 Virtual server variables:
15768 @item nndoc-article-type
15769 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15770 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15771 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15772 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15773 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
15774 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
15776 @item nndoc-post-type
15777 @vindex nndoc-post-type
15778 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
15779 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
15784 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
15788 @node Document Server Internals
15789 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
15791 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
15792 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
15793 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
15794 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
15796 First, here's an example document type definition:
15800 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
15801 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
15804 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
15805 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
15806 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
15807 types can be defined with very few settings:
15810 @item first-article
15811 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
15812 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
15815 @item article-begin
15816 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
15817 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
15819 @item head-begin-function
15820 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
15823 @item nndoc-head-begin
15824 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
15827 @item nndoc-head-end
15828 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
15829 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
15831 @item body-begin-function
15832 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
15836 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
15839 @item body-end-function
15840 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
15844 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
15847 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
15848 regexp will be totally ignored.
15852 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
15853 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
15854 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
15855 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
15856 something that's palatable for Gnus:
15859 @item prepare-body-function
15860 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
15861 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
15862 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
15864 @item article-transform-function
15865 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
15866 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
15867 body of the article.
15869 @item generate-head-function
15870 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
15871 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
15872 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
15873 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
15877 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
15882 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15883 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15884 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
15885 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
15886 (head-end . "^ ?$")
15887 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
15888 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
15889 (subtype digest guess))
15892 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
15893 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
15894 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
15895 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
15896 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
15898 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
15899 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
15900 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
15901 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
15902 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
15903 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
15904 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
15905 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
15906 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
15907 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
15915 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
15916 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
15917 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
15919 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
15920 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
15921 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
15924 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
15925 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
15926 that interested in doing things properly.
15928 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
15929 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
15932 First some terminology:
15937 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
15938 get news and/or mail from.
15941 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
15942 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
15945 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
15949 @item message packets
15950 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
15951 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
15952 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15954 @item response packets
15955 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
15956 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
15957 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15967 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
15968 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
15969 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
15970 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
15973 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
15976 You put the packet in your home directory.
15979 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
15980 the native or secondary server.
15983 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
15984 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
15987 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
15991 You transfer this packet to the server.
15994 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
15997 You then repeat until you die.
16001 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16002 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16005 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16006 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16007 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16011 @node SOUP Commands
16012 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16014 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16018 @kindex G s b (Group)
16019 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16020 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16021 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16022 process/prefix convention.
16025 @kindex G s w (Group)
16026 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16027 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16030 @kindex G s s (Group)
16031 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16032 Send all replies from the replies packet
16033 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16036 @kindex G s p (Group)
16037 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16038 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16041 @kindex G s r (Group)
16042 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16043 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16046 @kindex O s (Summary)
16047 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16048 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16049 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16050 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16055 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16060 @item gnus-soup-directory
16061 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16062 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16063 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16065 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16066 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16067 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16068 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16070 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16071 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16072 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16073 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16075 @item gnus-soup-packer
16076 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16077 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16078 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16080 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16081 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16082 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16083 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16085 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16086 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16087 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16089 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16090 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16091 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16092 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16098 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16101 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16102 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16103 you can read them at leisure.
16105 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16109 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16110 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16111 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16112 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16114 @item nnsoup-directory
16115 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16116 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16117 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16119 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16120 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16121 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16122 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
16124 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16125 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16126 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16127 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16128 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16130 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16131 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16132 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16133 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16135 @item nnsoup-active-file
16136 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16137 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16138 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16139 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16140 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16142 @item nnsoup-packer
16143 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16144 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16145 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16147 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16148 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16149 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16150 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16152 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16153 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16154 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16157 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16158 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16159 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16162 @item nnsoup-always-save
16163 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16164 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16170 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16172 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16173 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16174 more for that to happen.
16176 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16177 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16178 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16181 In specific, this is what it does:
16184 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16185 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
16188 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
16189 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
16190 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
16193 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
16194 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
16195 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
16198 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
16199 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
16200 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
16202 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
16208 @item nngateway-address
16209 @vindex nngateway-address
16210 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
16212 @item nngateway-header-transformation
16213 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
16214 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
16215 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16216 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16217 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16218 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16221 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16222 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16223 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16226 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16229 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16232 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16235 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16237 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16240 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16241 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16242 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16244 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16246 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16247 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16248 @code{nngateway-address}.
16253 (setq gnus-post-method
16255 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16256 (nngateway-header-transformation
16257 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16265 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16268 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16273 @node Combined Groups
16274 @section Combined Groups
16276 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16280 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16281 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16285 @node Virtual Groups
16286 @subsection Virtual Groups
16288 @cindex virtual groups
16289 @cindex merging groups
16291 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16294 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16295 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16296 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16298 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16299 regexp to match component groups.
16301 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16302 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16303 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16304 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16305 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16306 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16307 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16308 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16310 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16311 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16314 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16317 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16318 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16320 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16321 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16322 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16323 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16326 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16329 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16330 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16331 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16333 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16334 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16335 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16336 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16337 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16339 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16340 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16341 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16343 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16344 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16345 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16346 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16347 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16348 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16349 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16350 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16351 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16352 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16353 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16355 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16356 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16357 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16358 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16359 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16360 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16361 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16363 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16364 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16366 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16367 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16371 @node Kibozed Groups
16372 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16376 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16377 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16378 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16379 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16381 @kindex G k (Group)
16382 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16385 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16386 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16387 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16388 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16390 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16391 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16392 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16394 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16395 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16396 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16397 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16398 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16399 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16400 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16401 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16403 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16404 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16405 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16406 Stranger things have happened.
16408 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16409 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16411 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16412 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16413 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16414 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16415 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16416 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16418 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16419 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16422 @node Gnus Unplugged
16423 @section Gnus Unplugged
16428 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16430 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16431 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16432 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16433 read news. Believe it or not.
16435 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16436 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16437 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16438 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16439 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16441 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16442 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16443 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16444 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16445 reading news on a machine.
16447 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16448 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16450 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16453 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16454 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16455 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16456 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16457 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16458 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16459 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16460 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16461 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16462 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16463 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16468 @subsection Agent Basics
16470 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16472 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16473 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16474 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16475 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16477 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16478 connected to the net continuously.
16480 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16481 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16483 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16488 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16489 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16490 already fetched while in this mode.
16493 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16494 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
16495 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
16496 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
16497 Source Specifiers}).
16500 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
16501 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
16502 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
16503 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
16504 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
16507 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
16508 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
16509 then you read the news offline.
16512 And then you go to step 2.
16515 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
16521 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
16522 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
16523 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
16524 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
16525 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
16526 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
16527 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
16528 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
16531 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
16538 @node Agent Categories
16539 @subsection Agent Categories
16541 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
16542 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
16543 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
16544 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
16545 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
16546 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
16547 you're interested in the articles anyway.
16549 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
16550 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
16551 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
16552 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
16553 managing categories.
16556 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
16557 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
16558 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
16562 @node Category Syntax
16563 @subsubsection Category Syntax
16565 A category consists of two things.
16569 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
16570 are eligible for downloading; and
16573 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
16574 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
16575 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
16578 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
16579 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
16580 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
16581 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
16583 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
16584 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
16585 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
16587 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
16588 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
16589 operators sprinkled in between.
16591 Perhaps some examples are in order.
16593 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
16594 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
16600 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
16601 short (for some value of ``short'').
16603 Here's a more complex predicate:
16612 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
16613 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
16616 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
16617 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
16618 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
16620 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
16621 you want to do, you can write your own.
16625 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
16626 lines; default 100.
16629 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
16630 lines; default 200.
16633 True iff the article has a download score less than
16634 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
16637 True iff the article has a download score greater than
16638 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
16641 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
16642 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
16643 checksum and sees whether articles match.
16652 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
16653 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
16654 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
16657 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
16658 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
16659 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
16660 something along the lines of the following:
16663 (defun my-article-old-p ()
16664 "Say whether an article is old."
16665 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
16666 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
16669 with the predicate then defined as:
16672 (not my-article-old-p)
16675 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
16676 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
16680 (require 'gnus-agent)
16681 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
16682 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
16683 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
16686 and simply specify your predicate as:
16692 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16693 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16694 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16695 just don't give a damn.
16697 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
16698 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16699 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16700 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16701 parameters like so:
16704 (agent-predicate . short)
16707 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16708 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16709 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16711 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16714 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16717 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16718 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16719 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16722 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16723 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16724 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16725 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16726 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16727 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16729 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16730 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16731 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16732 if it's to be specific to that group.
16734 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16741 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16742 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16748 Category specification
16752 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16758 Group Parameter specification
16761 (agent-score ("from"
16762 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16767 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16773 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
16780 Category specification
16783 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
16789 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
16793 Group Parameter specification
16796 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
16799 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
16804 Use @code{normal} score files
16806 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
16807 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
16808 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
16809 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
16811 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
16812 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
16813 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
16814 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
16818 Category Specification
16825 Group Parameter specification
16828 (agent-score . file)
16833 @node Category Buffer
16834 @subsubsection Category Buffer
16836 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
16837 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
16838 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
16840 The following commands are available in this buffer:
16844 @kindex q (Category)
16845 @findex gnus-category-exit
16846 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
16849 @kindex k (Category)
16850 @findex gnus-category-kill
16851 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
16854 @kindex c (Category)
16855 @findex gnus-category-copy
16856 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
16859 @kindex a (Category)
16860 @findex gnus-category-add
16861 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
16864 @kindex p (Category)
16865 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
16866 Edit the predicate of the current category
16867 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
16870 @kindex g (Category)
16871 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
16872 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
16873 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
16876 @kindex s (Category)
16877 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
16878 Edit the download score rule of the current category
16879 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
16882 @kindex l (Category)
16883 @findex gnus-category-list
16884 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
16888 @node Category Variables
16889 @subsubsection Category Variables
16892 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
16893 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
16894 Hook run in category buffers.
16896 @item gnus-category-line-format
16897 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
16898 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
16899 Variables}). Valid elements are:
16903 The name of the category.
16906 The number of groups in the category.
16909 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
16910 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
16911 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
16913 @item gnus-agent-short-article
16914 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
16915 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
16917 @item gnus-agent-long-article
16918 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
16919 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
16921 @item gnus-agent-low-score
16922 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
16923 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
16926 @item gnus-agent-high-score
16927 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
16928 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
16934 @node Agent Commands
16935 @subsection Agent Commands
16937 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
16938 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
16939 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
16943 * Group Agent Commands::
16944 * Summary Agent Commands::
16945 * Server Agent Commands::
16948 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
16949 following incantation:
16951 @cindex gnus-agent-batch
16953 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch
16958 @node Group Agent Commands
16959 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
16963 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
16964 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
16965 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
16966 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
16969 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
16970 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
16971 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
16974 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
16975 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
16976 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
16977 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
16980 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
16981 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
16982 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
16983 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
16986 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
16987 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
16988 Add the current group to an Agent category
16989 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
16990 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16993 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
16994 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
16995 Remove the current group from its category, if any
16996 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
16997 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17000 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17001 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17002 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17008 @node Summary Agent Commands
17009 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17013 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17014 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17015 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17018 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17019 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17020 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17021 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17024 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17025 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17026 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
17029 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17030 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17031 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
17034 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17035 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17036 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17037 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17042 @node Server Agent Commands
17043 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17047 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17048 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17049 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17050 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17053 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
17054 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
17055 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
17056 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
17061 @node Agent as Cache
17062 @subsection Agent as Cache
17064 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
17065 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
17066 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
17067 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
17068 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
17069 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
17070 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
17071 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
17072 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
17074 This behaviour can be controlled by @code{gnus-agent-cache}
17075 (@pxref{Agent Variables}).
17078 @subsection Agent Expiry
17080 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17081 @findex gnus-agent-expire
17082 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
17083 @cindex Agent expiry
17084 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
17087 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
17088 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
17089 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
17090 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
17091 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
17092 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
17094 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
17095 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
17096 expiry in different groups.
