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10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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268 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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277 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
278 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
281 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
282 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
283 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
284 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
285 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
286 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
287 License'' in the Emacs manual.
289 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
290 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
291 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
293 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
294 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
295 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
296 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
304 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
306 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
308 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
309 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
310 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
311 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
312 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
313 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
314 License'' in the Emacs manual.
316 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
317 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
318 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
320 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
321 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
322 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
323 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
331 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
334 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
335 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
337 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
338 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
339 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
340 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
341 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
342 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
343 License'' in the Emacs manual.
345 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
346 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
347 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
349 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
350 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
351 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
352 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
361 @top The Gnus Newsreader
365 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
366 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
367 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
370 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v.
381 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
382 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
384 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
385 being accused of plagiarism:
387 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
388 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
389 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
390 can even read news with it!
392 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
393 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
394 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
395 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
396 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
402 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
403 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
404 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
405 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
406 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
407 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
408 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
409 * Various:: General purpose settings.
410 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
411 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
412 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
413 * Key Index:: Key Index.
416 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
420 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
421 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
422 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
423 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
424 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
425 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
426 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
427 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
428 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
429 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
430 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
434 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
435 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
436 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
440 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
441 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
442 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
443 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
444 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
445 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
446 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
447 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
448 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
449 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
450 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
451 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
452 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
453 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
454 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
455 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
456 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
460 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
461 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
462 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
466 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
467 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
468 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
469 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
470 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
474 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
475 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
476 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
477 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
481 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
482 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
483 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
484 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
485 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
486 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
487 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
488 * Threading:: How threads are made.
489 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
490 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
491 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
492 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
493 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
494 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
495 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
496 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
497 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
498 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
499 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
500 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
501 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
502 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
503 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
504 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
505 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
506 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
507 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
508 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
509 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
511 Summary Buffer Format
513 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
514 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
515 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
516 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
520 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
521 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
523 Reply, Followup and Post
525 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
526 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
527 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
528 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
532 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
533 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
534 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
535 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
536 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
537 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
541 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
542 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
544 Customizing Threading
546 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
547 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
548 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
549 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
553 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
554 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
555 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
556 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
557 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
558 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
562 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
563 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
564 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
568 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
569 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
570 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
571 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
572 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
573 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
574 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
575 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
577 Alternative Approaches
579 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
580 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
582 Various Summary Stuff
584 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
585 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
586 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
587 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
591 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
592 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
593 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
594 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
595 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
599 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
600 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
601 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
602 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
603 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
604 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
605 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
606 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
610 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
611 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
612 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
613 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
614 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
615 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
616 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
620 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
621 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
622 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
623 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
624 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
625 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
626 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
630 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
631 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
635 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
636 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
637 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
638 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
639 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
640 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
641 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
642 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
643 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
644 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
645 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
646 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
647 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
651 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
652 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
653 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
655 Choosing a Mail Backend
657 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
658 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
659 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
660 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
661 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
662 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
666 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
667 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
668 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
669 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
670 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
671 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
675 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
676 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
677 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
678 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
679 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
680 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
684 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
688 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
689 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
690 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
694 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
695 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
696 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
700 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
701 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
705 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
706 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
707 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
708 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
709 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
710 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
711 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
712 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
713 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
714 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
718 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
719 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
720 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
724 * Group Agent Commands::
725 * Summary Agent Commands::
726 * Server Agent Commands::
730 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
731 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
732 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
733 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
734 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
735 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
736 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
737 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
738 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
739 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
740 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
741 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
742 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
743 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
744 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
745 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
749 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
750 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
751 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
752 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
756 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
757 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
758 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
762 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
763 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
764 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
765 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
766 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
767 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
768 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
769 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
770 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
771 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
772 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
773 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
774 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
775 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
776 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
777 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
778 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
779 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
783 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
784 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
785 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
786 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
787 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
791 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
792 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
793 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
794 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
798 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
799 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
800 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
801 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
802 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
806 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
807 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
808 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
809 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
810 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
811 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
812 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
813 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
817 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
818 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
819 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
820 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
821 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
822 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
823 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
824 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
825 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
829 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
830 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
831 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
832 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
833 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
837 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
838 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
839 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
840 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
844 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
845 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
846 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
847 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
848 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
849 * Group Info:: The group info format.
850 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
851 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
852 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
856 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
857 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
858 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
859 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
860 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
861 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
865 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
866 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
870 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
871 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
877 @chapter Starting Gnus
882 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
883 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
886 @findex gnus-other-frame
887 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
888 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
889 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
891 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
892 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
893 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
895 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
896 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
899 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
900 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
901 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
902 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
903 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
904 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
905 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
906 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
907 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
908 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
909 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
913 @node Finding the News
914 @section Finding the News
917 @vindex gnus-select-method
919 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
920 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
921 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
922 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
925 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
926 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
929 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
932 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
935 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
938 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
939 certainly be much faster.
941 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
943 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
944 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
945 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
946 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
947 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
948 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
950 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
951 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
952 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
953 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
955 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
956 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
957 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
958 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
959 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
960 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
961 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
962 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
963 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
966 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
968 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
969 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
970 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
971 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
972 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
973 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
975 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
977 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
978 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
979 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
980 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
981 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
982 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
985 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
986 would typically set this variable to
989 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
994 @section The First Time
995 @cindex first time usage
997 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
998 be subscribed by default.
1000 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1001 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1002 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1003 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1006 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1007 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1008 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1010 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1011 help you with most common problems.
1013 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1014 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1018 @node The Server is Down
1019 @section The Server is Down
1020 @cindex server errors
1022 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1023 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1024 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1026 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1027 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1028 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1029 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1030 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1031 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1032 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1034 @findex gnus-no-server
1035 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1037 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1038 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1039 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1040 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1041 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1042 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1043 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1047 @section Slave Gnusae
1050 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1051 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1052 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1053 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1055 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1056 @code{.newsrc} file.
1058 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1059 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1060 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1061 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1062 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1063 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1064 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1066 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1067 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1068 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1069 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1070 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1071 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1072 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1073 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1075 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1076 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1079 @node Fetching a Group
1080 @section Fetching a Group
1081 @cindex fetching a group
1083 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1084 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1085 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1086 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1087 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1088 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1094 @cindex subscription
1096 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1097 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1098 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1099 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1100 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1101 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1102 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1103 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
1104 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1107 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1108 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1109 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1113 @node Checking New Groups
1114 @subsection Checking New Groups
1116 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1117 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1118 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1119 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1120 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1121 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1122 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1123 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1124 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1125 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1127 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1128 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1129 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1130 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1131 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1132 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1133 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1134 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1135 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1136 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1137 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1139 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1140 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1141 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1142 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1143 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1144 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1147 @node Subscription Methods
1148 @subsection Subscription Methods
1150 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1151 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1152 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1154 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1155 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1157 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1161 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1162 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1163 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1164 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1165 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1167 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1168 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1169 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1170 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1172 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1173 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1174 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1176 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1177 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1178 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1179 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1180 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1181 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1182 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1183 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1184 up. Or something like that.
1186 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1187 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1188 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1189 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1190 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1192 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1193 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1194 Kill all new groups.
1196 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1197 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1198 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1199 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1200 topic parameter that looks like
1206 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1209 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1214 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1215 A closely related variable is
1216 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1217 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1218 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1219 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1222 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1223 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1224 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1225 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1228 @node Filtering New Groups
1229 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1231 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1232 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1233 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1236 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1239 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1240 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1241 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1242 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1243 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1244 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1245 subscribing these groups.
1246 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1247 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1249 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1250 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1251 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1252 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1253 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1254 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1255 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1256 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1258 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1259 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1260 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1261 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1262 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1263 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1264 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1265 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1266 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1267 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1269 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1270 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1273 @node Changing Servers
1274 @section Changing Servers
1275 @cindex changing servers
1277 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1278 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1279 very flaky and you want to use another.
1281 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1282 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1286 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1287 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1288 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1289 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1292 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1293 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1294 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1295 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1297 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1298 @findex gnus-change-server
1299 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1300 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1301 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1302 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1303 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1305 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1306 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1307 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1308 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1309 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1311 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1312 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1313 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1314 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1315 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1316 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1318 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1319 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1320 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1324 @section Startup Files
1325 @cindex startup files
1330 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1331 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1333 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1334 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1335 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1336 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1337 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1338 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1339 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1341 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1342 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1343 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1344 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1345 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1346 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1348 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1349 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1350 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1351 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1352 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1353 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1354 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1355 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1356 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1357 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1359 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1360 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1361 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1362 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1363 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1364 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1365 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1366 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1367 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1368 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1369 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1370 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1372 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1373 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1374 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1375 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1377 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1378 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1379 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1380 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1381 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1382 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1383 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1384 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1385 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1386 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1389 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1390 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1392 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1393 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1396 @vindex gnus-init-file
1397 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1398 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1399 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1400 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1401 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1402 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1403 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1404 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1405 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1411 @cindex dribble file
1414 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1415 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1416 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1417 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1418 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1421 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1422 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1425 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1426 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1427 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1429 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1430 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1431 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1432 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1433 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1434 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1436 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1437 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1438 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1441 @node The Active File
1442 @section The Active File
1444 @cindex ignored groups
1446 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1447 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1448 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1450 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1451 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1452 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1453 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1454 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1455 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1456 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1459 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1460 @c if you set it to anything else.
1462 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1464 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1465 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1466 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1468 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1469 you actually subscribe to.
1471 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1472 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1473 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1474 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1476 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1477 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1478 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1479 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1480 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1481 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1483 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1484 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1485 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1488 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1489 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1490 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1491 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1492 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1493 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1495 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1496 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1498 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1499 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1501 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1502 secondary select methods.
1505 @node Startup Variables
1506 @section Startup Variables
1510 @item gnus-load-hook
1511 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1512 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1513 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1514 times you start Gnus.
1516 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1517 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1518 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1520 @item gnus-startup-hook
1521 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1522 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1524 @item gnus-started-hook
1525 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1526 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1529 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1530 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1531 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1532 generating the group buffer.
1534 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1535 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1536 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1537 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1538 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1539 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1540 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1541 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1543 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1544 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1545 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1546 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1547 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1548 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1550 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1551 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1552 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1554 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1555 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1556 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1558 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1559 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1560 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1561 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1567 @chapter Group Buffer
1568 @cindex group buffer
1570 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1571 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1572 long as Gnus is active.
1576 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1577 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1578 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1579 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1580 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1581 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1582 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1583 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1589 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1590 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1591 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1592 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1593 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1594 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1595 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1596 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1597 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1598 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1599 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1600 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1601 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1602 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1603 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1604 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1605 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1609 @node Group Buffer Format
1610 @section Group Buffer Format
1613 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1614 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1615 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1619 @node Group Line Specification
1620 @subsection Group Line Specification
1621 @cindex group buffer format
1623 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1624 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1626 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1629 25: news.announce.newusers
1630 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1635 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1636 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1637 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1638 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1640 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1641 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1642 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1643 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1644 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1645 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1647 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1649 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1650 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1651 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1652 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1655 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1656 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1657 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1659 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1664 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1667 Whether the group is subscribed.