17099 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
17105 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
17106 method---it must always match all groups.
17108 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
17109 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
17110 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
17111 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
17112 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
17114 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
17115 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
17116 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
17117 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
17119 @node Agent and IMAP
17120 @subsection Agent and IMAP
17122 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
17123 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
17124 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
17125 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
17127 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
17128 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
17129 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
17130 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
17132 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
17133 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
17134 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
17135 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
17137 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17138 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
17139 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
17140 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
17141 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
17142 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
17144 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
17145 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
17146 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
17147 in the group buffer.
17149 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
17150 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
17155 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
17158 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
17162 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
17163 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
17164 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
17165 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
17166 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
17167 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
17168 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
17169 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
17172 @node Outgoing Messages
17173 @subsection Outgoing Messages
17175 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
17176 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
17177 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
17179 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
17180 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
17181 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
17182 messages in the draft group.
17186 @node Agent Variables
17187 @subsection Agent Variables
17190 @item gnus-agent-directory
17191 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
17192 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
17193 @file{~/News/agent/}.
17195 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
17196 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
17197 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
17198 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
17199 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
17202 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17203 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17204 Hook run when connecting to the network.
17206 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17207 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17208 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
17210 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17211 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17212 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
17214 @item gnus-agent-cache
17215 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
17216 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
17217 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
17218 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
17220 @item gnus-agent-go-online
17221 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
17222 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
17223 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
17224 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
17225 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
17226 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17229 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
17230 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
17231 Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
17232 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
17233 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
17234 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
17235 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
17236 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
17237 is only valid if the Agent is used.
17242 @node Example Setup
17243 @subsection Example Setup
17245 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17246 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17247 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17250 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17251 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17252 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17254 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17255 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17256 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17258 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17259 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17261 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17262 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17263 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17266 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17267 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17270 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17271 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17272 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17273 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17274 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17277 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17278 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17279 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17280 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17281 back all the killed groups.)
17283 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
17284 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
17285 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
17288 @node Batching Agents
17289 @subsection Batching Agents
17291 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
17292 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
17293 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
17297 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
17301 @node Agent Caveats
17302 @subsection Agent Caveats
17304 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
17305 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
17309 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
17313 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
17315 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is `nil'.
17319 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
17320 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP and also uses the
17321 locally stored articles.
17328 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
17329 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
17330 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
17333 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
17334 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
17335 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
17336 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
17337 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
17339 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
17340 before generating the summary buffer.
17342 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
17343 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
17344 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
17346 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
17347 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
17348 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
17349 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
17352 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
17353 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
17354 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
17355 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
17356 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
17357 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
17358 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
17359 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
17360 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
17361 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
17362 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
17363 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
17364 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
17365 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
17366 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
17367 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
17368 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
17372 @node Summary Score Commands
17373 @section Summary Score Commands
17374 @cindex score commands
17376 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
17377 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
17378 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
17379 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
17380 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
17382 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
17383 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
17384 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
17385 score file the current one.
17387 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
17392 @kindex V s (Summary)
17393 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
17394 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
17397 @kindex V S (Summary)
17398 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
17399 Display the score of the current article
17400 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
17403 @kindex V t (Summary)
17404 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
17405 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
17406 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
17409 @kindex V w (Summary)
17410 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
17411 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
17414 @kindex V R (Summary)
17415 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
17416 Run the current summary through the scoring process
17417 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
17418 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
17419 effect you're having.
17422 @kindex V c (Summary)
17423 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
17424 Make a different score file the current
17425 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
17428 @kindex V e (Summary)
17429 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
17430 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
17431 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
17435 @kindex V f (Summary)
17436 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
17437 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
17438 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
17441 @kindex V F (Summary)
17442 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17443 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
17444 after editing score files.
17447 @kindex V C (Summary)
17448 @findex gnus-score-customize
17449 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
17450 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
17454 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
17459 @kindex V m (Summary)
17460 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
17461 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
17462 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
17465 @kindex V x (Summary)
17466 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
17467 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
17468 expunge all articles below this score
17469 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
17472 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
17473 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
17476 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
17477 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
17481 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
17482 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
17484 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
17485 keys are available:
17489 Score on the author name.
17492 Score on the subject line.
17495 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
17498 Score on the @code{References} line.
17504 Score on the number of lines.
17507 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
17510 Score on an "extra" header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
17511 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
17514 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
17515 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
17516 @file{ADAPT} files.)
17525 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
17531 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
17532 what headers you are scoring on.
17544 Substring matching.
17547 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
17576 Greater than number.
17581 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
17582 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
17583 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
17588 Temporary score entry.
17591 Permanent score entry.
17594 Immediately scoring.
17598 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
17599 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
17600 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
17604 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
17605 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
17606 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
17607 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
17609 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
17610 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
17611 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
17612 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
17613 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
17615 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
17616 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
17617 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
17618 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
17619 current score file.
17621 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
17622 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
17623 pretend they are keymaps or not.
17626 @node Group Score Commands
17627 @section Group Score Commands
17628 @cindex group score commands
17630 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
17635 @kindex W f (Group)
17636 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17637 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
17638 all the time. This command will flush the cache
17639 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
17643 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
17645 @findex gnus-batch-score
17646 @cindex batch scoring
17648 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
17652 @node Score Variables
17653 @section Score Variables
17654 @cindex score variables
17658 @item gnus-use-scoring
17659 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
17660 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
17661 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
17663 @item gnus-kill-killed
17664 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
17665 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
17666 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
17667 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
17668 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
17669 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
17670 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
17672 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
17673 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
17674 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
17675 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
17676 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
17678 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
17679 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
17680 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
17681 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
17683 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17684 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17685 @cindex score cache
17686 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
17687 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
17688 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
17689 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
17690 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
17691 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
17694 @item gnus-save-score
17695 @vindex gnus-save-score
17696 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
17697 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
17698 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17700 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
17701 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
17702 across group visits.
17704 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17705 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17706 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
17707 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
17708 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
17709 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
17710 manually entered data.
17712 @item gnus-summary-default-score
17713 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
17714 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
17716 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
17717 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
17718 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
17719 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
17720 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
17721 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
17723 @item gnus-score-over-mark
17724 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
17725 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
17726 default. Default is @samp{+}.
17728 @item gnus-score-below-mark
17729 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
17730 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
17731 default. Default is @samp{-}.
17733 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17734 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17735 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
17736 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
17738 Predefined functions available are:
17741 @item gnus-score-find-single
17742 @findex gnus-score-find-single
17743 Only apply the group's own score file.
17745 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
17746 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
17747 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
17748 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
17749 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
17750 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
17751 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
17752 then a regexp match is done.
17754 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
17755 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
17757 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
17758 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
17759 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
17760 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
17762 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17763 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17764 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
17765 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
17766 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
17770 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
17771 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
17772 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
17773 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
17774 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
17775 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
17776 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
17779 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
17780 overall score file, you could use the value
17782 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
17783 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
17786 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
17787 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
17788 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
17789 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
17790 are expired. It's 7 by default.
17792 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17793 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17794 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
17795 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
17796 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
17797 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
17798 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
17799 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
17801 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17802 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17803 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
17805 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
17806 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
17807 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
17808 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
17809 threading---according to the current value of
17810 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
17811 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
17812 simplified in this manner.
17817 @node Score File Format
17818 @section Score File Format
17819 @cindex score file format
17821 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
17822 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
17823 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
17825 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
17829 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
17831 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
17833 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
17835 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
17840 (mark-and-expunge -10)
17844 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
17845 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
17846 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
17847 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
17851 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
17852 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
17854 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
17855 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
17856 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
17858 Six keys are supported by this alist:
17863 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
17864 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
17865 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
17866 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
17867 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
17868 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
17869 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
17870 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
17871 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
17872 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
17873 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
17874 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
17875 to articles that matches these score entries.
17877 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
17878 score entry has one to four elements.
17882 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
17883 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
17887 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
17888 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
17889 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
17890 is successful. If this element is not present, the
17891 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
17892 instead. This is 1000 by default.
17895 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
17896 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
17897 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
17898 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
17899 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
17902 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
17903 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
17904 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
17905 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
17908 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
17909 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
17910 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
17911 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
17912 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
17913 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
17914 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
17915 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
17916 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
17917 instead, if you feel like.
17920 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
17921 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
17922 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
17923 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
17924 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
17925 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
17928 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
17932 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
17933 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
17935 These predicates are true if
17938 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
17941 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
17942 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
17949 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
17950 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
17951 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
17952 it's not. I think.)
17954 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
17955 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
17956 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
17957 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
17960 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
17961 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
17962 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
17963 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
17964 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
17965 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
17966 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
17970 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
17971 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
17972 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
17973 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
17974 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
17975 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
17976 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
17977 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
17980 @item Head, Body, All
17981 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
17985 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
17986 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
17987 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
17988 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
17989 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
17990 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
17991 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
17995 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
17996 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
17997 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
17998 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
17999 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
18000 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
18001 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
18002 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
18003 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
18004 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
18005 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
18009 @cindex Score File Atoms
18011 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18012 lower than this number will be marked as read.
18015 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18016 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
18018 @item mark-and-expunge
18019 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18020 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
18023 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
18024 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
18025 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
18026 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
18027 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
18030 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
18031 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
18034 @item exclude-files
18035 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
18036 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
18040 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
18041 ignored when handling global score files.
18044 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
18045 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
18046 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
18047 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
18050 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
18051 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
18052 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
18053 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
18055 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
18059 (mark-and-expunge -100)
18062 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
18063 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
18064 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
18065 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
18066 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
18068 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
18069 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
18070 scoring rules exist.
18073 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
18074 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
18075 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
18076 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
18077 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
18078 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
18079 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18080 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
18081 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
18082 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
18083 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
18087 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
18088 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
18089 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
18090 file for a number of groups.
18093 @cindex local variables
18094 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
18095 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
18096 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
18097 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
18098 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
18102 @node Score File Editing
18103 @section Score File Editing
18105 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
18106 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
18107 with a mode for that.
18109 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
18110 additional commands:
18115 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
18116 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
18117 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
18118 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
18121 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
18122 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
18123 Insert the current date in numerical format
18124 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
18125 you were wondering.
18128 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
18129 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
18130 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
18131 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
18132 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
18137 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
18139 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
18140 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
18142 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
18143 e} to begin editing score files.
18146 @node Adaptive Scoring
18147 @section Adaptive Scoring
18148 @cindex adaptive scoring
18150 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
18151 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
18152 stupidity, to be precise.
18154 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
18155 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
18156 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
18157 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
18158 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18159 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
18160 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
18161 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
18162 variable to @code{(word line)}.
18164 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18165 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
18166 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
18167 might look something like this:
18170 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18171 '((gnus-unread-mark)
18172 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
18173 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
18174 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
18175 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
18176 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
18177 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
18178 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
18179 (gnus-ancient-mark)
18180 (gnus-low-score-mark)
18181 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
18184 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
18185 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
18186 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
18187 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
18188 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
18189 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
18192 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
18193 will be applied to each article.
18195 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
18196 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
18197 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
18198 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
18200 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
18201 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
18202 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
18203 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
18205 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
18206 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
18207 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
18208 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
18210 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
18211 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
18212 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
18213 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
18214 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
18215 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
18217 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
18218 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
18219 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
18220 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
18221 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
18222 aspirins afterwards.)
18224 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
18225 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
18226 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
18228 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
18229 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
18230 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
18232 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
18233 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
18234 let you use different rules in different groups.
18236 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
18237 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18238 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18241 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18242 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18243 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18244 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18245 the length of the match is less than
18246 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18247 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18250 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18251 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18252 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18253 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18254 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18257 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18258 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18259 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18260 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18261 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18264 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18265 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18266 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18267 score with 30 points.
18269 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18270 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18271 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18272 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18273 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18275 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18276 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18277 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18278 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18279 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
18281 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
18282 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
18283 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
18284 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
18286 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
18287 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
18288 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
18289 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
18291 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
18292 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
18293 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
18294 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
18295 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
18297 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
18298 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
18299 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
18301 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
18302 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
18303 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
18304 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
18307 @node Home Score File
18308 @section Home Score File
18310 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
18311 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
18312 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
18313 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
18315 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
18316 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
18317 could perhaps use the same home score file.
18319 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
18320 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
18325 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
18329 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
18330 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
18334 A list. The elements in this list can be:
18338 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
18339 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
18342 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
18343 the home score file.
18346 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
18349 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
18354 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
18357 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18358 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
18361 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
18362 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
18364 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
18366 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18367 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
18370 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
18371 Other functions include
18374 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
18375 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
18376 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
18377 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
18381 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
18382 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
18383 their own home score files:
18386 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18387 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
18388 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
18389 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
18390 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
18393 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
18394 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
18395 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
18396 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
18397 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
18399 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
18400 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
18401 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
18402 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
18403 precedence over this variable.
18406 @node Followups To Yourself
18407 @section Followups To Yourself
18409 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
18410 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
18411 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
18412 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
18413 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
18414 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
18418 @item gnus-score-followup-article
18419 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
18420 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
18423 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
18424 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
18425 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
18429 @vindex message-sent-hook
18430 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
18431 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
18433 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
18437 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
18438 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
18442 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18443 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18446 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
18447 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
18452 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
18456 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
18457 is system-dependent.
18460 @node Scoring On Other Headers
18461 @section Scoring On Other Headers
18462 @cindex scoring on other headers
18464 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
18465 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
18466 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
18467 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
18468 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
18470 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
18471 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
18472 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
18473 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
18474 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
18476 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18479 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
18480 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
18483 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
18484 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
18485 time if you have much mail.
18487 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
18488 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
18494 @section Scoring Tips
18495 @cindex scoring tips
18501 @cindex scoring crossposts
18502 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
18503 the @code{Xref} header.
18505 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
18508 @item Multiple crossposts
18509 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
18510 more than, say, 3 groups:
18513 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
18517 @item Matching on the body
18518 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
18519 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
18520 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
18521 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
18522 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
18523 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
18524 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
18527 @item Marking as read
18528 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
18529 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
18530 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
18534 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
18536 @item Negated character classes
18537 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
18538 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
18539 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
18543 @node Reverse Scoring
18544 @section Reverse Scoring
18545 @cindex reverse scoring
18547 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
18548 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
18549 like this in your score file:
18553 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
18558 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
18559 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
18562 @node Global Score Files
18563 @section Global Score Files
18564 @cindex global score files
18566 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
18567 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
18568 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
18570 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
18571 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
18572 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
18574 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
18575 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
18576 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
18577 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
18578 files are applicable to which group.
18580 To use the score file
18581 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
18582 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
18586 (setq gnus-global-score-files
18587 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
18588 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
18591 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
18593 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
18594 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
18595 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
18596 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
18598 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
18599 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
18601 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
18602 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
18603 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
18604 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
18605 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
18606 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
18608 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
18614 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
18616 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
18618 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
18620 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
18621 lowered out of existence.
18623 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
18624 articles completely.
18627 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
18628 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
18629 old articles for a long time.
18632 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
18633 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
18634 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
18635 holding our breath yet?
18639 @section Kill Files
18642 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
18643 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
18644 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
18646 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
18647 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
18648 files into score files.
18650 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
18651 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
18652 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
18653 that isn't a very good idea.
18655 Normal kill files look like this:
18658 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18659 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
18663 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
18664 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
18666 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
18667 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
18670 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
18675 @kindex M-k (Summary)
18676 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
18677 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
18680 @kindex M-K (Summary)
18681 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
18682 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
18685 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
18690 @kindex M-k (Group)
18691 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
18692 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
18695 @kindex M-K (Group)
18696 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
18697 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
18700 Kill file variables:
18703 @item gnus-kill-file-name
18704 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
18705 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
18706 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
18707 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
18708 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
18709 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
18711 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18712 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18713 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
18714 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
18717 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
18718 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
18719 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
18720 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
18721 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
18722 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
18723 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
18724 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
18725 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
18727 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18728 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18729 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
18734 @node Converting Kill Files
18735 @section Converting Kill Files
18737 @cindex converting kill files
18739 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
18740 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
18741 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
18744 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
18745 You can fetch it from
18746 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
18748 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
18749 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
18750 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
18758 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
18759 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
18760 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
18761 news articles generated every day.
18763 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
18764 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
18765 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
18766 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
18767 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
18768 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
18769 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
18770 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
18773 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
18774 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
18777 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
18778 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
18779 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
18780 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
18784 @node Using GroupLens
18785 @subsection Using GroupLens
18787 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
18789 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
18790 better bit in town at the moment.
18792 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
18796 @item gnus-use-grouplens
18797 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
18798 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
18799 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
18801 @item grouplens-pseudonym
18802 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
18803 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
18804 with the Better Bit Bureau.
18806 @item grouplens-newsgroups
18807 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
18808 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
18812 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
18813 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
18814 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
18815 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
18816 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
18817 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
18820 @node Rating Articles
18821 @subsection Rating Articles
18823 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
18824 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
18825 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
18826 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
18829 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
18834 @kindex r (GroupLens)
18835 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
18836 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
18839 @kindex k (GroupLens)
18840 @findex grouplens-score-thread
18841 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
18842 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
18843 threads in rec.humor.
18847 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
18848 the score of the article you're reading.
18853 @kindex n (GroupLens)
18854 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
18855 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
18858 @kindex , (GroupLens)
18859 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
18860 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
18864 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
18865 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
18868 @node Displaying Predictions
18869 @subsection Displaying Predictions
18871 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
18872 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
18873 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
18874 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
18875 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
18877 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
18878 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
18879 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
18880 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
18881 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
18882 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
18883 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
18884 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
18885 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
18886 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
18887 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
18888 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
18889 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
18891 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
18892 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
18893 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
18894 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
18896 The following are valid values for that variable.
18899 @item prediction-spot
18900 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
18903 @item confidence-interval
18904 A numeric confidence interval.
18906 @item prediction-bar
18907 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
18909 @item confidence-bar
18910 Numerical confidence.
18912 @item confidence-spot
18913 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
18915 @item prediction-num
18916 Plain-old numeric value.
18918 @item confidence-plus-minus
18919 Prediction +/- confidence.
18924 @node GroupLens Variables
18925 @subsection GroupLens Variables
18929 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
18930 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
18931 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
18932 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
18935 @item grouplens-bbb-host
18936 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
18939 @item grouplens-bbb-port
18940 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
18942 @item grouplens-score-offset
18943 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
18944 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
18947 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
18948 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
18949 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
18954 @node Advanced Scoring
18955 @section Advanced Scoring
18957 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
18958 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
18959 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
18960 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
18961 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
18963 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
18967 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
18968 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
18969 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
18973 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
18974 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
18976 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
18977 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
18978 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
18979 non-@code{nil} value.
18981 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
18982 operator, and various match operators.
18989 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18990 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
18991 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
18996 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18997 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
18998 then this operator will return @code{false}.
19003 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
19004 logical negation of the value of its argument.
19008 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
19009 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
19010 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
19011 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
19012 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
19013 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
19014 the ancestry you want to go.
19016 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
19017 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
19018 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
19019 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
19020 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
19023 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
19024 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
19026 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
19027 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
19030 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
19031 when he's talking about Gnus:
19035 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19036 ("subject" "Gnus"))
19042 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
19046 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19053 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
19054 really don't want to read what he's written:
19058 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19059 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
19063 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
19064 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
19065 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
19072 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
19073 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
19074 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
19075 ("body" "white.*socks"))
19079 The possibilities are endless.
19082 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
19083 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
19085 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
19086 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
19087 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
19088 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
19089 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
19090 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
19091 @samp{subject}) first.
19093 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
19094 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
19105 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
19106 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
19112 ("subject" "Gnus")))
19119 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
19120 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
19125 @section Score Decays
19126 @cindex score decays
19129 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
19130 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
19131 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
19132 use them in any sensible way.
19134 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
19135 @findex gnus-decay-score
19136 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
19137 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
19138 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
19139 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
19140 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
19141 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
19142 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
19143 definition of that function:
19146 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
19148 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
19149 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
19152 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
19154 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
19156 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
19159 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
19160 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
19161 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
19162 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
19166 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
19169 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
19172 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
19176 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
19177 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
19178 the new score, which should be an integer.
19180 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
19181 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
19186 @include message.texi
19187 @chapter Emacs MIME
19188 @include emacs-mime.texi
19190 @include sieve.texi
19200 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
19201 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
19202 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
19203 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
19204 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
19205 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
19206 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
19207 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
19208 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
19209 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
19210 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
19211 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
19212 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
19213 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
19214 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
19215 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
19216 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
19217 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
19218 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
19222 @node Process/Prefix
19223 @section Process/Prefix
19224 @cindex process/prefix convention
19226 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
19227 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
19229 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
19230 command to be performed on.
19234 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
19235 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
19236 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
19237 with the current one.
19239 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19240 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19241 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19243 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19244 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19247 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19248 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19250 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19253 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19254 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19255 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19256 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19258 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19259 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19260 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19261 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19262 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19263 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19264 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19265 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19267 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19268 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19269 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19270 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19271 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
19275 @section Interactive
19276 @cindex interaction
19280 @item gnus-novice-user
19281 @vindex gnus-novice-user
19282 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
19283 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
19284 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
19285 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
19288 @item gnus-expert-user
19289 @vindex gnus-expert-user
19290 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
19291 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
19292 matter how strange.
19294 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
19295 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
19296 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
19297 is @code{t} by default.
19299 @item gnus-interactive-exit
19300 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
19301 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19306 @node Symbolic Prefixes
19307 @section Symbolic Prefixes
19308 @cindex symbolic prefixes
19310 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
19311 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
19312 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
19313 rule of 900 to the current article.
19315 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
19316 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
19317 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
19318 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
19319 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
19320 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
19321 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
19323 @kindex M-i (Summary)
19324 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
19325 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
19326 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
19327 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
19328 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
19329 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
19330 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
19331 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
19333 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
19334 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
19335 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
19337 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
19341 @node Formatting Variables
19342 @section Formatting Variables
19343 @cindex formatting variables
19345 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
19346 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
19347 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
19348 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
19349 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
19352 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
19353 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
19354 lots of percentages everywhere.
19357 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
19358 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
19359 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
19360 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
19361 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
19362 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
19363 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
19364 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
19367 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
19368 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
19369 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
19370 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
19371 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
19372 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
19373 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
19374 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
19376 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
19377 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
19379 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
19380 @findex gnus-update-format
19381 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
19382 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
19383 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
19384 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
19388 @node Formatting Basics
19389 @subsection Formatting Basics
19391 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
19392 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
19393 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
19395 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
19396 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
19397 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
19398 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
19399 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
19402 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
19403 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
19404 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
19405 less than 4 characters wide.
19407 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
19408 @samp{%&user-date;}.
19411 @node Mode Line Formatting
19412 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
19414 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
19415 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
19416 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
19417 with the following two differences:
19422 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
19425 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
19426 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
19427 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
19428 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
19429 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
19430 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
19431 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
19436 @node Advanced Formatting
19437 @subsection Advanced Formatting
19439 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
19440 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
19441 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
19442 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
19444 These are the valid modifiers:
19449 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
19453 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
19458 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
19461 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
19466 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
19469 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
19472 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
19475 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
19481 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
19486 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
19487 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
19488 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
19489 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
19490 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
19491 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
19492 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
19494 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
19495 last operation, padding.
19497 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
19498 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
19499 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
19500 @xref{Compilation}.
19503 @node User-Defined Specs
19504 @subsection User-Defined Specs
19506 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
19507 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
19508 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
19509 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
19510 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
19511 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
19512 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
19513 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
19514 should protect against that.