1670 Level of subscribedness.
1673 Number of unread articles.
1676 Number of dormant articles.
1679 Number of ticked articles.
1682 Number of read articles.
1685 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1686 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1689 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1692 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1701 Newsgroup description.
1704 @samp{m} if moderated.
1707 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1716 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1720 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1723 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1724 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1725 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1726 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1727 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1730 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1732 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1736 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1739 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1743 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1744 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1745 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1746 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1747 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1748 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1753 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1754 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1755 group, or a bogus native group.
1758 @node Group Modeline Specification
1759 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1760 @cindex group modeline
1762 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1763 The mode line can be changed by setting
1764 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1765 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1769 The native news server.
1771 The native select method.
1775 @node Group Highlighting
1776 @subsection Group Highlighting
1777 @cindex highlighting
1778 @cindex group highlighting
1780 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1781 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1782 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1783 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1784 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1786 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1790 (cond (window-system
1791 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1792 (defface my-group-face-1
1793 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1794 (defface my-group-face-2
1795 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1796 (defface my-group-face-3
1797 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1798 (defface my-group-face-4
1799 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1800 (defface my-group-face-5
1801 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1803 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1804 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1805 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1806 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1807 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1808 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1811 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1813 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1820 The number of unread articles in the group.
1824 Whether the group is a mail group.
1826 The level of the group.
1828 The score of the group.
1830 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1832 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1833 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1835 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1836 topic being inserted.
1839 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1840 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1841 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1843 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1844 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1845 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1846 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1847 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1850 @node Group Maneuvering
1851 @section Group Maneuvering
1852 @cindex group movement
1854 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1855 expected, hopefully.
1861 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1862 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1863 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1869 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1870 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1871 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1875 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1876 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1880 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1881 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1885 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1886 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1887 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1891 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1892 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1893 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1896 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1902 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1903 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1904 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1909 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1910 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1911 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1915 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1916 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1917 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1920 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1921 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1922 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1923 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1927 @node Selecting a Group
1928 @section Selecting a Group
1929 @cindex group selection
1934 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1935 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1936 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1937 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1938 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1939 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1940 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1941 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1942 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1943 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1945 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
1946 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
1947 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
1949 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
1950 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
1955 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1956 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1957 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1958 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1959 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1963 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1964 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1965 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1966 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1967 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1968 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1969 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1970 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1971 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1972 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1975 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1976 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1977 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1978 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1979 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1982 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1983 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1984 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1985 doing any processing of its contents
1986 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1987 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1988 manner will have no permanent effects.
1992 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1993 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1994 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1995 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1996 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1997 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1998 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1999 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2002 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2003 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2004 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
2005 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2010 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
2011 full summary buffer.
2014 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
2017 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
2022 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2023 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
2024 Useful functions include:
2027 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2028 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2029 don't select the article.
2031 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2032 Select the first unread article.
2034 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2035 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2039 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2040 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2041 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2045 @node Subscription Commands
2046 @section Subscription Commands
2047 @cindex subscription
2055 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2056 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2057 Toggle subscription to the current group
2058 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2064 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2065 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2066 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2067 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2073 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2074 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2075 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2081 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2082 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2085 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2086 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2087 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2088 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2089 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2095 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2096 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2100 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2101 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2104 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2105 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2106 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2107 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2108 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2109 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2110 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2111 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2112 @file{.newsrc} file.
2116 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2126 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2127 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2128 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2129 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2130 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2131 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2136 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2137 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2138 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2142 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2143 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2144 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2146 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2147 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2148 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2149 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2150 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2151 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2158 @section Group Levels
2162 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2163 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2164 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2165 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2166 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2168 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2174 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2175 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2176 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2177 prompted for a level.
2180 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2181 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2182 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2183 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2184 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2185 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2186 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2187 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2188 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2189 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2190 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2191 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2192 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2193 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2194 reasons of efficiency.
2196 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2197 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2199 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2200 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2201 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2202 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2203 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2204 groups are hidden, in a way.
2206 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2207 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2208 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2209 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2210 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2211 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2213 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2214 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2215 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2216 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2217 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2218 list of killed groups.)
2220 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2221 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2222 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2224 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2225 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2226 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2227 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2228 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2229 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2230 relevant valid ranges.
2232 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2233 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2234 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2235 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2236 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2237 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2240 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2241 one with the best level.
2243 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2244 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2245 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2248 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2249 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2250 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2251 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2254 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2255 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2256 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2257 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2259 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2260 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2261 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2262 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2263 to 5. The default is 6.
2267 @section Group Score
2272 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2273 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2274 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2277 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2278 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2279 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2280 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2281 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2282 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2283 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2284 least significant part.))
2286 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2287 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2288 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2289 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2290 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2291 action after each summary exit, you can add
2292 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2293 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2294 slow things down somewhat.
2297 @node Marking Groups
2298 @section Marking Groups
2299 @cindex marking groups
2301 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2302 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2303 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2304 bidding on those groups.
2306 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2307 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2308 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2316 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2317 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2323 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2324 Remove the mark from the current group
2325 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2329 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2330 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2334 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2335 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2339 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2340 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2344 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2345 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2346 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2349 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2351 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2352 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2353 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2354 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2355 the command to be executed.
2358 @node Foreign Groups
2359 @section Foreign Groups
2360 @cindex foreign groups
2362 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2363 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2364 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2365 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2372 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2373 @cindex making groups
2374 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2375 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2376 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2380 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2381 @cindex renaming groups
2382 Rename the current group to something else
2383 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2384 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2390 @findex gnus-group-customize
2391 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2395 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2396 @cindex renaming groups
2397 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2398 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2402 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2403 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2404 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2408 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2409 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2410 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2414 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2416 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2417 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2422 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2423 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2427 @cindex (ding) archive
2428 @cindex archive group
2429 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2430 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2431 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2432 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2433 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2434 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2435 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2439 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2441 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2442 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2443 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2444 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2448 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2450 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2451 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2452 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2456 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2457 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2459 Make a group based on some file or other
2460 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2461 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2462 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
2463 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
2464 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
2465 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2466 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2470 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2471 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2472 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2473 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2477 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2482 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2483 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2484 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2485 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2486 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2487 @xref{Web Searches}.
2489 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2490 to a particular group by using a match string like
2491 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2494 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2495 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2496 This function will delete the current group
2497 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2498 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2499 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2500 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2501 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2505 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2506 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2507 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2511 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2512 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2513 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2516 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2519 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2520 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2521 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2522 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2523 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2524 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2528 @node Group Parameters
2529 @section Group Parameters
2530 @cindex group parameters
2532 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2533 Here's an example group parameter list:
2536 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2540 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2541 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2542 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2543 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2545 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2546 is an alist of regexps and values.
2548 The following group parameters can be used:
2553 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2556 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2559 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2560 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2561 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2562 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2563 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2565 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2566 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2567 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2568 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2569 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2570 list address instead.
2572 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2576 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2579 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2582 It is totally ignored
2583 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2584 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2586 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2587 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2588 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2589 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2590 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2592 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2593 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2594 sending the message.
2596 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2600 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2601 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2602 of whether it has any unread articles.
2604 @item broken-reply-to
2605 @cindex broken-reply-to
2606 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2607 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2608 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2609 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2610 broken behavior. So there!
2614 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2615 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2619 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2620 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2621 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2626 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2627 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2628 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2629 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2630 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2631 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2632 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2636 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2637 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2638 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2640 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2643 @cindex total-expire
2644 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2645 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2646 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2647 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2650 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2654 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2655 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2656 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2657 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2658 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2659 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2662 @cindex score file group parameter
2663 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2664 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2665 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2668 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2669 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2670 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2671 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2674 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2675 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2676 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2677 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2680 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2681 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2685 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2688 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2693 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2694 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2695 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2699 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2700 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2701 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2703 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2705 @item ignored-charsets
2706 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-known iso-8859-1)}
2707 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2708 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2710 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2713 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2714 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2715 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2716 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2717 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2719 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2720 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2721 like this in the group parameters:
2726 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2730 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2731 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2732 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2733 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2734 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2736 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2737 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2738 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2739 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2740 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2741 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2742 @code{eval}ed there.
2744 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2745 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2746 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2747 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2748 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2752 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2753 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2754 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2755 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2756 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2759 @node Listing Groups
2760 @section Listing Groups
2761 @cindex group listing
2763 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2771 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2772 List all groups that have unread articles
2773 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2774 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2775 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2776 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2783 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2784 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2785 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2786 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2787 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2788 unsubscribed groups).
2792 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2793 List all unread groups on a specific level
2794 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2795 with no unread articles.
2799 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2800 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2801 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2802 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2807 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2808 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2812 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2813 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2814 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2818 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2819 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2823 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2824 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2825 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2826 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2827 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2828 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2829 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2830 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2834 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2835 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2836 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2840 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2841 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2842 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2846 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
2847 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
2851 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
2852 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
2856 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
2857 List groups limited within the current selection
2858 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
2862 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
2863 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
2867 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
2868 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
2872 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2873 @cindex visible group parameter
2874 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2875 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2876 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2877 get the same effect.
2879 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2880 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2881 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2882 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2883 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2886 @node Sorting Groups
2887 @section Sorting Groups
2888 @cindex sorting groups
2890 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2891 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2892 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2893 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2894 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2895 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2900 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2901 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2902 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2904 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2905 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2906 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2908 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2909 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2910 Sort by group level.
2912 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2913 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2914 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2916 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2917 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2918 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2919 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2921 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2922 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2923 Sort by number of unread articles.
2925 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2926 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2927 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2929 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
2930 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
2931 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
2936 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2937 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2941 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2942 some sorting criteria:
2946 @kindex G S a (Group)
2947 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2948 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2949 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2952 @kindex G S u (Group)
2953 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2954 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2955 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2958 @kindex G S l (Group)
2959 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2960 Sort the group buffer by group level
2961 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2964 @kindex G S v (Group)
2965 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2966 Sort the group buffer by group score
2967 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2970 @kindex G S r (Group)
2971 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2972 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2973 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2976 @kindex G S m (Group)
2977 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2978 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2979 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2983 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2984 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2986 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2987 commands will sort in reverse order.
2989 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2993 @kindex G P a (Group)
2994 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2995 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2996 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2999 @kindex G P u (Group)
3000 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3001 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3002 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3005 @kindex G P l (Group)
3006 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3007 Sort the groups by group level
3008 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3011 @kindex G P v (Group)
3012 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3013 Sort the groups by group score
3014 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3017 @kindex G P r (Group)
3018 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3019 Sort the groups by group rank
3020 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3023 @kindex G P m (Group)
3024 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3025 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
3026 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3030 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3034 @node Group Maintenance
3035 @section Group Maintenance
3036 @cindex bogus groups
3041 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3042 Find bogus groups and delete them
3043 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3047 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3048 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3049 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3050 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3051 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3055 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3056 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3057 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3058 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3059 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3060 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3063 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
3064 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3065 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3066 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3071 @node Browse Foreign Server
3072 @section Browse Foreign Server
3073 @cindex foreign servers
3074 @cindex browsing servers
3079 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3080 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3081 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3082 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3085 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3086 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3087 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3088 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3090 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3095 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3096 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3100 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3101 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3104 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3105 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3106 Enter the current group and display the first article
3107 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3110 @kindex RET (Browse)
3111 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3112 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3116 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3117 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3118 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3124 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3125 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3129 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3130 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3131 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3136 @section Exiting Gnus
3137 @cindex exiting Gnus
3139 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3144 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3145 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3146 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3147 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3151 @findex gnus-group-exit
3152 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3153 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3157 @findex gnus-group-quit
3158 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3159 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3162 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3163 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3164 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3165 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3166 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3171 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3172 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3173 trying to customize meta-variables.
3178 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3179 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3180 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3186 @section Group Topics
3189 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3190 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3191 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3192 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3193 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3194 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3198 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3199 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3210 2: alt.religion.emacs
3213 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3215 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3216 13: comp.sources.unix
3219 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3221 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3222 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3223 is a toggling command.)
3225 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3226 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3227 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3228 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3231 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3232 the hook for the group mode:
3235 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3239 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3240 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3241 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3242 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3243 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3247 @node Topic Variables
3248 @subsection Topic Variables
3249 @cindex topic variables
3251 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3252 really neat, I think.
3254 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3255 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3256 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3269 Number of groups in the topic.
3271 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3273 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3276 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3277 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3278 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3281 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3282 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3284 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3285 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3286 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3289 @node Topic Commands
3290 @subsection Topic Commands
3291 @cindex topic commands
3293 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3294 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3295 definitions slightly.
3301 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3302 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3303 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3307 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3308 Move the current group to some other topic
3309 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3310 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3314 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3315 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3319 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3320 Copy the current group to some other topic
3321 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3322 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3326 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3327 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3328 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3332 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3333 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3334 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3338 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3339 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3340 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3341 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3342 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3343 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3344 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3347 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3348 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3352 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3353 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3354 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3358 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3359 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3360 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3364 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3365 Toggle hiding empty topics
3366 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3370 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3371 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3372 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3375 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3376 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3377 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3378 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3382 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3384 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3385 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3386 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3387 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3390 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3391 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3392 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3393 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3397 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3399 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3400 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3401 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3402 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3403 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3404 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3407 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3408 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3409 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3410 expiry process (if any)
3411 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3415 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3416 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3417 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3421 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3422 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3423 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3428 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3429 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3432 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3433 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3434 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3438 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3439 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3440 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3444 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3445 @cindex group parameters
3446 @cindex topic parameters
3448 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3449 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3455 @subsection Topic Sorting
3456 @cindex topic sorting
3458 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3464 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3465 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3466 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3467 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3470 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3471 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3472 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3473 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3476 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3477 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3478 Sort the current topic by group level
3479 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3482 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3483 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3484 Sort the current topic by group score
3485 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3488 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3489 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3490 Sort the current topic by group rank
3491 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3494 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3495 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3496 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3497 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3501 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3504 @node Topic Topology
3505 @subsection Topic Topology
3506 @cindex topic topology
3509 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3515 2: alt.religion.emacs
3518 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3520 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3521 13: comp.sources.unix
3524 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3525 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3526 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3531 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3532 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3536 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3537 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3538 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3539 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3540 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3541 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3543 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3544 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3545 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3548 @node Topic Parameters
3549 @subsection Topic Parameters
3550 @cindex topic parameters
3552 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3553 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3554 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3556 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3561 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3562 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3563 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3568 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3569 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3570 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3571 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3577 2: alt.religion.emacs
3581 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3583 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3584 13: comp.sources.unix
3588 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3589 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3590 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3591 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3592 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3593 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3595 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3596 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3597 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3598 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3599 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3601 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3602 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3603 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3604 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3605 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3606 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3607 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3608 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3611 @node Misc Group Stuff
3612 @section Misc Group Stuff
3615 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3616 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3617 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3618 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3625 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3626 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3627 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3631 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3632 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3633 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3637 @findex gnus-group-mail
3638 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3642 Variables for the group buffer:
3646 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3647 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3648 is called after the group buffer has been
3651 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3652 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3653 is called after the group buffer is
3654 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3657 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3658 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3659 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3660 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3662 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3663 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3664 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3665 whether they are empty or not.
3667 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3668 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3669 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3670 non-ASCII group names.
3674 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3675 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3678 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3679 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3680 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
3681 It is used to show non-ASCII group names.
3685 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3686 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3691 @node Scanning New Messages
3692 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3693 @cindex new messages
3694 @cindex scanning new news
3700 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3701 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3702 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3703 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3704 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3705 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3710 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3711 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3712 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3713 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3714 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3715 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3716 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3718 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3719 @cindex activating groups
3721 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3722 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3727 @findex gnus-group-restart
3728 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3729 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3730 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3734 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3735 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3737 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3738 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3742 @node Group Information
3743 @subsection Group Information
3744 @cindex group information
3745 @cindex information on groups
3752 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3753 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3756 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3757 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3758 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3759 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3760 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3761 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3762 for fetching the file.
3764 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3765 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3769 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3771 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3772 @cindex describing groups
3773 @cindex group description
3774 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3775 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3776 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3780 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3781 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3782 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3789 @findex gnus-version
3790 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3794 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3795 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3798 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3801 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3802 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3806 @node Group Timestamp
3807 @subsection Group Timestamp
3809 @cindex group timestamps
3811 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3812 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3813 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3816 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3819 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3821 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3822 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3825 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3826 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3829 This will result in lines looking like:
3832 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3833 0: custom 19961002T012713
3836 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3837 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3841 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3842 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3847 @subsection File Commands
3848 @cindex file commands
3854 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3855 @vindex gnus-init-file
3856 @cindex reading init file
3857 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3858 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3862 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3863 @cindex saving .newsrc
3864 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3865 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3866 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3869 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3870 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3871 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3876 @node Summary Buffer
3877 @chapter Summary Buffer
3878 @cindex summary buffer
3880 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3881 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3883 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3884 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3886 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3889 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3890 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3891 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3892 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3893 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3894 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3895 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3896 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3897 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3898 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3899 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3900 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3901 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3902 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3903 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3904 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3905 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3906 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3907 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3908 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3909 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3910 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3911 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3912 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3913 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3914 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
3915 or reselecting the current group.
3916 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3917 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3918 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
3922 @node Summary Buffer Format
3923 @section Summary Buffer Format
3924 @cindex summary buffer format
3928 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3929 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3930 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3936 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3937 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3938 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3939 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3942 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3943 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3944 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3945 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3946 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3947 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3948 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3949 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3950 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3951 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3952 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3955 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3956 'mail-extract-address-components)
3959 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3960 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3961 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3962 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3965 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3966 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3968 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3969 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3970 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3971 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3972 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3974 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
3975 the colon after performing an operation.
3977 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3979 The following format specification characters are understood:
3985 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3986 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3988 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3989 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3990 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3992 Full @code{From} header.
3994 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3996 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3997 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3999 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4000 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4001 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4002 may be more thorough.
4004 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4007 Number of lines in the article.
4009 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported in some
4010 methods (like nnfolder).
4012 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4014 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4015 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4017 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4018 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4020 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4021 for adopted articles.
4023 One space for each thread level.
4025 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4030 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4031 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4035 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4037 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4038 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4039 default level. If the difference between
4040 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4041 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4049 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4051 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4057 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4058 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4060 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4061 article has any children.
4067 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4068 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4069 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4070 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4071 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4072 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4075 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4076 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4077 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4078 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4079 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4080 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4082 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4083 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4085 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4088 @node To From Newsgroups
4089 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4093 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4094 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4095 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4096 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4097 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4101 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4102 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4103 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4107 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4108 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4111 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4112 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4115 @findex gnus-extra-header
4116 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4117 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4118 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4121 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4125 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4126 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4127 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4128 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4129 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4130 headers are used instead.
4134 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4135 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4136 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4137 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4140 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4141 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4142 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4143 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4145 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4149 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4151 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4152 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4153 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4154 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4158 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4159 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4166 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4167 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4170 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4171 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4173 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4174 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4175 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4176 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4178 Here are the elements you can play with:
4184 Unprefixed group name.
4186 Current article number.
4188 Current article score.
4192 Number of unread articles in this group.
4194 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4197 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4198 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4199 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4200 and no unselected ones.
4202 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4203 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4205 Subject of the current article.
4207 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4209 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4211 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4213 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4215 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4217 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4221 @node Summary Highlighting
4222 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4226 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4227 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4228 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4229 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4230 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4232 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4233 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4234 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4235 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4237 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4238 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4239 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4240 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4242 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4243 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4244 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4245 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4246 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4247 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4250 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4251 ((> score default) . bold))
4253 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4254 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4258 @node Summary Maneuvering
4259 @section Summary Maneuvering
4260 @cindex summary movement
4262 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4263 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4265 None of these commands select articles.
4270 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4271 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4272 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4273 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4274 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4278 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4279 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4280 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4281 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4282 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4285 @kindex G g (Summary)
4286 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4287 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4288 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4291 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4292 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4293 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4294 to the group buffer.
4296 Variables related to summary movement:
4300 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4301 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4302 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4303 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4304 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4305 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4306 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4307 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4308 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4309 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4310 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4311 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4312 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4313 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4315 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4316 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4317 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4318 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4319 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4320 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4321 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4323 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4325 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4326 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4327 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4328 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4329 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4331 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4332 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4333 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4334 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4335 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4336 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4337 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4338 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4341 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4342 the given number of lines from the top.
4347 @node Choosing Articles
4348 @section Choosing Articles
4349 @cindex selecting articles
4352 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4353 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4357 @node Choosing Commands
4358 @subsection Choosing Commands
4360 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4361 and they all select and display an article.
4363 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4364 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4368 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4369 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4370 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4371 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4376 @kindex G n (Summary)
4377 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4378 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4379 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4384 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4385 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4386 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4391 @kindex G N (Summary)
4392 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4393 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4398 @kindex G P (Summary)
4399 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4400 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4403 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4404 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4405 Go to the next article with the same subject
4406 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4409 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4410 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4411 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4412 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4416 @kindex G f (Summary)
4418 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4419 Go to the first unread article
4420 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4424 @kindex G b (Summary)
4426 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4427 Go to the article with the highest score
4428 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4433 @kindex G l (Summary)
4434 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4435 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4438 @kindex G o (Summary)
4439 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4441 @cindex article history
4442 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4443 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4444 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4445 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4446 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4447 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4452 @kindex G j (Summary)
4453 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4454 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4455 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4460 @node Choosing Variables
4461 @subsection Choosing Variables
4463 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4466 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4467 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4468 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4469 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4470 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4471 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4473 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4474 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4475 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4476 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4478 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4479 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4480 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4481 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4482 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4483 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4484 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4485 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4486 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4487 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4488 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4489 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4490 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4491 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4496 @node Paging the Article
4497 @section Scrolling the Article
4498 @cindex article scrolling
4503 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4504 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4505 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4506 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4507 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4510 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4511 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4512 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4515 @kindex RET (Summary)
4516 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4517 Scroll the current article one line forward
4518 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4521 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4522 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4523 Scroll the current article one line backward
4524 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4528 @kindex A g (Summary)
4530 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4531 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4532 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4533 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4534 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4535 the way it came from the server.