19516 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
19517 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
19519 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
19520 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
19521 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
19522 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
19526 @node Formatting Fonts
19527 @subsection Formatting Fonts
19529 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
19530 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
19531 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
19532 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
19535 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
19536 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
19537 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
19538 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
19539 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
19540 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
19542 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
19543 special @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}.
19544 If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on.
19545 The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
19546 symbols naming functions that return a string. When the mouse passes
19547 over text with this property set, a balloon window will appear and
19548 display the string. Please refer to @ref{(emacs)Help Echo} (in GNU
19549 Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in XEmacs) for
19550 more information on this. (For technical reasons, the guillemets have
19551 been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this paragraph.)
19553 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
19556 ;; Create three face types.
19557 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
19558 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
19560 ;; We want the article count to be in
19561 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
19562 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
19563 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
19565 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
19566 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
19568 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
19569 (setq gnus-group-line-format
19570 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
19573 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
19574 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
19576 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
19577 mode-line variables.
19579 @node Positioning Point
19580 @subsection Positioning Point
19582 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
19583 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
19584 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
19586 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
19588 @findex gnus-goto-colon
19589 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
19590 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
19592 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
19593 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
19594 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
19599 @subsection Tabulation
19601 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
19602 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
19603 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
19604 about lining up the following text afterwards.
19606 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
19607 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
19609 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19610 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
19611 This is the soft tabulator.
19613 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19614 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
19615 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
19618 @node Wide Characters
19619 @subsection Wide Characters
19621 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
19622 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
19623 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
19625 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
19626 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
19627 these coutries, that's not true.
19629 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
19630 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
19631 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
19632 prettieer. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
19636 @node Window Layout
19637 @section Window Layout
19638 @cindex window layout
19640 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
19642 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
19643 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
19644 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
19645 @code{t} by default.
19647 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
19648 glitches. Use at your own peril.
19650 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
19651 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
19652 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
19655 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
19656 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
19657 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19661 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
19662 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
19663 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
19664 possible names is listed below.
19666 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
19667 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
19670 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19674 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
19675 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
19676 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
19677 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
19678 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
19679 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
19680 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
19681 size spec per split.
19683 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
19684 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
19685 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
19686 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
19687 present) gets focus.
19689 Here's a more complicated example:
19692 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
19693 (summary 0.25 point)
19694 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
19698 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
19699 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
19700 occupy, not a percentage.
19702 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
19703 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
19704 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
19705 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
19706 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
19709 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
19712 (article (horizontal 1.0
19717 (summary 0.25 point)
19722 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
19723 @code{horizontal} thingie?
19725 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
19726 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
19727 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
19728 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
19729 the screen is to be given to this strip.
19731 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
19732 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
19733 lines from the splits.
19735 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
19739 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
19740 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
19741 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
19742 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
19743 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
19744 size = number | frame-params
19745 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
19748 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
19749 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
19750 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
19751 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
19753 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
19754 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
19755 @cindex window height
19756 @cindex window width
19757 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
19758 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
19759 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
19760 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
19761 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
19762 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
19764 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
19765 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
19766 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
19767 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
19769 @findex gnus-configure-frame
19770 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
19771 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
19772 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
19773 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
19774 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
19775 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
19776 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
19777 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
19778 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
19779 configuration list.
19782 (gnus-configure-frame
19786 (article 0.3 point))
19794 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
19795 @code{frame} split:
19798 (gnus-configure-frame
19801 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
19803 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
19804 (user-position . t)
19805 (left . -1) (top . 1))
19810 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
19811 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
19812 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
19813 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
19814 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
19815 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
19816 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
19817 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
19819 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
19820 be found in its default value.
19822 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
19823 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
19824 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
19828 (message (horizontal 1.0
19829 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
19831 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
19836 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
19837 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
19838 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
19843 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
19844 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
19845 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
19846 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
19847 (name . "Message"))
19848 (message 1.0 point))))
19851 @findex gnus-add-configuration
19852 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
19853 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
19854 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
19855 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
19858 (gnus-add-configuration
19859 '(article (vertical 1.0
19861 (summary .25 point)
19865 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
19866 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
19867 Gnus has been loaded.
19869 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
19870 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
19871 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
19872 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
19873 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
19875 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
19876 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
19877 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
19880 @subsection Example Window Configurations
19884 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
19885 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
19900 (gnus-add-configuration
19903 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19905 (summary 0.16 point)
19908 (gnus-add-configuration
19911 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19912 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
19918 @node Faces and Fonts
19919 @section Faces and Fonts
19924 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
19925 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
19926 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
19931 @section Compilation
19932 @cindex compilation
19933 @cindex byte-compilation
19935 @findex gnus-compile
19937 Remember all those line format specification variables?
19938 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
19939 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
19940 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
19941 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
19942 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
19945 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
19946 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
19947 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
19948 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
19949 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
19950 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
19951 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
19955 @section Mode Lines
19958 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
19959 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
19960 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
19961 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
19962 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
19963 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
19964 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
19967 @cindex display-time
19969 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
19970 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
19971 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
19972 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
19973 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
19974 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
19975 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
19976 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
19979 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
19981 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
19982 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
19984 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
19985 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
19986 (length display-time-string)))))
19989 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
19990 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
19991 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
19992 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
19993 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
19996 @node Highlighting and Menus
19997 @section Highlighting and Menus
19999 @cindex highlighting
20002 @vindex gnus-visual
20003 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
20004 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
20005 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
20008 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
20009 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
20012 @item group-highlight
20013 Do highlights in the group buffer.
20014 @item summary-highlight
20015 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
20016 @item article-highlight
20017 Do highlights in the article buffer.
20019 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
20021 Create menus in the group buffer.
20023 Create menus in the summary buffers.
20025 Create menus in the article buffer.
20027 Create menus in the browse buffer.
20029 Create menus in the server buffer.
20031 Create menus in the score buffers.
20033 Create menus in all buffers.
20036 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
20037 buffers, you could say something like:
20040 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
20043 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
20046 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
20049 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
20050 in all Gnus buffers.
20052 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
20055 @item gnus-mouse-face
20056 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
20057 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
20058 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
20062 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
20066 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
20067 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
20068 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
20070 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
20071 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
20072 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
20074 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
20075 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
20076 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
20078 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
20079 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
20080 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
20082 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
20083 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
20084 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
20086 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
20087 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
20088 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
20099 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
20100 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
20101 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
20102 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
20103 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
20107 @vindex gnus-carpal
20108 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
20109 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
20110 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
20115 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20116 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20117 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
20119 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
20120 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
20121 Face used on buttons.
20123 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
20124 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
20125 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
20127 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20128 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20129 Buttons in the group buffer.
20131 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20132 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20133 Buttons in the summary buffer.
20135 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20136 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20137 Buttons in the server buffer.
20139 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20140 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20141 Buttons in the browse buffer.
20144 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
20145 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
20146 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
20154 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
20155 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
20156 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
20157 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
20158 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
20160 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
20161 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
20162 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
20164 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
20165 been idle for thirty minutes:
20168 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
20171 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
20175 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
20178 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
20179 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
20180 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20182 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
20183 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
20184 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
20185 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20187 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
20188 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
20189 @var{idle} minutes.
20191 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
20192 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
20195 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
20196 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
20197 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
20199 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
20200 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
20201 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
20202 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
20204 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
20205 your @file{.gnus} file:
20207 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
20209 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
20212 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
20213 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
20214 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
20215 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
20216 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
20217 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
20218 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
20219 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
20220 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
20221 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
20222 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
20224 @findex gnus-demon-init
20225 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
20226 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
20227 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
20228 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
20229 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
20231 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
20232 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
20233 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20242 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20243 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20245 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20246 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20247 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20248 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20251 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20252 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20253 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20254 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20256 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20257 this will make spam disappear.
20259 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20262 @item gnus-use-nocem
20263 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20264 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20267 @item gnus-nocem-groups
20268 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
20269 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
20270 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
20271 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
20273 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
20274 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
20275 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
20276 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
20277 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
20278 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
20280 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
20281 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
20283 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
20284 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
20285 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
20286 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
20287 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
20288 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
20289 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
20290 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
20291 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
20292 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
20294 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
20295 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
20298 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
20301 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
20302 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
20305 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
20308 The specs are applied left-to-right.
20311 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
20312 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
20314 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
20315 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
20316 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
20317 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
20319 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
20320 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
20323 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
20325 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
20333 This might be dangerous, though.
20335 @item gnus-nocem-directory
20336 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
20337 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
20338 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
20340 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20341 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20342 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
20343 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
20344 might then see old spam.
20346 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
20347 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
20348 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
20349 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
20350 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
20353 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20354 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20355 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
20356 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
20360 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
20361 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
20362 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
20363 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
20370 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
20371 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
20372 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
20374 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
20375 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
20376 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
20377 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
20378 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
20379 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
20380 @code{undo} function.
20382 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
20383 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
20384 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
20385 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
20386 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
20387 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
20388 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
20389 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
20390 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
20391 never be totally undoable.
20393 @findex gnus-undo-mode
20394 @vindex gnus-use-undo
20396 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
20397 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
20398 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
20399 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
20403 @node Predicate Specifiers
20404 @section Predicate Specifiers
20405 @cindex predicate specifiers
20407 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
20408 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
20409 to type all that much.
20411 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
20416 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
20417 gnus-article-unread-p)
20420 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
20421 functions all take one parameter.
20423 @findex gnus-make-predicate
20424 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
20425 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
20426 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
20431 @section Moderation
20434 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
20435 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
20436 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
20439 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
20443 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
20446 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
20448 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
20453 You split your incoming mail by matching on
20454 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
20455 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
20458 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
20459 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
20462 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
20463 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
20467 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
20470 (setq gnus-moderated-list
20471 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
20475 @node Image Enhancements
20476 @section Image Enhancements
20478 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
20479 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
20482 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
20483 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
20484 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
20485 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
20486 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
20499 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
20500 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
20501 over your shoulder as you read news.
20504 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
20505 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
20506 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
20507 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
20508 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
20513 @subsubsection Picon Basics
20515 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
20524 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
20525 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
20526 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
20527 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
20528 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
20529 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
20530 @code{GIF} formats.
20533 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20534 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
20535 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
20536 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
20537 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
20539 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20540 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
20541 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
20542 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
20543 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
20544 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20546 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
20547 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
20550 @node Picon Requirements
20551 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
20553 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
20554 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
20555 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
20556 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
20558 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20559 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
20560 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
20561 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
20562 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
20563 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20566 @subsubsection Easy Picons
20568 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
20569 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
20572 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
20573 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
20576 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
20577 containing the Picons databases.
20579 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
20582 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20583 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
20588 @subsubsection Hard Picons
20596 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
20597 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
20598 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
20599 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
20600 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
20605 @item gnus-picons-database
20606 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20607 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
20608 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
20609 subdirectories. This is only useful if
20610 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
20611 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
20613 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20614 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20615 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
20616 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
20617 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
20618 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
20619 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20621 @item gnus-picons-display-where
20622 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20623 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
20624 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
20625 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
20626 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
20627 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
20628 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
20630 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20631 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20632 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
20637 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
20638 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
20640 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
20641 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
20644 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20646 @item gnus-article-display-picons
20647 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
20648 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
20649 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
20651 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20652 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20653 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
20654 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
20660 @node Picon Useless Configuration
20661 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
20669 The following variables offer further control over how things are
20670 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
20671 don't need to worry about.
20675 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
20676 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
20677 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20678 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
20680 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
20681 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
20682 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
20683 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
20685 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
20686 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
20687 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20688 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
20689 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
20691 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20692 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20693 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
20694 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
20695 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
20696 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
20697 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
20698 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20700 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20701 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20702 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
20703 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
20704 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20706 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20707 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20708 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
20709 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
20710 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
20711 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
20712 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
20714 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20715 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20716 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
20717 Defaults to @code{nil}.
20719 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
20720 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
20721 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
20722 Defaults to @code{t}.
20724 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20725 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20726 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
20727 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
20729 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
20730 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
20731 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
20733 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20734 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20735 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
20736 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
20738 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
20739 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
20741 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20742 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20743 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
20744 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
20745 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
20746 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
20747 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
20748 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
20759 @subsection Smileys
20764 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
20769 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
20770 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
20772 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
20773 @file{.gnus.el} file:
20776 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
20779 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
20780 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20781 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20782 text and maps that to file names.
20784 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
20785 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
20786 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
20787 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
20788 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
20789 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
20791 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
20792 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
20794 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
20795 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
20796 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
20798 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20799 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
20803 @item smiley-data-directory
20804 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20805 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20807 @item smiley-flesh-color
20808 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
20809 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
20811 @item smiley-features-color
20812 @vindex smiley-features-color
20813 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20815 @item smiley-tongue-color
20816 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
20817 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
20819 @item smiley-circle-color
20820 @vindex smiley-circle-color
20821 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20823 @item smiley-mouse-face
20824 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
20825 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
20834 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20835 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20836 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
20840 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
20841 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
20842 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
20843 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
20851 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
20852 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
20853 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
20854 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
20856 The variable that controls this is the
20857 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
20858 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
20859 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
20860 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
20861 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
20863 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
20864 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
20865 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
20866 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
20869 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
20870 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
20871 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
20872 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
20873 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
20874 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
20875 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
20876 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
20878 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
20881 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
20882 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
20884 @findex gnus-random-x-face
20885 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files
20886 in @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
20887 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
20888 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
20889 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big.
20891 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
20892 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
20893 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
20895 Here's how you would typically use the former function. Put something
20896 like the folllowing in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20899 (setq message-required-news-headers
20900 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20901 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
20904 Using the latter function would be something like this:
20907 (setq message-required-news-headers
20908 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20909 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
20910 (gnus-x-face-from-file
20911 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
20916 @subsection Toolbar
20926 @item gnus-use-toolbar
20927 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
20928 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
20929 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
20930 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
20932 @item gnus-group-toolbar
20933 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
20934 The toolbar in the group buffer.
20936 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
20937 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
20938 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
20940 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20941 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20942 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
20948 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
20951 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20952 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20953 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
20954 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
20955 unusual directory structure.
20957 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20958 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20959 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
20960 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
20962 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20963 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20964 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
20965 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
20966 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
20967 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
20969 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20970 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20971 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
20985 @node Fuzzy Matching
20986 @section Fuzzy Matching
20987 @cindex fuzzy matching
20989 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
20990 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
20992 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
20993 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
20994 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
20996 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
20997 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
20998 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
20999 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21000 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21003 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21004 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21008 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21010 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21011 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21012 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21013 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21014 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21015 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21016 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21017 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21020 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21021 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21022 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21023 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21024 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21025 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21027 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21030 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21031 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21032 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21033 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21034 * Filtering Spam Using spam.el::
21035 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)::
21038 @node The problem of spam
21039 @subsection The problem of spam
21041 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21042 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21044 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21046 First, some background on spam.
21048 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21049 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21050 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21051 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21052 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21053 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21054 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21055 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21057 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21058 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21059 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21060 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21061 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21062 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21063 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21064 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21065 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21068 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21069 spam messages per day from @email{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21070 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21071 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21072 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
21073 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
21074 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
21075 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
21076 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
21077 mail can be useful.
21079 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
21080 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
21081 @code{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @samp{X} in
21082 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
21083 @code{N} systems enter @samp{X} or the spam e-mail from @samp{X} into
21084 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary - it may be the
21085 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
21086 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
21087 message is spam, he consults one of those @code{N} systems.
21089 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
21090 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
21091 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
21092 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
21093 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
21094 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
21095 because of the incident.
21097 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
21098 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
21099 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
21100 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
21101 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
21102 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
21103 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
21104 to store the database of spam analyses.
21106 @node Anti-Spam Basics
21107 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
21111 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21113 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
21114 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
21116 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
21117 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
21118 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
21119 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
21120 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
21121 part of the mail address.)
21124 (setq message-default-news-headers
21125 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
21128 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21129 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21134 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
21135 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
21136 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
21142 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
21143 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
21144 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
21145 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
21147 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
21148 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
21149 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
21150 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
21151 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
21152 your fancy split rule in this way:
21157 (to "larsi" "misc")
21161 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
21162 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
21163 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
21164 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
21165 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
21167 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
21168 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
21169 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
21170 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
21171 cosmic balance somewhat.
21173 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
21174 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
21175 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
21176 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
21181 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
21182 @cindex SpamAssassin
21183 @cindex Vipul's Razor
21186 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
21187 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
21188 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
21189 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
21190 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
21191 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
21192 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
21194 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
21195 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
21196 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
21197 Specifiers}) follows.
21201 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
21204 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
21207 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
21208 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
21209 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
21212 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
21216 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21219 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
21220 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
21224 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
21225 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
21226 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
21227 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
21230 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
21232 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
21234 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
21235 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
21237 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
21239 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
21240 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
21244 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
21245 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
21246 spam. And here is the nifty function:
21249 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
21250 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
21252 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
21253 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
21254 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
21258 @subsection Hashcash
21261 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
21262 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
21263 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
21264 since it is not part of the internet standards, but it may be useful
21265 in smaller communities.
21267 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
21268 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
21269 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
21270 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
21271 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
21272 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
21273 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
21274 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
21275 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
21276 one of them separately.
21279 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
21280 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
21281 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
21282 header. For more details, and for the external application
21283 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
21284 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
21285 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
21287 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21291 (require 'hashcash)
21292 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21295 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21296 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21297 development contrib directory.
21299 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21303 @item hashcash-default-payment
21304 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21305 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21306 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21307 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
21309 @item hashcash-payment-alist
21310 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
21311 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
21312 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(ADDR AMOUNT)} cells,
21313 where ADDR is the receiver (email address or newsgroup) and AMOUNT is
21314 the number of bits in the collision that is needed. It can also
21315 contain @samp{(ADDR STRING AMOUNT)} cells, where the STRING is the
21316 string to use (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21320 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21324 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21325 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21326 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21327 a useful contribution, however.
21329 @node Filtering Spam Using spam.el
21330 @subsection Filtering Spam Using spam.el
21331 @cindex spam filtering
21334 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
21335 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
21336 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam.
21338 So, what happens when you load @code{spam.el}? First of all, you get
21339 the following keyboard commands:
21349 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
21350 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
21352 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{H} mark.
21353 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
21354 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group.
21360 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
21361 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
21363 You must have bogofilter processing enabled for that command to work
21370 Gnus can learn from the spam you get. All you have to do is collect
21371 your spam in one or more spam groups, and set the variable
21372 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. In these groups, all messages
21373 are considered to be spam by default: they get the @samp{H} mark. You must
21374 review these messages from time to time and remove the @samp{H} mark for
21375 every message that is not spam after all. When you leave a spam
21376 group, all messages that continue with the @samp{H} mark, are passed on to
21377 the spam-detection engine (bogofilter, ifile, and others). To remove
21378 the @samp{H} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to "unread" the article, or @kbd{d} for
21379 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all @samp{H}
21380 marked articles, saved or unsaved, are sent to Bogofilter or ifile
21381 (depending on @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-ifile}), which will study
21382 them as spam samples.
21384 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
21385 @code{spam-ham-marks-form} gets overridden below, marks @samp{R} and @samp{r} for
21386 default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and @samp{K} for automatic or
21387 explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for low scores, are all considered
21388 to be associated with articles which are not spam. This assumption
21389 might be false, in particular if you use kill files or score files as
21390 means for detecting genuine spam, you should then adjust
21391 @code{spam-ham-marks-form}. When you leave a group, all _unsaved_ articles
21392 bearing any the above marks are sent to Bogofilter or ifile, which
21393 will study these as not-spam samples. If you explicit kill a lot, you
21394 might sometimes end up with articles marked @samp{K} which you never saw,
21395 and which might accidentally contain spam. Best is to make sure that
21396 real spam is marked with @samp{H}, and nothing else.
21398 All other marks do not contribute to Bogofilter or ifile
21399 pre-conditioning. In particular, ticked, dormant or souped articles
21400 are likely to contribute later, when they will get deleted for real,
21401 so there is no need to use them prematurely. Explicitly expired
21402 articles do not contribute, command @kbd{E} is a way to get rid of an
21403 article without Bogofilter or ifile ever seeing it.
21405 @strong{TODO: @code{spam-use-ifile} does not process spam articles on group exit.
21406 I'm waiting for info from the author of @code{ifile-gnus.el}, because I think
21407 that functionality should go in @code{ifile-gnus.el} rather than @code{spam.el}.}
21409 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
21410 must add the following to your fancy split list
21411 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
21417 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
21418 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
21419 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
21421 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the mail
21422 considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
21423 @code{spam-split-group}. Usually that group name is @samp{spam}.
21425 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
21429 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
21430 * BBDB Whitelists::
21433 * Ifile spam filtering::
21434 * Extending spam.el::
21437 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
21438 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
21439 @cindex spam filtering
21440 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
21441 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
21444 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
21445 Set this variables to t (the default) if you want to use blacklists.
21448 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
21449 Set this variables to t if you want to use whitelists.
21452 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
21453 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
21454 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
21455 blacklist. Since you start out with an empty blacklist, no harm is
21456 done by having the @code{spam-use-blacklist} variable set, so it is
21457 set by default. Blacklist entries use the Emacs regular expression
21460 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
21461 legitimate. All non-whitelisted addresses are considered spammers.
21462 This option is probably not useful for most Gnus users unless the
21463 whitelists is very comprehensive. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}.
21464 Whitelist entries use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
21466 The Blacklist and whitelist location can be customized with the
21467 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default). The whitelist
21468 and blacklist files will be in that directory, named @file{whitelist} and
21469 @file{blacklist} respectively.
21471 @node BBDB Whitelists
21472 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
21473 @cindex spam filtering
21474 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
21475 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
21478 @defvar spam-use-bbdb
21480 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
21481 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted addresses,
21482 without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded for
21483 @code{spam-use-bbdb} to work properly. Only addresses in the BBDB
21484 will be allowed through; all others will be classified as spam.
21489 @subsubsection Blackholes
21490 @cindex spam filtering
21491 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
21494 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
21496 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
21497 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
21498 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
21499 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
21500 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
21501 contains outdated servers.
21503 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
21504 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
21505 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil. It is not recommended at this
21506 time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil despite the possible
21507 performance improvements, because some users may be unable to use it,
21508 but you can try it and see if it works for you.
21513 @subsubsection Bogofilter
21514 @cindex spam filtering
21515 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
21518 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
21520 Set this variable if you want to use Eric Raymond's speedy Bogofilter.
21521 This has been tested with a locally patched copy of version 0.4. Make
21522 sure to read the installation comments in @code{spam.el}.
21524 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{H} mark for spam
21525 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
21526 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
21527 category, spam or not. The shell command @command{head -1
21528 ~/.bogofilter/*} shows both article counts. The command @kbd{S t} in
21529 summary mode, either for debugging or for curiosity, triggers
21530 Bogofilter into displaying in another buffer the @emph{spamicity}
21531 score of the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0), together with the
21532 article words which most significantly contribute to the score.
21536 @node Ifile spam filtering
21537 @subsubsection Ifile spam filtering
21538 @cindex spam filtering
21539 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
21542 @defvar spam-use-ifile
21544 Enable this variable if you want to use Ifile, a statistical analyzer
21545 similar to Bogofilter. Currently you must have @code{ifile-gnus.el}
21546 loaded. The integration of Ifile with @code{spam.el} is not finished
21547 yet, but you can use @code{ifile-gnus.el} on its own if you like.