4537 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4538 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4539 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4542 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4547 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4552 @kindex A < (Summary)
4553 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4554 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4555 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4560 @kindex A > (Summary)
4561 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4562 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4566 @kindex A s (Summary)
4568 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4569 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4570 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4574 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4575 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4580 @node Reply Followup and Post
4581 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4584 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4585 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4586 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4587 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4591 @node Summary Mail Commands
4592 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4594 @cindex composing mail
4596 Commands for composing a mail message:
4602 @kindex S r (Summary)
4604 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4605 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4606 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4607 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4608 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4613 @kindex S R (Summary)
4614 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4615 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4616 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4617 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4618 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4621 @kindex S w (Summary)
4622 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4623 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4624 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4625 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4626 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4629 @kindex S W (Summary)
4630 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4631 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4632 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4633 the process/prefix convention.
4636 @kindex S v (Summary)
4637 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
4638 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
4639 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
4640 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4641 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
4642 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
4645 @kindex S W (Summary)
4646 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4647 Mail a very wide reply to the current article and include the original
4648 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4649 the process/prefix convention.
4653 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4654 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4655 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4656 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4657 Forward the current article to some other person
4658 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
4659 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
4660 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4661 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4662 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4663 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
4664 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4665 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4666 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4671 @kindex S m (Summary)
4672 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4673 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4674 Send a mail to some other person
4675 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4678 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4679 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4680 @cindex bouncing mail
4681 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4682 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4683 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4684 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4685 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4686 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4687 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4688 very well fail, though.
4691 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4692 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4693 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4694 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4695 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4696 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4697 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4698 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4699 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4700 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4702 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4703 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4704 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4705 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4706 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4708 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4709 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4712 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4713 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4714 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4715 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4716 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4719 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4720 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4721 @cindex crossposting
4722 @cindex excessive crossposting
4723 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4724 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4726 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4727 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4728 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4729 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4730 command understands the process/prefix convention
4731 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4735 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4738 @node Summary Post Commands
4739 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4741 @cindex composing news
4743 Commands for posting a news article:
4749 @kindex S p (Summary)
4750 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4751 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4752 Post an article to the current group
4753 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4758 @kindex S f (Summary)
4759 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4760 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4761 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4765 @kindex S F (Summary)
4767 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4768 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4769 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4770 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4771 process/prefix convention.
4774 @kindex S n (Summary)
4775 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4776 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4777 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4780 @kindex S N (Summary)
4781 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4782 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4783 message through mail and include the original message
4784 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4785 the process/prefix convention.
4788 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4789 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4790 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4791 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
4792 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
4793 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
4794 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4795 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4796 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
4797 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
4798 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
4799 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
4800 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
4803 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4804 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4806 @cindex making digests
4807 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4808 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4809 process/prefix convention.
4812 @kindex S u (Summary)
4813 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4814 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4815 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4816 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4819 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4822 @node Summary Message Commands
4823 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4827 @kindex S y (Summary)
4828 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4829 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4830 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4831 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4832 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4837 @node Canceling and Superseding
4838 @subsection Canceling Articles
4839 @cindex canceling articles
4840 @cindex superseding articles
4842 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4843 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4845 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4847 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4849 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4850 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4851 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4852 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4853 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4854 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4856 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4857 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4860 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4861 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4862 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4864 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4865 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4866 your original article.
4868 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4870 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4871 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4872 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4875 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4876 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4877 have posted almost the same article twice.
4879 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4880 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4881 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4882 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4883 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4884 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4885 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4886 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4887 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4888 canceled/superseded.
4890 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4893 @node Marking Articles
4894 @section Marking Articles
4895 @cindex article marking
4896 @cindex article ticking
4899 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4901 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4902 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4903 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4905 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4908 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4909 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4910 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4914 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4918 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4919 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4920 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4924 @node Unread Articles
4925 @subsection Unread Articles
4927 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4932 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4933 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4935 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4936 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4937 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4938 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
4939 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
4940 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
4941 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
4944 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4945 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4947 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4948 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4949 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4950 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
4954 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4955 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4957 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4962 @subsection Read Articles
4963 @cindex expirable mark
4965 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4970 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4971 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4972 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4975 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4976 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4979 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4980 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4981 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4984 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4985 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4988 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4989 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4992 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4993 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4996 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4997 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5000 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5001 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5004 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5005 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5008 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5009 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5013 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5014 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5015 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5019 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5020 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5022 One more special mark, though:
5026 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5027 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5029 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5030 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5031 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5032 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5038 @subsection Other Marks
5039 @cindex process mark
5042 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5048 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5049 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5050 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5051 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5052 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5055 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5056 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5057 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5058 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5060 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5061 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{O} in
5062 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5065 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5066 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5067 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5070 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5071 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5072 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5073 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5076 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5077 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5078 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5079 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5080 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5083 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5084 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5085 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5086 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5087 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5088 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5092 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5093 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5094 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5096 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5097 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5098 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5102 @subsection Setting Marks
5103 @cindex setting marks
5105 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5110 @kindex M c (Summary)
5111 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5112 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5113 @cindex mark as unread
5114 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5115 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5121 @kindex M t (Summary)
5122 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5123 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5124 @xref{Article Caching}.
5129 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5130 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5131 Mark the current article as dormant
5132 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5136 @kindex M d (Summary)
5138 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5139 Mark the current article as read
5140 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5144 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5145 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5146 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5151 @kindex M k (Summary)
5152 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5153 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5154 and then select the next unread article
5155 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5159 @kindex M K (Summary)
5160 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5161 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5162 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5163 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5166 @kindex M C (Summary)
5167 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5168 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5169 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5172 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5173 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5174 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5175 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5178 @kindex M H (Summary)
5179 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5180 Catchup the current group to point
5181 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5184 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5185 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5186 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5187 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5190 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5191 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5192 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5193 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5197 @kindex M e (Summary)
5199 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5200 Mark the current article as expirable
5201 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5204 @kindex M b (Summary)
5205 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5206 Set a bookmark in the current article
5207 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5210 @kindex M B (Summary)
5211 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5212 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5213 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5216 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5217 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5218 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5219 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5222 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5223 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5224 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5225 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5228 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5229 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5230 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5231 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5232 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5235 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5236 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5237 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5238 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5239 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5240 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5241 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5242 The default is @code{t}.
5245 @node Generic Marking Commands
5246 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5248 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5249 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5250 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5251 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5252 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5255 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5256 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5259 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5260 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5261 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5262 to list in this manual.
5264 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5265 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5266 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5267 article, you could say something like:
5270 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5271 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5272 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5278 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5279 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5283 @node Setting Process Marks
5284 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5285 @cindex setting process marks
5292 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5293 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5294 Mark the current article with the process mark
5295 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5296 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5300 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5301 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5302 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5303 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5306 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5307 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5308 Remove the process mark from all articles
5309 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5312 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5313 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5314 Invert the list of process marked articles
5315 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5318 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5319 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5320 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5321 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5324 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5325 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5326 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5327 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5330 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5331 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5332 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5335 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5336 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5337 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5338 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5341 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5342 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5343 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5344 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5347 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5348 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5349 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5350 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5353 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5354 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5355 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5358 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5359 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5360 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5361 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5364 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5365 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5366 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5369 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5370 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5371 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5372 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5375 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5376 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5377 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5378 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5381 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5382 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5383 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5384 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5387 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5388 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5389 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5390 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5394 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5395 set process marks based on article body contents.
5402 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5403 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5404 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5407 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5408 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5409 additional articles.
5415 @kindex / / (Summary)
5416 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5417 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5418 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5421 @kindex / a (Summary)
5422 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5423 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5424 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5427 @kindex / x (Summary)
5428 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5429 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5430 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5431 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5435 @kindex / u (Summary)
5437 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5438 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5439 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5440 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5441 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5444 @kindex / m (Summary)
5445 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5446 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5447 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5450 @kindex / t (Summary)
5451 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5452 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5453 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5454 articles younger than that number of days.
5457 @kindex / n (Summary)
5458 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5459 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5460 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5461 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5464 @kindex / w (Summary)
5465 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5466 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5467 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5471 @kindex / v (Summary)
5472 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5473 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5474 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5478 @kindex M S (Summary)
5479 @kindex / E (Summary)
5480 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5481 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5482 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5485 @kindex / D (Summary)
5486 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5487 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5488 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5491 @kindex / * (Summary)
5492 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5493 Include all cached articles in the limit
5494 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5497 @kindex / d (Summary)
5498 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5499 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5500 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5503 @kindex / M (Summary)
5504 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5505 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5508 @kindex / T (Summary)
5509 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5510 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5513 @kindex / c (Summary)
5514 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5515 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5516 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5519 @kindex / C (Summary)
5520 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5521 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5522 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5523 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5531 @cindex article threading
5533 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5534 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5535 hierarchical fashion.
5537 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5538 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5539 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5540 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
5541 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5542 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5543 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5545 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5549 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5552 A tree-like article structure.
5555 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5558 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5559 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5560 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5561 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5562 called loose threads.
5564 @item thread gathering
5565 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5567 @item sparse threads
5568 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5569 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5575 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5576 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5580 @node Customizing Threading
5581 @subsection Customizing Threading
5582 @cindex customizing threading
5585 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5586 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5587 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5588 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5593 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5596 @cindex loose threads
5599 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5600 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5601 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5602 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5603 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5604 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5606 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
5607 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
5608 There are four possible values:
5612 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5613 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5614 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5615 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5616 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5621 @cindex adopting articles
5626 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5627 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5628 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5629 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5632 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5633 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5634 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5635 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5636 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5637 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5638 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5641 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5642 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5643 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5647 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5648 display them after one another.
5651 Don't gather loose threads.
5654 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5655 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5656 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5657 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
5658 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5659 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5660 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5661 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5662 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5663 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
5664 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5666 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5667 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
5668 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5671 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5672 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5673 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5674 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5675 simplification is used.
5677 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5678 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5679 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5680 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5682 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5684 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5690 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5691 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5692 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5693 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5698 (mapconcat 'identity
5699 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5701 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5704 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5707 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5708 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5709 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5710 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5711 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5712 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5714 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5717 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5718 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5719 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5721 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5722 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5725 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5726 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5727 Remove excessive whitespace.