21551 @node Extending spam.el
21552 @subsubsection Extending spam.el
21553 @cindex spam filtering
21554 @cindex spam.el, extending
21555 @cindex extending spam.el
21557 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. Provide the following:
21567 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
21568 "True if blackbox should be used.")
21573 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
21575 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
21580 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
21581 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
21582 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
21585 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)
21586 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics (spam-stat.el)
21587 @cindex Paul Graham
21588 @cindex Graham, Paul
21589 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
21590 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
21591 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
21593 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
21594 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
21595 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
21596 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
21597 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
21598 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
21599 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
21600 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
21601 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
21604 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
21605 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
21606 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
21607 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
21608 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
21609 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
21610 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
21611 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
21613 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
21614 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
21615 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
21616 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
21617 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
21620 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
21621 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
21622 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
21625 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
21626 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
21628 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
21629 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
21630 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
21631 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
21632 need several hundred emails in both collections.
21634 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
21635 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
21636 per mail. Use the following:
21638 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
21639 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
21640 is treated as one spam mail.
21643 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
21644 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
21645 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
21648 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
21649 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
21650 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
21651 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
21652 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
21653 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
21656 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics -- the
21657 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
21658 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
21659 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
21661 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
21662 reset the dictionary.
21666 @defun spam-stat-reset
21667 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
21669 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
21670 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
21671 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
21672 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
21673 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
21674 only non-spam mails.
21677 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
21678 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
21679 to update the dictionary incrementally.
21682 @defun spam-stat-save
21683 Save the dictionary.
21686 @defvar spam-stat-file
21687 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
21688 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
21691 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
21692 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
21694 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
21695 following to your @file{~/.gnus} file:
21698 (require 'spam-stat)
21702 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
21705 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
21706 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. In the simplest case, you only have
21707 two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says
21708 that mail is either spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is
21709 spam, then @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
21712 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21713 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21717 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
21718 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
21721 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
21722 the following expression. It only the mails not matching the regular
21723 expression are considered potential spam.
21726 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21727 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
21728 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21732 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
21733 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
21734 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
21735 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
21736 mails, when creating the dictionary!
21739 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21740 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21741 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
21745 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
21746 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
21747 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
21748 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
21749 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
21753 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
21754 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
21755 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
21756 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
21761 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
21762 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
21764 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
21766 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
21767 called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail;
21768 use this for new mail that has not been processed before
21772 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
21773 called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
21774 mail; use this for new mail that has not been processed before
21778 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
21779 called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
21780 mail but spam; use this to change the status of a mail that has
21781 already been processed as non-spam
21785 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
21786 called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
21787 normal mail; use this to change the status of a mail that has already
21788 been processed as spam
21792 @defun spam-stat-save
21793 save the hash table to the file; the filename used is stored in the
21794 variable @code{spam-stat-file}
21798 @defun spam-stat-load
21799 load the hash table from a file; the filename used is stored in the
21800 variable @code{spam-stat-file}
21804 @defun spam-stat-score-word
21805 return the spam score for a word
21809 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
21810 return the spam score for a buffer
21814 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
21815 for fancy mail splitting; add the rule @samp{(: spam-stat-split-fancy)} to
21816 @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21818 This requires the following in your @file{~/.gnus} file:
21821 (require 'spam-stat)
21827 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
21830 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
21831 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21832 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21833 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
21834 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
21835 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
21836 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21837 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21838 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
21839 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
21840 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
21841 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
21842 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21843 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21846 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
21849 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
21850 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
21851 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
21852 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
21853 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
21854 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
21857 @node Various Various
21858 @section Various Various
21864 @item gnus-home-directory
21865 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
21866 defaults to @file{~/}.
21868 @item gnus-directory
21869 @vindex gnus-directory
21870 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
21871 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
21872 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
21874 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
21875 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
21876 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
21877 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
21879 @item gnus-default-directory
21880 @vindex gnus-default-directory
21881 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
21882 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
21883 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
21884 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
21885 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
21886 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
21889 @vindex gnus-verbose
21890 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
21891 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
21892 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
21893 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
21894 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
21896 @item gnus-verbose-backends
21897 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
21898 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
21899 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
21901 @item nnheader-max-head-length
21902 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
21903 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
21904 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
21905 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
21906 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
21907 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
21908 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
21909 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
21910 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
21912 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
21913 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
21914 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
21915 read when doing the operation described above.
21917 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21918 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21920 @cindex invalid characters in file names
21921 @cindex characters in file names
21922 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
21923 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
21924 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
21927 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21931 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
21932 Windows (phooey) systems.
21934 @item gnus-hidden-properties
21935 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
21936 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
21937 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
21938 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
21940 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
21941 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
21942 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
21943 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
21944 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
21946 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
21947 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
21948 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
21950 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
21951 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
21953 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
21954 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
21955 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
21956 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
21959 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
21967 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
21968 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
21970 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
21972 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
21978 Not because of victories @*
21981 but for the common sunshine,@*
21983 the largess of the spring.
21987 but for the day's work done@*
21988 as well as I was able;@*
21989 not for a seat upon the dais@*
21990 but at the common table.@*
21995 @chapter Appendices
21998 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
21999 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
22000 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
22001 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
22002 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
22003 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
22004 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
22005 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
22006 * Frequently Asked Questions::
22013 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
22015 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
22016 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
22017 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
22018 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
22019 @samp{xemacs-base}, and @samp{fsf-compat}. The @samp{misc-games}
22020 package is required for Morse decoding.
22027 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
22028 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
22030 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
22031 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
22032 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
22033 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
22034 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
22036 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
22037 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
22038 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
22039 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
22040 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
22041 appropriate name, don't you think?)
22043 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
22044 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
22045 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
22046 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
22049 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
22050 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
22051 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
22052 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
22053 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
22054 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
22055 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
22056 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
22057 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
22061 @node Gnus Versions
22062 @subsection Gnus Versions
22064 @cindex September Gnus
22066 @cindex Quassia Gnus
22067 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
22071 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
22072 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
22073 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
22075 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
22076 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
22078 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
22079 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
22081 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
22082 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
22084 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
22085 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
22088 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
22090 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
22091 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
22092 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
22093 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
22094 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
22095 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
22098 @node Other Gnus Versions
22099 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
22102 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
22103 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
22104 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
22105 @sc{mime} capabilities.
22107 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
22108 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
22109 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
22110 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
22117 What's the point of Gnus?
22119 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
22120 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
22121 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
22122 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
22123 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
22124 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
22125 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
22126 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
22127 keep track of millions of people who post?
22129 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
22130 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
22131 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
22132 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
22133 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
22134 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
22135 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
22136 every one of you to explore and invent.
22138 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
22139 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
22142 @node Compatibility
22143 @subsection Compatibility
22145 @cindex compatibility
22146 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
22147 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
22148 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
22153 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
22157 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
22160 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
22163 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
22164 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
22165 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
22166 important variables have their values copied into their global
22167 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
22168 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
22170 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
22171 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
22172 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
22173 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
22174 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
22178 @cindex highlighting
22179 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
22180 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
22181 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
22182 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
22183 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
22184 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
22187 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
22188 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
22189 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
22190 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
22192 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
22193 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
22194 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
22195 to stop doing it the old way.
22197 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
22199 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22201 @cindex reporting bugs
22203 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
22204 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
22205 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
22207 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
22208 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
22209 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
22210 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
22215 @subsection Conformity
22217 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
22218 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
22226 There are no known breaches of this standard.
22230 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
22232 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
22233 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
22234 We do have some breaches to this one.
22240 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
22241 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
22242 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
22243 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
22244 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
22249 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
22250 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
22251 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
22252 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
22254 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
22256 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
22258 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
22259 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
22261 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
22264 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
22265 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
22266 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
22267 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
22268 decoding (verification and decryption).
22270 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
22271 RFC 2015 (superceded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
22272 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
22273 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
22275 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
22276 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
22278 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
22279 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
22280 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
22281 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
22282 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
22283 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
22284 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
22288 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
22289 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
22294 @subsection Emacsen
22300 Gnus should work on :
22308 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
22312 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
22313 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
22316 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
22317 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
22318 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
22322 @node Gnus Development
22323 @subsection Gnus Development
22325 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
22326 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
22327 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
22328 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
22329 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
22330 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
22331 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
22332 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
22334 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
22335 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
22336 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
22337 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
22338 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
22341 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
22342 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
22343 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
22344 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
22345 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
22347 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
22348 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
22349 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
22350 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
22351 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
22352 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
22353 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
22354 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
22355 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
22356 can't be assumed to do so.
22361 @subsection Contributors
22362 @cindex contributors
22364 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
22365 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
22366 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
22367 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
22368 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
22369 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
22370 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
22371 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
22372 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
22373 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
22375 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
22381 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
22384 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
22385 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
22386 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
22387 functionality and stuff.
22390 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
22391 well as numerous other things).
22394 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
22397 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
22400 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
22403 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
22406 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
22407 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
22410 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
22413 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
22414 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22417 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
22420 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
22423 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
22426 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
22429 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
22430 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
22433 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
22436 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
22439 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
22442 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
22446 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
22449 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
22452 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
22455 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
22456 well as autoconf support.
22460 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
22461 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
22463 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
22472 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
22476 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
22486 Alexei V. Barantsev,
22501 Massimo Campostrini,
22506 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
22507 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
22511 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
22514 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
22520 Michael Welsh Duggan,
22525 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
22529 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
22537 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
22539 Michelangelo Grigni,
22543 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
22545 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
22547 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
22554 François Felix Ingrand,
22555 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
22556 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
22558 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
22569 Peter Skov Knudsen,
22570 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
22572 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
22573 Thor Kristoffersen,
22576 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
22594 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
22595 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
22602 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
22607 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
22611 John McClary Prevost,
22617 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
22622 Christian von Roques,
22625 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
22632 Philippe Schnoebelen,
22634 Randal L. Schwartz,
22648 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
22653 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
22669 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
22674 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
22675 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
22676 (550kB and counting).
22678 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
22681 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
22682 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
22686 @subsection New Features
22687 @cindex new features
22690 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
22691 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
22692 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
22693 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
22694 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
22697 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
22698 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
22699 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
22702 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
22704 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
22709 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
22710 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
22713 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
22714 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
22717 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
22720 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
22721 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
22722 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
22725 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
22726 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
22727 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
22728 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
22731 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
22732 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
22735 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
22736 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
22737 (@pxref{The Active File}).
22740 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
22741 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
22744 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
22745 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
22746 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
22749 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
22750 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
22751 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
22754 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
22755 the @file{.emacs} file.
22758 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
22759 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
22762 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
22763 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
22766 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
22767 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
22770 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
22771 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
22774 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
22775 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
22778 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
22781 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
22782 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
22785 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
22786 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
22789 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
22790 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
22793 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
22796 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
22797 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
22800 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
22804 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
22808 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
22809 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
22812 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
22818 @node September Gnus
22819 @subsubsection September Gnus
22823 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
22827 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
22832 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
22833 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
22837 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
22838 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
22842 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
22846 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
22847 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
22850 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
22854 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22857 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
22860 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
22863 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
22867 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
22868 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
22871 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
22875 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
22879 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
22883 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
22887 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
22890 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
22891 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
22894 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
22898 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
22899 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
22902 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
22905 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
22906 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
22907 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
22910 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
22914 The Gnus cache is much faster.
22917 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
22921 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
22922 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
22925 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
22926 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
22929 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
22930 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22933 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
22934 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
22935 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
22938 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
22939 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
22942 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
22945 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
22948 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
22951 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
22954 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
22955 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
22958 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
22962 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
22965 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
22970 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
22973 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
22977 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
22980 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
22984 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
22987 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
22990 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
22991 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
22994 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
22995 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
22999 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
23000 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
23003 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
23007 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
23008 buffer to allow easier treatment.