5730 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5733 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5734 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5735 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5736 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5737 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5738 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5739 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5740 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5742 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5743 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5744 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5745 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5746 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5747 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5748 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5749 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5750 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5754 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5755 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5756 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5757 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5759 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5760 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5761 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5764 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5768 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5769 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5775 @node Filling In Threads
5776 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5779 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5780 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5781 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5782 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5783 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5784 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5785 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5786 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5787 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5788 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5789 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5790 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5792 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5793 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5794 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5796 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5797 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5798 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5799 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5800 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5801 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5802 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5803 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5804 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5805 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5806 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5807 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5808 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5809 @code{nil} by default.
5811 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
5812 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
5813 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
5814 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the backend has to fetch
5815 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
5816 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
5817 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
5819 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
5820 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
5821 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
5826 @node More Threading
5827 @subsubsection More Threading
5830 @item gnus-show-threads
5831 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5832 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5833 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5834 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5835 slower and more awkward.
5837 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5838 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5839 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5842 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5843 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5844 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5845 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5846 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5847 threads are expunged.
5849 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5850 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5851 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5854 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5855 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5856 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5857 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
5858 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
5859 result in a new thread.
5861 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5862 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5863 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5866 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5867 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5868 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5869 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5870 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5871 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5872 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5873 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5874 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5875 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5876 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5881 @node Low-Level Threading
5882 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5886 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5887 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5888 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5890 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5891 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5892 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5893 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5894 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5895 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5896 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5897 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5898 meaningful. Here's one example:
5901 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5903 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5904 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5906 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5908 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5915 @node Thread Commands
5916 @subsection Thread Commands
5917 @cindex thread commands
5923 @kindex T k (Summary)
5924 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5925 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5926 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5927 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5928 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5933 @kindex T l (Summary)
5934 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5935 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5936 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5937 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5940 @kindex T i (Summary)
5941 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5942 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5943 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5946 @kindex T # (Summary)
5947 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5948 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5949 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5952 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5953 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5954 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5955 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5958 @kindex T T (Summary)
5959 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5960 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5963 @kindex T s (Summary)
5964 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5965 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5966 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5969 @kindex T h (Summary)
5970 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5971 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5974 @kindex T S (Summary)
5975 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5976 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5979 @kindex T H (Summary)
5980 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5981 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5984 @kindex T t (Summary)
5985 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5986 Re-thread the current article's thread
5987 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5988 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5991 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5992 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5993 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5994 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5998 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5999 understand the numeric prefix.
6004 @kindex T n (Summary)
6006 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
6008 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6009 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6010 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6013 @kindex T p (Summary)
6015 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
6017 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6018 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6019 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6022 @kindex T d (Summary)
6023 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6024 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6027 @kindex T u (Summary)
6028 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6029 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6032 @kindex T o (Summary)
6033 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6034 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6037 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6038 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6039 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6040 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6041 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6042 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6043 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6044 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6045 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6046 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6047 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6048 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6052 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6053 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6055 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6056 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6057 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6058 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6059 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6060 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6061 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6062 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6063 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6064 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6065 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6067 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6068 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6069 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6070 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
6071 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6073 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6074 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6075 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6077 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6078 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6079 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6080 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6081 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6082 ascending article order.
6084 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6085 by number, you could do something like:
6088 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6089 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6090 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6091 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6094 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6095 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6096 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6097 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6098 which the articles arrived.
6100 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6104 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6106 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6107 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6110 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6111 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6112 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6113 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6116 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6117 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6118 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6119 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6120 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6121 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6122 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6123 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6124 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6125 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6126 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6127 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6128 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6130 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6134 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6135 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6136 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6141 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6142 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6143 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6144 @cindex article pre-fetch
6147 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6148 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6149 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6150 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6151 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6153 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6154 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6156 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6157 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6158 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6159 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6160 connection is blocked.
6162 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6163 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6164 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6165 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6167 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6168 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6169 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6170 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6173 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6176 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6177 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6178 happen automatically.
6180 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6181 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6182 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6183 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
6184 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
6185 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6186 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6188 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6189 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6190 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6191 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6192 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6193 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6194 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6195 data structure as the only parameter.
6197 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6200 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6201 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6202 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6203 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6206 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6209 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6210 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6211 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6213 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6214 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6215 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6216 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6220 Remove articles when they are read.
6223 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6226 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6228 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6229 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6230 @c from the next group.
6233 @node Article Caching
6234 @section Article Caching
6235 @cindex article caching
6238 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6239 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6240 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6241 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6242 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6244 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6246 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6247 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6248 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6249 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6250 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6251 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6252 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6253 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6255 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6256 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6257 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6258 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6259 as dormant, and don't worry.
6261 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6263 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6264 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6265 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6266 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6267 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6268 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6269 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6270 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6271 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6272 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6274 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6275 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6276 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6277 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6278 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6279 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6280 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6281 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6282 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6283 not then be downloaded by this command.
6285 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6286 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6287 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6288 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6289 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6290 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6292 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6293 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6294 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6295 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6296 variables, the group is not cached.
6298 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6299 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6300 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6301 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6302 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6303 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6304 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6305 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6306 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6310 @node Persistent Articles
6311 @section Persistent Articles
6312 @cindex persistent articles
6314 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6315 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6316 useful in my opinion.
6318 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6319 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6320 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6321 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6322 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6323 the expiry going on at the news server.
6325 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6326 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6327 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6333 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6334 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6337 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6338 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6339 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6340 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6344 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6346 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6347 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6348 interested in persistent articles:
6351 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6355 @node Article Backlog
6356 @section Article Backlog
6358 @cindex article backlog
6360 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6361 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6362 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6363 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6364 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6365 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6366 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6367 increase memory usage some.
6369 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6370 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6371 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6372 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6373 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6374 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6375 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6377 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6380 @node Saving Articles
6381 @section Saving Articles
6382 @cindex saving articles
6384 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6385 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6386 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6387 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6388 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6390 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6391 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6392 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6394 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6395 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6396 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6397 deleted before saving.
6403 @kindex O o (Summary)
6405 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6406 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6407 Save the current article using the default article saver
6408 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6411 @kindex O m (Summary)
6412 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6413 Save the current article in mail format
6414 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6417 @kindex O r (Summary)
6418 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6419 Save the current article in rmail format
6420 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6423 @kindex O f (Summary)
6424 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6425 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6426 Save the current article in plain file format
6427 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6430 @kindex O F (Summary)
6431 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6432 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6433 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6436 @kindex O b (Summary)
6437 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6438 Save the current article body in plain file format
6439 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6442 @kindex O h (Summary)
6443 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6444 Save the current article in mh folder format
6445 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6448 @kindex O v (Summary)
6449 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6450 Save the current article in a VM folder
6451 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6454 @kindex O p (Summary)
6455 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6456 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6457 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6460 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6461 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6462 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6463 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6464 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6465 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6466 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6467 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6468 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6469 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6470 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6471 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6475 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6476 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6477 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6478 functions below, or you can create your own.
6482 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6483 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6484 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6485 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6486 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6487 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6488 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6490 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6491 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6492 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6493 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6494 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6495 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6497 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6498 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6499 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6500 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6501 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6502 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6503 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6505 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6506 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6507 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6508 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6509 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6511 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6512 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6513 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6514 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6515 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6518 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6519 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6520 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6521 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6522 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6524 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6525 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6526 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6527 reader to use this setting.
6530 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6531 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6532 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6533 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6536 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6537 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6538 available functions that generate names:
6542 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6543 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6544 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6546 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6547 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6548 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6550 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6551 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6552 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6554 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6555 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6556 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6558 @item gnus-sender-save-name
6559 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
6560 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
6563 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6564 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6565 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6566 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6567 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6571 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6572 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6573 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6574 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6577 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6578 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6579 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6580 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6581 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6582 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6583 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6584 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6585 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6587 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6588 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6589 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6590 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6592 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6593 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6594 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6597 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6598 lots of mail groups called things like
6599 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6600 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6601 following will do just that:
6604 (defun my-save-name (group)
6605 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6606 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6608 (setq gnus-split-methods
6609 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6614 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6615 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6616 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6617 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6618 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6619 all the files in the top level directory
6620 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6621 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6622 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6623 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6625 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6626 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6627 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6628 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6629 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6632 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6636 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6637 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6640 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6641 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6642 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6643 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6646 @node Decoding Articles
6647 @section Decoding Articles
6648 @cindex decoding articles
6650 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6651 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6654 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6655 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6656 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6657 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6658 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6659 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6663 @cindex article series
6664 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6665 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6666 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6667 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6668 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6670 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6671 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6672 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6674 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
6675 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6676 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6678 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6679 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6680 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6683 @node Uuencoded Articles
6684 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6686 @cindex uuencoded articles
6691 @kindex X u (Summary)
6692 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6693 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6694 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6697 @kindex X U (Summary)
6698 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6699 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6700 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6703 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6704 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6705 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6708 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6709 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6710 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6711 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6715 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6716 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6717 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6718 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6719 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6721 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6722 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6723 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6724 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6727 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6728 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6729 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6730 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6731 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6732 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6736 @node Shell Archives
6737 @subsection Shell Archives
6739 @cindex shell archives
6740 @cindex shared articles
6742 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6743 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6744 some commands to deal with these:
6749 @kindex X s (Summary)
6750 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6751 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6754 @kindex X S (Summary)
6755 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6756 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6759 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6760 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6761 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6764 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6765 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6766 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6767 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6771 @node PostScript Files
6772 @subsection PostScript Files
6778 @kindex X p (Summary)
6779 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6780 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6783 @kindex X P (Summary)
6784 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6785 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6786 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6789 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6790 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6791 View the current PostScript series
6792 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6795 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6796 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6797 View and save the current PostScript series
6798 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6803 @subsection Other Files
6807 @kindex X o (Summary)
6808 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6809 Save the current series
6810 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6813 @kindex X b (Summary)
6814 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6815 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6816 doesn't really work yet.
6820 @node Decoding Variables
6821 @subsection Decoding Variables
6823 Adjective, not verb.
6826 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6827 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6828 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6832 @node Rule Variables
6833 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6834 @cindex rule variables
6836 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6837 variables are of the form
6840 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6847 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6848 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6850 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6851 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6854 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6855 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6858 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6859 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6860 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6861 user and default view rules.
6863 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6864 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6865 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6870 @node Other Decode Variables
6871 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6874 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6876 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6877 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6878 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6879 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6880 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6884 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6885 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6888 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6889 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6890 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6893 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6894 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6895 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6896 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6897 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6900 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6901 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6902 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6904 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6905 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6906 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6907 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6908 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6911 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6912 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6913 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6915 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6916 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6917 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6918 looking for files to display.
6920 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6921 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6922 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6925 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6926 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6927 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6930 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6931 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6932 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6935 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6936 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6937 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6940 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6941 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6942 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6943 decoded articles as unread.
6945 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6946 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6947 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6948 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6950 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6951 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6952 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6954 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6955 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6957 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6958 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6959 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6960 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6962 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6963 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6964 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6965 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6966 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6967 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
6968 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6969 simply dropped them.
6974 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6975 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6979 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6980 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6981 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6982 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6983 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6984 for you when you post the article.
6986 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6987 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6988 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6989 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6991 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6992 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6993 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6994 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6995 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6996 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6997 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6999 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7000 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7001 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7002 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7003 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7004 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7005 Default is @code{t}.
7011 @subsection Viewing Files
7012 @cindex viewing files
7013 @cindex pseudo-articles
7015 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7016 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7017 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7018 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7019 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7020 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7021 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7023 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7024 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7025 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7026 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7028 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7029 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7030 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7032 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7033 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7034 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7035 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7036 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7038 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7039 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7040 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7041 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7042 a list of parameters to that command.
7044 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7045 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7046 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7048 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7049 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7050 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7053 @node Article Treatment
7054 @section Article Treatment
7056 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7057 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7058 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7059 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7060 these articles easier.
7063 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7064 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7065 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7066 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7067 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7068 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7069 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7070 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7074 @node Article Highlighting
7075 @subsection Article Highlighting
7076 @cindex highlighting
7078 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7079 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7084 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7085 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7086 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7087 Do much highlighting of the current article
7088 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7089 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7092 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7093 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7094 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7095 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7096 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7097 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7098 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7099 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7100 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7101 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7102 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7103 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7106 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7107 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7108 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7110 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7113 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7115 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7116 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7117 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7119 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7120 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7121 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7123 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7124 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7125 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7126 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7127 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7128 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7130 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7131 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7132 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7134 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7135 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7136 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7138 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7139 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7140 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7141 that it's a citation.
7143 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7144 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7145 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7147 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7148 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7149 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7151 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7152 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7153 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7154 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7160 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7161 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7162 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7163 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7164 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7165 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7166 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7167 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7172 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7175 @node Article Fontisizing
7176 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7178 @cindex article emphasis
7180 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7181 @kindex W e (Summary)
7182 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7183 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7184 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7185 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7187 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7188 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7189 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7190 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7191 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7192 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7193 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7194 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7198 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7199 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7200 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7209 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7210 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7211 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7212 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7213 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7214 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7215 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7216 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7217 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7218 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7219 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7220 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7221 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7223 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7224 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7225 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7229 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7232 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7234 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7235 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7236 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7237 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7239 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7242 @node Article Hiding
7243 @subsection Article Hiding
7244 @cindex article hiding
7246 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7247 too much cruft in most articles.
7252 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7253 @findex gnus-article-hide
7254 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7255 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7256 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7259 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7260 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7261 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7265 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7266 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7267 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7268 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7271 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7272 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7273 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7277 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7278 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7279 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7280 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7281 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7282 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7283 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7284 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7288 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7289 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7290 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7291 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7296 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7297 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7298 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7299 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7300 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7301 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7302 articles that have signatures in them do:
7304 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7306 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7308 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7309 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7311 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7314 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7319 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7320 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7321 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7322 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7325 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7326 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7329 @cindex stripping advertisements
7330 @cindex advertisements
7331 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7332 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7333 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7334 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7335 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7336 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7337 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7338 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7339 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7340 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7344 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7345 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7346 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7347 customizing the hiding:
7351 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7352 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7353 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7354 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7355 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7356 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7357 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7362 Starting point of the hidden text.
7364 Ending point of the hidden text.
7366 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7368 Number of lines of hidden text.
7371 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7372 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7373 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7374 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7375 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7380 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7381 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7383 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7384 following two variables:
7387 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7388 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7389 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7390 50), hide the cited text.
7392 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7393 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7394 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7399 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7400 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7401 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7402 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7403 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7404 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7408 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7409 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7410 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7412 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7413 citation customization.
7415 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7419 @node Article Washing
7420 @subsection Article Washing
7422 @cindex article washing
7424 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7425 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7427 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7428 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7431 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
7432 articles by default.
7437 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
7438 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
7442 @kindex W l (Summary)
7443 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7444 Remove page breaks from the current article
7445 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7449 @kindex W r (Summary)
7450 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7451 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7452 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7453 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7454 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7455 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7457 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7458 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7459 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7460 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7464 @kindex W t (Summary)
7466 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7467 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7468 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7471 @kindex W v (Summary)
7472 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7473 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7474 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7477 @kindex W o (Summary)
7478 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7479 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7482 @kindex W d (Summary)
7483 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7484 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7486 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
7488 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7489 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7490 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7491 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7494 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
7495 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
7496 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
7497 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
7500 @kindex W w (Summary)
7501 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7502 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7504 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7508 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7509 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7510 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7513 @kindex W C (Summary)
7514 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7515 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7516 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7519 @kindex W c (Summary)
7520 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7521 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7522 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7523 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7524 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7527 @kindex W q (Summary)
7528 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
7529 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
7530 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
7531 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
7532 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
7533 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
7534 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
7535 header that says that this encoding has been done.
7538 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
7539 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
7540 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
7541 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
7542 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
7543 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
7544 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
7548 @kindex W Z (Summary)
7549 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
7550 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
7551 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
7552 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
7555 @kindex W h (Summary)
7556 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
7557 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
7558 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
7559 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
7563 @kindex W f (Summary)
7565 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7566 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7567 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7568 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7575 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7576 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7577 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7578 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7579 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7580 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7581 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7582 The default action under Emacs is to fork off the @code{display}
7583 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For the
7584 @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
7585 like `compface' or `faces-xface' on a GNU/Linux system.}
7586 to view the face. Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image
7587 support, the default action is to display the face before the
7588 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7589 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7590 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7591 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
7592 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
7593 like @code{netpbm} or @code{libgr-progs}.}) If you
7594 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7598 @kindex W b (Summary)
7599 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7600 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7601 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7604 @kindex W B (Summary)
7605 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7606 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7607 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7610 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7611 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7612 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7613 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7616 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7617 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7618 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7619 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7622 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7623 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7624 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7625 lines with a single empty line.
7626 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7629 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7630 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7631 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7632 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7635 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7636 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7637 Do all the three commands above
7638 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7641 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7642 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7643 Remove all blank lines
7644 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7647 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7648 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7649 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7650 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7653 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7654 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7655 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7656 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7660 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7663 @node Article Buttons
7664 @subsection Article Buttons
7667 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7668 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7669 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7670 button on these references.
7672 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7673 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7674 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7679 @item gnus-button-alist
7680 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7681 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7684 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7690 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7691 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7692 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7695 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7696 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7697 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7700 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7701 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7702 avoid false matches.
7705 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7708 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7709 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7713 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7716 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7719 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7720 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7721 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7722 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7723 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7726 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7729 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7731 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7732 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7733 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7734 default values of the variables above.
7736 @item gnus-article-button-face
7737 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7738 Face used on buttons.
7740 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7741 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7742 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7746 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7750 @subsection Article Date
7752 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7753 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7754 when the article was sent.
7759 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7760 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7761 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7762 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7765 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7766 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7768 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7769 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7772 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7773 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7774 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7777 @kindex W T p (Summary)
7778 @findex gnus-article-date-english
7779 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
7780 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
7783 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7784 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7785 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7786 @findex format-time-string
7787 Display the date using a user-defined format
7788 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7789 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7790 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7791 for a list of possible format specs.
7794 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7795 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7796 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7797 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7798 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7799 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7802 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7805 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7806 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7809 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7810 into wonderful absurdities.
7812 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7815 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7818 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7819 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7823 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7824 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7825 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7826 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7827 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7828 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7829 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7833 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7834 preferred format automatically.
7837 @node Article Signature
7838 @subsection Article Signature
7840 @cindex article signature
7842 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7843 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7844 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7845 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7846 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7847 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7848 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7849 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7850 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7853 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7854 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7855 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7856 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7857 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7858 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7859 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7860 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7863 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7866 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7867 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7868 signature when displaying articles.
7872 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7875 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7878 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7879 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7881 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7882 in question is not a signature.
7885 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7886 listed above. Here's an example:
7889 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7890 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7893 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7894 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7895 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7896 signature after all.
7899 @node Article Miscellania
7900 @subsection Article Miscellania
7904 @kindex A t (Summary)
7905 @findex gnus-article-babel
7906 Translate the article from one language to another
7907 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7913 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7914 @cindex MIME decoding
7916 @cindex viewing attachments
7918 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7919 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7925 @kindex K v (Summary)
7926 View the @sc{mime} part.
7929 @kindex K o (Summary)
7930 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7933 @kindex K c (Summary)
7934 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7937 @kindex K e (Summary)
7938 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7941 @kindex K i (Summary)
7942 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7945 @kindex K | (Summary)
7946 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7949 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7954 @kindex K b (Summary)
7955 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
7956 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
7960 @kindex K m (Summary)
7961 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7962 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7963 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7964 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7965 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7968 @kindex X m (Summary)
7969 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7970 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7971 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7972 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7975 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7976 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7977 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7978 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7981 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7982 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
7983 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7986 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7987 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7988 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7990 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7991 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7992 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7993 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7994 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7995 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7998 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7999 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8000 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8007 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8008 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8009 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8010 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8013 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8016 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8020 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8021 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8022 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8023 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8024 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
8026 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8027 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8028 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8029 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8030 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8031 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8032 save all jpegs into some directory).
8034 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8037 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8038 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8040 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8041 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8042 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8043 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8044 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8047 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8048 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8049 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8058 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8059 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8060 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8061 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8062 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8063 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8064 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8066 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8067 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8068 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match full group names) and
8069 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8071 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8072 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
8073 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8074 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8075 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
8076 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8077 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
8078 something some agents insist on having in there.
8080 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8081 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8082 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8083 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8084 quoted-printable header encoding.
8086 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8087 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8088 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8092 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8095 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8096 means encode all charsets),
8098 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8099 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8100 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8107 @cindex coding system aliases
8108 @cindex preferred charset
8110 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8112 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8113 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8116 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8117 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8120 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8121 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8123 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8126 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8129 This will almost do the right thing.
8131 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8135 (codepage-setup 1251)
8136 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8140 @node Article Commands
8141 @section Article Commands
8148 @kindex A P (Summary)
8149 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8150 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8151 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8152 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
8153 run just before printing the buffer.
8158 @node Summary Sorting
8159 @section Summary Sorting
8160 @cindex summary sorting
8162 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8163 can't really see why you'd want that.
8168 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8169 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8170 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8173 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8174 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8175 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8178 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8179 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8180 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8183 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8184 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8185 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8188 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8189 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8190 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8193 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8194 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8195 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8198 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8199 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8200 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8203 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
8204 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
8205 Sort using the default sorting method
8206 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
8209 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8210 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8211 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8212 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8213 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8217 @node Finding the Parent
8218 @section Finding the Parent
8219 @cindex parent articles
8220 @cindex referring articles
8225 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8226 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8227 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8228 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8229 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8230 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8231 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8232 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8233 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8235 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8236 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8237 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
8238 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8239 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8243 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8244 @kindex A R (Summary)
8245 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8246 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8249 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8250 @kindex A T (Summary)
8251 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8252 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8253 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8254 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8255 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8256 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8257 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8259 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8260 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8261 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8262 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8263 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8264 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8267 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8268 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8270 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8271 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8272 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8273 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8274 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8275 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8276 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8279 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8280 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8281 by giving this command a prefix.