23011 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
23014 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
23018 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
23022 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
23023 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
23026 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
23030 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
23031 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23034 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
23035 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23038 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
23042 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23045 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
23048 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
23054 @subsubsection Red Gnus
23056 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
23060 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
23067 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
23070 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
23071 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23074 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
23075 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
23079 Article washing status can be displayed in the
23080 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
23083 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
23086 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
23087 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
23090 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
23094 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
23095 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
23099 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
23100 Server Internals}).
23103 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
23107 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
23110 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
23111 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
23114 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
23115 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
23116 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
23119 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
23120 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23123 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
23124 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
23127 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
23131 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
23132 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23135 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
23136 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23139 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
23143 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
23146 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
23150 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
23151 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23154 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
23155 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23158 A new command for reading collections of documents
23159 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
23160 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
23163 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
23167 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
23168 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
23171 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
23172 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
23173 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
23176 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
23177 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
23181 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
23185 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
23189 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
23194 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
23198 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
23202 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
23203 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
23206 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
23212 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
23214 New features in Gnus 5.6:
23219 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
23220 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
23221 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
23224 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
23225 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
23226 group, which is created automatically.
23229 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
23233 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
23236 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
23237 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
23240 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
23244 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
23247 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
23248 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
23251 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
23254 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
23255 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
23258 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
23259 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
23262 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
23263 control over simplification.
23266 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
23269 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
23273 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
23276 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
23279 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
23280 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
23281 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
23284 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
23285 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
23288 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
23292 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
23293 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
23296 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
23297 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
23300 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
23304 A history of where mails have been split is available.
23307 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
23310 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
23311 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
23314 A new function for citing in Message has been
23315 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
23318 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
23321 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
23325 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
23326 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
23329 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
23330 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
23333 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
23336 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
23340 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
23341 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
23343 New features in Gnus 5.8:
23348 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
23349 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
23351 If you used procmail like in
23354 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
23355 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
23356 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
23357 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
23360 this now has changed to
23364 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
23368 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
23369 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
23372 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
23373 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
23376 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
23377 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
23380 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
23381 called to position point.
23384 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
23385 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
23388 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
23389 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
23392 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
23393 subtly different manner.
23396 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
23397 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
23398 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
23401 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
23409 @section The Manual
23413 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
23414 either @code{texi2dvi}
23416 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
23417 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
23419 to get what you hold in your hands now.
23421 The following conventions have been used:
23426 This is a @samp{string}
23429 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
23432 This is a @file{file}
23435 This is a @code{symbol}
23439 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
23443 (setq flargnoze "yes")
23446 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
23449 (setq flumphel 'yes)
23452 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
23453 ever get them confused.
23457 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
23458 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
23459 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
23460 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
23461 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
23462 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
23463 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
23469 @node On Writing Manuals
23470 @section On Writing Manuals
23472 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
23473 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
23474 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
23475 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
23476 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
23477 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
23480 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
23481 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
23482 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
23485 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
23486 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
23491 @section Terminology
23493 @cindex terminology
23498 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
23499 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
23500 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
23501 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
23502 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
23506 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
23507 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
23508 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
23509 not posting, and replying is not following up.
23513 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
23517 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
23522 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
23523 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
23524 commonly fetched via the protocol NNTP, whereas mail messages could be
23525 read from a file on the local disk. The internal architecture of Gnus
23526 thus comprises a `front end' and a number of `back ends'. Internally,
23527 when you enter a group (by hitting @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke
23528 a function in the front end in Gnus. The front end then `talks' to a
23529 back end and says things like ``Give me the list of articles in the foo
23530 group'' or ``Show me article number 4711''.
23532 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back end
23533 accesses news via NNTP, the @code{nnimap} back end accesses mail via
23534 IMAP) or a file format and directory layout (the @code{nnspool} back end
23535 accesses news via the common `spool directory' format, the @code{nnml}
23536 back end access mail via a file format and directory layout that's
23539 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
23540 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
23541 access the articles.
23543 However, sometimes the term `back end' is also used where `server'
23544 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term `select
23545 method' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
23550 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
23551 default, way of getting news.
23555 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
23556 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
23561 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
23562 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
23566 A message that has been posted as news.
23569 @cindex mail message
23570 A message that has been mailed.
23574 A mail message or news article
23578 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
23583 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
23588 A line from the head of an article.
23592 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
23593 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
23597 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
23598 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
23599 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
23600 normal @sc{head} format.
23604 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
23605 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
23606 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
23607 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
23608 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
23609 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
23611 @item killed groups
23612 @cindex killed groups
23613 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
23614 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
23616 @item zombie groups
23617 @cindex zombie groups
23618 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
23621 @cindex active file
23622 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
23623 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
23624 is rather large, as you might surmise.
23627 @cindex bogus groups
23628 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
23629 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
23630 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
23633 @cindex activating groups
23634 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
23635 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
23636 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
23640 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
23642 @item select method
23643 @cindex select method
23644 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
23647 @item virtual server
23648 @cindex virtual server
23649 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
23650 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
23651 whole is a virtual server.
23655 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
23656 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
23659 @item ephemeral groups
23660 @cindex ephemeral groups
23661 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
23662 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
23663 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
23666 @cindex solid groups
23667 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
23668 group buffer are solid groups.
23670 @item sparse articles
23671 @cindex sparse articles
23672 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
23673 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
23677 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
23678 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
23682 @cindex thread root
23683 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
23684 articles in the thread.
23688 An article that has responses.
23692 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
23696 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
23697 specified by RFC 1153.
23703 @node Customization
23704 @section Customization
23705 @cindex general customization
23707 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
23708 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
23709 for some quite common situations.
23712 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
23713 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
23714 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
23715 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
23719 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
23720 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
23722 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
23723 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
23724 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
23728 @item gnus-read-active-file
23729 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
23730 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
23731 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
23732 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
23733 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
23735 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
23736 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
23737 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
23738 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
23742 @node Slow Terminal Connection
23743 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
23745 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
23746 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
23747 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
23751 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
23752 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
23753 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
23754 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
23755 horizontal and vertical recentering.
23757 @item gnus-visible-headers
23758 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
23759 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
23760 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
23761 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
23763 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
23765 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
23766 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
23767 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
23770 @item gnus-use-full-window
23771 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
23772 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
23773 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
23774 want to read them anyway.
23776 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
23777 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
23781 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
23782 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
23783 lines, which might save some time.
23787 @node Little Disk Space
23788 @subsection Little Disk Space
23791 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
23792 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
23796 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
23797 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
23798 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
23799 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
23802 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
23803 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
23804 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
23805 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
23808 @item gnus-save-killed-list
23809 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
23810 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
23811 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
23812 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
23818 @subsection Slow Machine
23819 @cindex slow machine
23821 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
23822 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
23824 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
23825 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
23827 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
23828 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
23829 summary buffer faster.
23833 @node Troubleshooting
23834 @section Troubleshooting
23835 @cindex troubleshooting
23837 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
23845 Make sure your computer is switched on.
23848 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
23849 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
23853 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
23854 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
23855 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
23856 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
23859 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
23863 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
23864 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
23865 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
23866 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
23867 something like that.
23870 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
23873 @cindex reporting bugs
23875 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23877 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
23878 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
23879 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
23880 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
23882 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
23883 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
23884 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
23885 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
23888 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
23889 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
23890 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
23891 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
23892 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
23893 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
23895 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
23896 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
23897 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
23901 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
23902 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
23905 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
23906 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
23907 edebug. Debugging lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
23908 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
23909 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
23910 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
23911 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
23912 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
23913 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
23914 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
23915 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
23916 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
23917 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
23918 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
23920 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
23921 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
23923 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
23924 @cindex ding mailing list
23925 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
23926 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
23930 @node Gnus Reference Guide
23931 @section Gnus Reference Guide
23933 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
23934 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
23935 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
23936 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
23939 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
23940 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
23941 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
23942 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
23943 and general methods of operation.
23946 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
23947 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
23948 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
23949 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
23950 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
23951 * Group Info:: The group info format.
23952 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
23953 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
23954 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
23958 @node Gnus Utility Functions
23959 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
23960 @cindex Gnus utility functions
23961 @cindex utility functions
23963 @cindex internal variables
23965 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
23966 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
23967 Below is a list of the most common ones.
23971 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
23972 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
23973 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
23975 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
23976 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
23977 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
23979 @item gnus-group-real-name
23980 @findex gnus-group-real-name
23981 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
23984 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
23985 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
23986 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
23987 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
23989 @item gnus-get-info
23990 @findex gnus-get-info
23991 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
23993 @item gnus-group-unread
23994 @findex gnus-group-unread
23995 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
23999 @findex gnus-active
24000 The active entry for @var{group}.
24002 @item gnus-set-active
24003 @findex gnus-set-active
24004 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
24006 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24007 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24008 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
24011 @item gnus-continuum-version
24012 @findex gnus-continuum-version
24013 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
24014 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
24017 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
24018 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
24019 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
24021 @item gnus-news-group-p
24022 @findex gnus-news-group-p
24023 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
24025 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24026 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24027 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
24029 @item gnus-server-to-method
24030 @findex gnus-server-to-method
24031 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
24033 @item gnus-server-equal
24034 @findex gnus-server-equal
24035 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
24037 @item gnus-group-native-p
24038 @findex gnus-group-native-p
24039 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
24041 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
24042 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
24043 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
24045 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
24046 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
24047 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
24049 @item group-group-find-parameter
24050 @findex group-group-find-parameter
24051 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
24052 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
24054 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
24055 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
24056 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
24058 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
24059 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
24060 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
24062 @item gnus-check-backend-function
24063 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
24064 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
24065 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
24068 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
24072 @item gnus-read-method
24073 @findex gnus-read-method
24074 Prompts the user for a select method.
24079 @node Back End Interface
24080 @subsection Back End Interface
24082 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
24083 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
24084 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
24085 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
24086 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
24087 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
24089 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
24090 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
24091 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
24092 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
24093 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
24094 been opened, the function should fail.
24096 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
24097 name. Take this example:
24101 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
24102 (nntp-port-number 4324))
24105 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
24106 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
24108 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
24109 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
24110 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
24112 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
24113 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
24114 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
24116 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
24117 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
24118 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
24119 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
24120 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
24121 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
24124 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
24125 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
24126 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
24127 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
24130 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
24131 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
24132 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
24133 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
24134 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
24135 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
24136 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
24137 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
24138 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
24139 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
24141 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
24142 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
24143 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
24144 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
24145 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
24146 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
24147 of numbers as long as possible.
24149 Note that by convention, backends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
24150 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
24151 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
24153 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
24156 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
24159 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
24160 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
24161 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
24162 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
24163 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
24164 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
24168 @node Required Back End Functions
24169 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
24173 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
24175 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
24176 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
24177 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
24178 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
24180 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
24181 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
24182 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
24183 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
24185 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
24186 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
24187 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
24188 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
24189 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
24190 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
24191 number, do maximum fetches.
24193 Here's an example HEAD:
24196 221 1056 Article retrieved.
24197 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
24198 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
24199 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
24200 Subject: Re: Something very droll
24201 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
24202 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
24204 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
24205 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
24206 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
24210 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
24211 these in the data buffer.
24213 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
24217 head = error / valid-head
24218 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
24219 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
24220 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
24221 header = <text> eol
24224 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
24225 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
24229 nov-buffer = *nov-line
24230 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
24231 field = <text except TAB>
24234 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
24238 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
24240 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
24241 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
24243 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
24244 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
24245 server. In fact, it should do so.
24247 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
24248 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
24251 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
24253 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
24254 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
24257 There should be no data returned.
24260 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
24262 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
24263 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
24264 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
24265 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
24267 There should be no data returned.
24270 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
24272 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
24273 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
24274 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
24275 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
24277 There should be no data returned.
24280 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
24282 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
24284 There should be no data returned.
24287 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
24289 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
24290 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
24291 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
24292 it would be nice if that were possible.
24294 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
24295 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
24296 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
24297 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
24298 into its article buffer.
24300 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
24301 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
24302 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
24303 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
24304 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
24305 on successful article retrieval.