8283 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8284 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8285 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8286 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8287 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8288 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8291 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8292 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8293 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8296 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8297 then ask Deja if that fails:
8300 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8302 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8305 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8306 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8307 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8308 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8309 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8310 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8313 @node Alternative Approaches
8314 @section Alternative Approaches
8316 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8317 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8320 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8321 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8326 @subsection Pick and Read
8327 @cindex pick and read
8329 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8330 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8331 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8332 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8334 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8335 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8336 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8337 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8338 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8339 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8341 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8346 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8347 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8348 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8349 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8350 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8351 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8352 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8353 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8356 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8357 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8358 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8359 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8363 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8364 Unpick the thread or article
8365 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8366 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8367 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8368 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8369 the thread or article at that line.
8373 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8374 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8375 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8376 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8377 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8378 will still be visible when you are reading.
8382 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8383 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8384 which is mapped to the same function
8385 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8387 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8390 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8393 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8394 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8396 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8397 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8398 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8400 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8401 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8402 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8403 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8404 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8405 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8406 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8410 @subsection Binary Groups
8411 @cindex binary groups
8413 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8414 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8415 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8416 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8417 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8418 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8419 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8422 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8423 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8424 command, when you have turned on this mode
8425 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8427 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8428 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8432 @section Tree Display
8435 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8436 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
8437 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8438 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8441 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8444 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8445 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8446 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8448 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8449 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8450 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8451 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8452 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8454 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8455 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8456 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8457 default is @code{modeline}.
8459 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8460 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8461 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8462 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8463 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8464 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8465 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8471 The name of the poster.
8473 The @code{From} header.
8475 The number of the article.
8477 The opening bracket.
8479 The closing bracket.
8484 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8486 Variables related to the display are:
8489 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8490 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8491 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8492 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8493 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8494 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8496 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8497 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8498 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8499 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8503 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8504 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8505 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
8506 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
8507 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8508 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8509 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8510 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8511 other windows displayed next to it.
8513 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8514 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8515 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8516 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8517 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8518 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8519 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8523 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8526 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8536 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8540 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8541 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8543 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8545 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8550 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8551 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8552 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8555 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8556 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8557 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8558 (gnus-add-configuration
8562 (summary 0.75 point)
8567 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8570 @node Mail Group Commands
8571 @section Mail Group Commands
8572 @cindex mail group commands
8574 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8575 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8577 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8578 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8583 @kindex B e (Summary)
8584 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8585 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
8586 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
8587 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
8588 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
8591 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8592 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8593 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8594 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8595 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8596 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8599 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8600 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8601 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8602 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8603 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8604 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8607 @kindex B m (Summary)
8609 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8610 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8611 Move the article from one mail group to another
8612 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8613 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8616 @kindex B c (Summary)
8618 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8619 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8620 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8621 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8622 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8625 @kindex B B (Summary)
8626 @cindex crosspost mail
8627 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8628 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8629 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8630 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8631 be properly updated.
8634 @kindex B i (Summary)
8635 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8636 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8637 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8638 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8641 @kindex B r (Summary)
8642 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8643 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8644 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8645 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8646 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8647 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8648 (which is the default).
8652 @kindex B w (Summary)
8654 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8655 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8656 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8657 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8658 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8659 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8662 @kindex B q (Summary)
8663 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8664 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8665 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8666 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8669 @kindex B t (Summary)
8670 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8671 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8672 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8675 @kindex B p (Summary)
8676 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8677 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8678 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8679 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8680 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8681 article from your news server (or rather, from
8682 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8683 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8684 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8685 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8686 just not have arrived yet.
8690 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8691 @cindex moving articles
8692 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
8693 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8694 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8695 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8696 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
8697 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
8698 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
8701 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8702 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8703 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8704 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8708 @node Various Summary Stuff
8709 @section Various Summary Stuff
8712 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8713 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8714 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8715 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8719 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8720 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8721 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8723 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8724 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8725 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8726 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8727 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8728 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8731 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8732 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8733 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8734 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8735 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8737 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8738 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8739 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8742 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8743 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8744 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8745 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8746 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8747 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8748 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
8749 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8750 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8751 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8753 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8754 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8755 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
8756 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
8757 list of articles to be selected.
8759 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
8760 the list in one particular group:
8763 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
8764 (if (string= group "some.group")
8765 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
8772 @node Summary Group Information
8773 @subsection Summary Group Information
8778 @kindex H f (Summary)
8779 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8780 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8781 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8782 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8783 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8784 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8785 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8786 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8787 be used for fetching the file.
8790 @kindex H d (Summary)
8791 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8792 Give a brief description of the current group
8793 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8794 rereading the description from the server.
8797 @kindex H h (Summary)
8798 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8799 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8800 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8803 @kindex H i (Summary)
8804 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8805 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8809 @node Searching for Articles
8810 @subsection Searching for Articles
8815 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8816 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8817 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8818 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8821 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8822 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8823 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8824 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8828 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8829 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
8830 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8831 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
8832 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
8833 search backward instead.
8835 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
8836 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
8839 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8840 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8841 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8842 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8845 @node Summary Generation Commands
8846 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8851 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8852 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8853 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8856 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8857 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8858 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8859 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8864 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8865 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8871 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8872 @kindex A D (Summary)
8873 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8874 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8875 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8876 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8877 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8878 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8879 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8880 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8884 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8885 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8886 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8887 several documents into one biiig group
8888 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8889 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8890 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8891 command understands the process/prefix convention
8892 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8895 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8896 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8897 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8898 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8899 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8900 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8904 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8905 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8906 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8909 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8910 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8911 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8912 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8915 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8916 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8917 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8918 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8923 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8924 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8925 @cindex summary exit
8926 @cindex exiting groups
8928 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8929 group and return you to the group buffer.
8935 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8937 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8938 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8939 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8940 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8941 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8942 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8943 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8944 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8945 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8946 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8947 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8951 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8953 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8954 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8955 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8959 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8961 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8962 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8963 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8964 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8967 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8968 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8969 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8970 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8973 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8974 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8975 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8976 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8979 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8980 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8981 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8982 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8983 all articles, both read and unread.
8987 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8988 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8989 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8990 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8991 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8992 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8993 articles, both read and unread.
8996 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8997 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8998 Exit the group and go to the next group
8999 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9002 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9003 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9004 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9005 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9008 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9009 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9010 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9011 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9012 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9013 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9016 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9017 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9018 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9019 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9021 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9022 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9023 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9024 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9025 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9026 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9027 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9028 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9029 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9030 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9031 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9032 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9034 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9036 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9037 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9038 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9039 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9040 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9041 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9042 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9043 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9044 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9047 @node Crosspost Handling
9048 @section Crosspost Handling
9052 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9053 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9054 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9055 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9056 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9057 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9060 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9061 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9062 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9063 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9064 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9066 @cindex cross-posting
9069 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9070 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9071 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9072 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9073 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9074 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9075 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9076 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9077 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9078 the cross reference mechanism.
9080 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9081 @cindex overview.fmt
9082 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9083 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9084 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9085 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9086 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9087 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9090 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9091 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9092 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9097 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9100 @node Duplicate Suppression
9101 @section Duplicate Suppression
9103 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9104 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9105 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9106 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9111 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9112 is evil and not very common.
9115 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9116 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9119 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9120 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9123 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9126 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9127 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9129 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9130 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9131 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9132 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9133 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9134 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9135 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9138 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9139 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9140 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9141 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9142 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9146 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9147 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9148 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9150 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9151 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9152 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9153 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9154 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
9155 session are suppressed.
9157 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9158 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9159 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9160 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9162 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9163 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9164 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9165 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9168 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
9169 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9170 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9171 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9172 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
9173 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9174 to you to figure out, I think.
9179 Gnus is able to verify PGP or S/MIME signed messages or decrypt PGP
9184 To verify or decrypt PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or
9190 @item mm-verify-option
9191 @vindex mm-verify-option
9192 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
9193 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
9194 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9196 @item mm-decrypt-option
9197 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
9198 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
9199 @code{always}, always decrypt @code{known}, only decrypt known
9200 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9204 @node Article Buffer
9205 @chapter Article Buffer
9206 @cindex article buffer
9208 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9209 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9210 tell Gnus otherwise.
9213 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9214 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9215 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9216 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9217 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9221 @node Hiding Headers
9222 @section Hiding Headers
9223 @cindex hiding headers
9224 @cindex deleting headers
9226 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9227 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9229 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9230 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9231 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9232 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9233 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9234 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9235 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9236 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9237 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9239 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9243 @item gnus-visible-headers
9244 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9245 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9246 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9247 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9249 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9250 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9253 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9256 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9259 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9260 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9261 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9262 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9263 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9264 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9266 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
9267 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
9270 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
9273 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9276 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
9277 variable will have no effect.
9281 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
9282 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
9283 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
9284 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
9285 the headers are to be displayed.
9287 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
9288 and then the subject, you might say something like:
9291 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
9294 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9295 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9297 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9298 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9299 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9300 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
9301 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9302 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9303 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9306 These conditions are:
9309 Remove all empty headers.
9311 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9312 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9314 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9317 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9320 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
9321 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
9323 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9326 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9328 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9331 To include these three elements, you could say something like;
9334 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9335 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9338 This is also the default value for this variable.
9342 @section Using @sc{mime}
9345 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9346 while people stand around yawning.
9348 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9349 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9351 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9352 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9353 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9355 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
9356 @findex gnus-display-mime
9357 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
9358 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
9359 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
9360 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
9362 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
9366 @findex gnus-article-press-button
9368 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
9369 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
9370 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
9372 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
9373 @item M-RET (Article)
9375 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9376 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
9378 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
9380 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
9381 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
9383 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
9385 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
9386 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
9388 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
9390 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
9391 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
9393 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
9395 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
9396 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
9397 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
9398 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
9399 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
9400 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
9402 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
9404 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
9405 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
9407 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
9409 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
9410 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
9411 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
9412 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
9413 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
9416 @findex gnus-mime-internalize-part
9418 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
9419 viewer is available, use an external viewer
9420 (@code{gnus-mime-internalize-part}).
9422 @findex gnus-mime-externalize-part
9424 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
9425 (@code{gnus-mime-externalize-part}).
9427 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
9429 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
9431 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
9433 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
9434 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
9438 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
9439 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
9442 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
9443 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
9444 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
9445 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
9446 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
9447 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
9448 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
9449 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
9450 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
9452 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9454 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9457 @node Customizing Articles
9458 @section Customizing Articles
9459 @cindex article customization
9461 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9462 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9463 called automatically when you select the articles.
9465 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9466 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9467 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9468 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9470 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9471 for sensible values.
9475 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9478 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9481 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9484 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9487 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9491 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9492 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9493 regexps in the list.
9496 A list where the first element is not a string:
9498 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9499 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9500 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9504 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9509 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9510 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9511 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9512 considered to contain just a single part.
9514 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9515 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9516 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9517 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9518 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9519 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9520 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9522 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9523 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9524 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9525 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9528 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9529 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9530 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9531 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9532 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9533 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9534 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9535 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9536 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9537 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9538 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
9539 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9540 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9541 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9542 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9543 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9544 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9545 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9546 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
9547 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9548 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9549 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
9550 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
9551 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9552 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9553 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9554 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9555 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9556 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9557 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9558 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9559 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9560 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9561 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9562 @item gnus-treat-translate
9565 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9566 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9567 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9568 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9569 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9573 @node Article Keymap
9574 @section Article Keymap
9576 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9577 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9578 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9579 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9582 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9587 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9588 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9589 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9592 @kindex DEL (Article)
9593 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9594 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9597 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9598 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9599 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9600 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9601 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9604 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9605 @findex gnus-article-mail
9606 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9607 given a prefix, include the mail.
9611 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9612 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9613 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9617 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9618 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9619 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9622 @kindex TAB (Article)
9623 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9624 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9625 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9628 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9629 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9630 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9636 @section Misc Article
9640 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9641 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9642 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9643 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9646 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9647 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9649 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9650 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9652 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9653 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9654 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9655 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9656 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9657 the contents of the article buffer.
9659 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9660 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9661 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9663 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9664 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9665 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9666 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9668 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9669 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9670 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9671 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9672 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9677 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9678 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9681 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9684 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9686 @item gnus-break-pages
9687 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9688 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9689 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9690 paging will not be done.
9692 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9693 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9694 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9699 @node Composing Messages
9700 @chapter Composing Messages
9701 @cindex composing messages
9704 @cindex sending mail
9710 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9711 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9712 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9713 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9714 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9715 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9718 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9719 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9720 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9721 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9722 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9723 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9724 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9725 * Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
9728 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9729 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9735 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9738 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9739 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9740 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9741 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9743 @item gnus-add-to-list
9744 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9745 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9746 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9751 @node Posting Server
9752 @section Posting Server
9754 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9755 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9757 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9759 @vindex gnus-post-method
9761 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will post using the same
9762 select method as you're reading from (which might be convenient if
9763 you're reading lots of groups from different private servers).
9764 However. If the server you're reading from doesn't allow posting,
9765 just reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9766 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9767 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9770 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9773 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9774 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9775 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9776 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behaviour, for posting.
9778 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9779 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9781 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9782 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9785 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
9786 you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
9790 @section Mail and Post
9792 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9796 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9797 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9798 @cindex mailing lists
9800 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9801 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9802 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9803 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9804 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9805 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9806 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9807 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9808 still a pain, though.
9812 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9813 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9814 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9817 @findex ispell-message
9819 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9822 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9823 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9826 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9830 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
9831 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9833 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9836 Modify to suit your needs.
9839 @node Archived Messages
9840 @section Archived Messages
9841 @cindex archived messages
9842 @cindex sent messages
9844 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9845 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9846 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9847 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9850 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9851 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
9852 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9856 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9857 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9858 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9859 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9862 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9863 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
9864 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9865 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9868 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9869 '(nnfolder "archive"
9870 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9871 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9872 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9875 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9877 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9878 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9879 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9881 This variable can be used to do the following:
9885 Messages will be saved in that group.
9887 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
9888 message will not be stored in the select method given by
9889 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
9890 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
9891 has the default value shown above. Then setting
9892 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
9893 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
9894 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
9896 @item a list of strings
9897 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9898 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9899 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9901 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9906 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9908 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9911 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9913 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9916 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9918 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9919 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9920 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9921 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9926 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9927 '((if (message-news-p)
9932 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9933 messages in one file per month:
9936 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9937 '((if (message-news-p)
9939 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9942 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9943 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9945 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9946 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9947 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9948 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9949 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9950 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9951 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9952 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9953 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9954 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9956 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9957 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9958 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9959 this will disable archiving.
9962 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9963 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9964 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9965 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9966 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9969 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9970 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9971 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9974 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9975 but the latter is the preferred method.
9977 @item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
9978 @vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
9979 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
9984 @node Posting Styles
9985 @section Posting Styles
9986 @cindex posting styles
9989 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9991 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9992 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9993 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9996 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9997 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9998 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9999 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
10000 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
10005 (signature "Peace and happiness")
10006 (organization "What me?"))
10008 (signature "Death to everybody"))
10009 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
10010 (organization "Emacs is it")))
10013 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
10014 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
10015 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
10016 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
10017 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
10018 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
10019 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
10020 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
10022 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
10023 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
10024 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header (the
10025 next element in the match) in the original article , and compare that to
10026 the last regexp in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function
10027 will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the
10028 variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be
10029 @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value,
10030 then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
10032 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
10033 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
10034 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
10035 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
10036 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
10037 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
10038 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
10039 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
10040 result is thrown away.
10042 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
10043 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
10044 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
10045 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
10046 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
10047 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
10049 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
10050 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
10051 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
10053 @findex message-mail-p
10054 @findex message-news-p
10056 So here's a new example:
10059 (setq gnus-posting-styles
10061 (signature-file "~/.signature")
10063 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
10064 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
10066 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
10067 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
10068 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
10070 (signature my-news-signature))
10071 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
10072 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
10073 ((posting-from-work-p)
10074 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
10075 (address "user@@bar.foo")
10076 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
10077 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
10079 (From (save-excursion
10080 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
10081 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
10083 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
10086 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
10087 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
10088 if you fill many roles.
10095 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
10096 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
10097 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
10098 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
10099 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
10101 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
10102 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
10103 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
10104 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
10105 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
10109 @vindex nndraft-directory
10110 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
10111 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
10112 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
10113 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
10114 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
10115 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
10117 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
10118 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
10121 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
10122 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
10123 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
10124 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
10125 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
10126 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
10127 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
10128 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
10129 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
10130 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
10131 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
10132 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
10133 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
10134 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
10136 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
10137 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
10138 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
10140 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
10141 @kindex D e (Draft)
10142 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
10143 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
10144 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
10146 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
10149 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
10150 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
10151 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
10152 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
10153 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
10154 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
10155 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
10158 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
10159 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
10160 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
10163 @node Rejected Articles
10164 @section Rejected Articles
10165 @cindex rejected articles
10167 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
10168 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
10169 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
10170 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
10172 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
10173 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
10174 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
10175 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
10176 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
10178 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
10179 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
10180 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
10186 Gnus has an ALPHA support to GPG that's provided by @file{gpg.el}. See
10187 @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} to enable Gnus to
10188 verify or decrypt messages accordingly.
10190 To use this correctly with GPG, you'll need the following lisp code in your
10191 @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10195 (setq mml2015-use 'gpg)
10196 (setq gpg-temp-directory (expand-file-name "~/.gnupg/tmp"))
10199 The @code{gpg-temp-directory} need to point to a directory with permissions set
10200 to 700, for your own safety.
10202 If you want to benefit of PGP2.6 compatibility, you might create a script named
10203 @file{gpg-2comp} with these instructions:
10207 exec gpg --rfc1991 "$@@"
10210 If you don't want to use such compatibility, you can add the following line to
10211 your @file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
10214 (setq gpg-command-default-alist (quote ((gpg . "gpg") (gpg-2comp . "gpg"))))
10217 To sign or encrypt your message you may choose to use the MML Security
10218 menu or @kbd{C-c C-m s p} to sign your message using PGP/MIME, @kbd{C-c
10219 C-m s s} to sign your message using S/MIME. There's also @kbd{C-c C-m c
10220 p} to encrypt your message with PGP/MIME and @kbd{C-c C-m c s} to
10221 encrypt using S/MIME.
10223 Gnus will ask for your passphrase and then it will send your message, if
10224 you've typed it correctly.
10226 @node Select Methods
10227 @chapter Select Methods
10228 @cindex foreign groups
10229 @cindex select methods
10231 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
10232 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
10233 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
10234 personal mail group.
10236 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
10237 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
10238 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
10239 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
10240 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
10241 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
10243 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
10244 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
10246 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
10249 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
10250 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
10251 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
10252 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
10253 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
10255 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
10258 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
10259 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
10260 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
10261 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
10262 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
10263 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
10264 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
10268 @node Server Buffer
10269 @section Server Buffer
10271 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
10272 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
10273 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
10274 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
10275 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
10276 backend represents a virtual server.
10278 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
10279 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
10280 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
10281 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
10283 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
10284 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
10285 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
10286 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
10287 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
10288 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
10289 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
10291 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
10292 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
10295 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
10296 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
10297 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
10298 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
10299 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
10300 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
10301 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
10304 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
10305 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
10308 @node Server Buffer Format
10309 @subsection Server Buffer Format
10310 @cindex server buffer format
10312 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
10313 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
10314 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
10315 variable, with some simple extensions:
10320 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
10323 The name of this server.
10326 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
10329 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
10332 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
10333 The mode line can also be customized by using the
10334 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
10335 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
10345 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
10348 @node Server Commands
10349 @subsection Server Commands
10350 @cindex server commands
10356 @findex gnus-server-add-server
10357 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
10361 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
10362 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
10365 @kindex SPACE (Server)
10366 @findex gnus-server-read-server
10367 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
10371 @findex gnus-server-exit
10372 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
10376 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
10377 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
10381 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
10382 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
10386 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
10387 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
10391 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
10392 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
10396 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
10397 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
10398 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
10403 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10404 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10405 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10406 a mail backend that has gotten out of sync.
10411 @node Example Methods
10412 @subsection Example Methods
10414 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10417 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10420 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10426 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10427 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10430 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10431 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10433 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10434 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10438 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10441 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10442 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10444 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10445 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10446 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10450 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10453 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10456 Here's the method for a public spool:
10460 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10461 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10467 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10468 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10469 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10470 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10471 should probably look something like this:
10475 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
10476 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10477 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10478 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10479 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
10482 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10483 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
10484 server that would look something like this:
10488 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
10489 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
10490 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10491 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10492 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10493 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
10496 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10497 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10498 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10499 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10502 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10503 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10505 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10506 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10508 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10509 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10510 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10512 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10514 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10515 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10516 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10517 will contain the following:
10527 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10528 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10529 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10532 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10533 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10534 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10537 @node Server Variables
10538 @subsection Server Variables
10540 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10541 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10542 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10543 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10544 won't change the "derived" variables.
10546 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10547 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10548 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10549 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10550 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10551 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10552 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10553 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10554 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10558 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10559 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10560 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10564 @node Servers and Methods
10565 @subsection Servers and Methods
10567 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10568 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10569 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10570 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10574 @node Unavailable Servers
10575 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10577 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10578 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10579 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10580 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10581 actually the case or not.
10583 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10584 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10585 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10586 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10587 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10588 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10589 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10590 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10592 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10593 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10595 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
10596 with the following commands:
10602 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10603 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10604 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10608 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10609 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10610 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10614 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10615 Mark the current server as unreachable
10616 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10619 @kindex M-o (Server)
10620 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10621 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10622 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10625 @kindex M-c (Server)
10626 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10627 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10628 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10632 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10633 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10634 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10640 @section Getting News
10641 