24308 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
24310 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
24311 making @var{group} the current group.
24313 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
24316 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
24319 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
24322 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
24323 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
24324 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
24325 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
24326 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
24327 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
24328 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
24329 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
24330 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
24334 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
24335 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
24336 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
24340 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
24342 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
24343 a no-op on most back ends.
24345 There should be no data returned.
24348 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
24350 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
24353 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
24356 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
24357 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
24360 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
24361 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
24362 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
24363 and the highest as 0.
24366 active-file = *active-line
24367 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
24369 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
24372 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
24373 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
24374 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
24377 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
24379 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
24380 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
24381 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
24382 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
24383 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
24384 clear if the posting could not be completed.
24386 There should be no result data from this function.
24391 @node Optional Back End Functions
24392 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
24396 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
24398 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
24399 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
24400 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
24402 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
24403 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
24404 former is in the same format as the data from
24405 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
24406 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
24409 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
24413 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
24415 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
24416 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
24417 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
24418 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
24419 should return a non-nil value.
24421 There should be no result data from this function.
24424 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
24426 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
24427 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
24428 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
24429 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
24430 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
24431 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
24432 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
24433 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
24435 There should be no result data from this function.
24438 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
24440 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
24441 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
24442 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
24443 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
24444 propagate the mark information to the server.
24446 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
24449 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
24452 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
24453 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
24454 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
24455 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
24456 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
24457 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
24458 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
24459 possible, not limit itself to these.
24461 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
24462 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
24463 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
24464 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
24466 An example action list:
24469 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
24470 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
24471 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
24474 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
24475 mark on (currently not used for anything).
24477 There should be no result data from this function.
24479 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
24481 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
24482 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
24483 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
24484 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
24485 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
24487 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
24488 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
24489 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
24492 There should be no result data from this function.
24495 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
24497 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
24498 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
24499 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
24500 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
24501 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
24502 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
24503 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
24505 There should be no result data from this function.
24508 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
24510 The result data from this function should be a description of
24514 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
24516 description = <text>
24519 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
24521 The result data from this function should be the description of all
24522 groups available on the server.
24525 description-buffer = *description-line
24529 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
24531 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
24532 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
24533 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
24534 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
24535 in the active buffer format.
24537 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
24538 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
24539 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
24540 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
24541 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
24542 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
24543 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
24546 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
24548 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
24550 There should be no return data.
24553 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
24555 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
24556 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
24557 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
24558 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
24559 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
24562 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
24565 There should be no result data returned.
24568 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
24571 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
24572 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
24574 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
24575 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
24576 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
24577 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
24578 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
24579 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
24581 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
24582 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
24585 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
24586 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
24588 There should be no data returned.
24591 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
24593 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
24594 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
24595 this function in short order.
24597 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
24598 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
24600 There should be no data returned.
24603 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
24605 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
24606 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
24608 There should be no data returned.
24611 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
24613 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
24614 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
24615 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
24617 There should be no data returned.
24620 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
24622 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
24623 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
24625 There should be no data returned.
24630 @node Error Messaging
24631 @subsubsection Error Messaging
24633 @findex nnheader-report
24634 @findex nnheader-get-report
24635 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
24636 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
24637 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
24638 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
24639 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
24640 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
24643 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
24645 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
24648 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
24649 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
24650 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
24651 takes one argument---the server symbol.
24653 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
24654 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
24655 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
24658 @node Writing New Back Ends
24659 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
24661 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
24662 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
24663 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
24664 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
24665 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
24668 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
24669 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
24670 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
24672 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
24673 package called @code{nnoo}.
24675 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
24676 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
24682 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
24683 parameters. For instance:
24686 (nnoo-declare nndir
24690 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
24691 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
24694 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
24695 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
24696 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
24698 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
24699 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
24700 a function in those back ends.
24703 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
24704 "Where nndir will look for groups."
24705 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
24708 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
24709 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
24710 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
24712 @item nnoo-define-basics
24713 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
24717 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
24721 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
24722 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
24723 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
24725 @item nnoo-map-functions
24726 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
24727 functions from the parent back ends.
24730 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
24731 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
24732 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
24735 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
24736 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
24737 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
24738 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
24741 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
24742 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
24743 haven't already been defined.
24749 nnmh-request-newgroups)
24753 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
24754 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
24755 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
24760 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
24763 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
24764 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
24768 (require 'nnheader)
24772 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
24774 (nnoo-declare nndir
24777 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
24778 "Where nndir will look for groups."
24779 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
24781 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
24782 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
24785 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
24787 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
24788 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
24789 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
24791 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
24792 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
24794 ;;; Interface functions.
24796 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
24798 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
24799 (setq nndir-directory
24800 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
24802 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
24803 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
24804 (push `(nndir-current-group
24805 ,(file-name-nondirectory
24806 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
24808 (push `(nndir-top-directory
24809 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
24811 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
24813 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
24814 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
24815 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
24816 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
24817 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
24821 nnmh-status-message
24823 nnmh-request-newgroups))
24829 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
24830 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
24832 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
24833 @findex gnus-declare-backend
24834 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
24835 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
24836 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
24838 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
24839 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
24844 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
24847 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
24849 The abilities can be:
24853 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
24855 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
24857 This back end supports both mail and news.
24859 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
24862 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
24863 articles and groups.
24865 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
24866 true for almost all back ends.
24867 @item prompt-address
24868 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
24869 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
24870 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
24874 @node Mail-like Back Ends
24875 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
24877 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
24878 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
24879 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
24880 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
24883 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
24884 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
24885 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
24888 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
24889 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
24892 This function takes four parameters.
24896 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
24899 @item exit-function
24900 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
24902 @item temp-directory
24903 Where the temporary files should be stored.
24906 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
24907 performed for one group only.
24910 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
24911 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
24912 find the article number assigned to this article.
24914 The function also uses the following variables:
24915 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
24916 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
24917 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
24918 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
24922 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
24923 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
24927 @node Score File Syntax
24928 @subsection Score File Syntax
24930 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
24931 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
24932 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
24934 Here's a typical score file:
24938 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
24945 BNF definition of a score file:
24948 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
24949 element = rule / atom
24950 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
24951 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
24952 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
24953 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
24955 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
24956 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
24957 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
24958 date-header = "date"
24959 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24960 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24961 score = "nil" / <integer>
24962 date = "nil" / <natural number>
24963 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
24964 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
24965 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
24966 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
24967 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24968 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24969 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
24970 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24971 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
24972 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
24973 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
24974 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
24975 exclude-files / read-only / touched
24976 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
24977 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
24978 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
24979 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
24980 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
24981 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
24982 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
24983 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
24984 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
24985 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
24986 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
24987 eval = "eval" space <form>
24988 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
24991 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
24994 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
24995 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
24996 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
24997 one looong line, then that's ok.
24999 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
25000 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25004 @subsection Headers
25006 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
25007 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
25008 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
25009 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
25011 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
25012 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
25013 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
25014 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
25015 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
25016 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
25017 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
25019 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
25020 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
25021 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
25022 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
25023 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
25025 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
25026 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
25032 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
25033 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
25035 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
25036 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
25037 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
25038 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
25040 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
25044 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
25047 is transformed into
25050 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
25053 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
25054 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
25057 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
25060 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
25061 is slightly tricky:
25064 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
25070 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
25073 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
25079 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
25086 and is equal to the previous range.
25088 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
25089 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
25090 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
25094 range = simple-range / normal-range
25095 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
25096 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
25097 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
25098 number *[ " " contents ]
25101 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
25102 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
25103 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
25104 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
25105 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
25110 @subsection Group Info
25112 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
25113 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
25114 describes the group.
25116 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
25117 second is a more complex one:
25120 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
25122 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
25123 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
25125 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
25128 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
25129 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
25130 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
25131 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
25132 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
25133 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
25134 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
25135 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
25136 this section is about.
25138 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
25139 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
25140 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
25142 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
25145 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
25146 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
25147 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25148 group = quote <string> quote
25149 ralevel = rank / level
25150 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25151 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
25152 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25154 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
25155 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
25156 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
25157 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
25160 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
25161 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
25164 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
25165 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
25168 @item gnus-info-group
25169 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
25170 @findex gnus-info-group
25171 @findex gnus-info-set-group
25172 Get/set the group name.
25174 @item gnus-info-rank
25175 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
25176 @findex gnus-info-rank
25177 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
25178 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
25180 @item gnus-info-level
25181 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
25182 @findex gnus-info-level
25183 @findex gnus-info-set-level
25184 Get/set the group level.
25186 @item gnus-info-score
25187 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
25188 @findex gnus-info-score
25189 @findex gnus-info-set-score
25190 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
25192 @item gnus-info-read
25193 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
25194 @findex gnus-info-read
25195 @findex gnus-info-set-read
25196 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
25198 @item gnus-info-marks
25199 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
25200 @findex gnus-info-marks
25201 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
25202 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
25204 @item gnus-info-method
25205 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
25206 @findex gnus-info-method
25207 @findex gnus-info-set-method
25208 Get/set the group select method.
25210 @item gnus-info-params
25211 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
25212 @findex gnus-info-params
25213 @findex gnus-info-set-params
25214 Get/set the group parameters.
25217 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
25218 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
25220 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
25221 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
25222 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
25223 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
25226 @node Extended Interactive
25227 @subsection Extended Interactive
25228 @cindex interactive
25229 @findex gnus-interactive
25231 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
25232 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
25233 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
25236 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
25237 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
25242 The best thing to do would have been to implement
25243 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
25244 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
25245 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
25246 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
25247 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
25248 @code{interactive}.
25250 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
25255 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
25256 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
25260 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
25261 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
25262 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
25265 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
25269 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
25273 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
25279 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
25280 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
25284 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
25285 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
25286 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
25288 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
25289 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
25290 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
25291 Gnus, that's very useful.
25293 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
25294 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
25295 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
25296 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
25297 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
25298 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
25299 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
25300 following function:
25303 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
25307 (,function ,@@args))
25311 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
25312 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
25313 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
25316 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
25317 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
25318 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
25320 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
25321 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
25322 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
25325 @node Various File Formats
25326 @subsection Various File Formats
25329 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
25330 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
25334 @node Active File Format
25335 @subsubsection Active File Format
25337 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
25338 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
25341 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
25344 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
25345 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
25346 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
25347 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
25348 no.general 1000 900 y
25351 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
25354 active = *group-line
25355 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
25356 group = <non-white-space string>
25358 high-number = <non-negative integer>
25359 low-number = <positive integer>
25360 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
25363 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
25364 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
25367 @node Newsgroups File Format
25368 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
25370 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
25371 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
25372 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
25375 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
25376 Here's the definition:
25380 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
25381 group = <non-white-space string>
25383 description = <string>
25388 @node Emacs for Heathens
25389 @section Emacs for Heathens
25391 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
25392 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
25393 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
25394 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
25395 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
25396 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
25397 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
25401 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
25402 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
25407 @subsection Keystrokes
25411 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
25414 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
25417 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
25418 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
25419 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
25420 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
25421 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
25422 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
25424 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
25425 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
25426 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
25427 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
25428 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
25429 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
25430 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
25432 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
25433 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
25434 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
25435 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
25436 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
25437 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
25438 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
25440 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
25441 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
25442 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
25443 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
25444 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
25450 @subsection Emacs Lisp
25452 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
25453 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
25454 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
25455 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
25457 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
25458 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
25459 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
25460 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
25461 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
25462 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
25463 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
25466 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
25467 write the following:
25470 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
25473 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
25474 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
25475 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
25478 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
25479 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
25480 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
25481 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
25482 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
25484 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
25485 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
25486 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
25490 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
25494 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
25497 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
25498 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
25501 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
25504 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
25505 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
25508 @include gnus-faq.texi
25528 @c Local Variables:
25530 @c coding: iso-8859-1
25532 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
25533 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
25534 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
25535 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
25536 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref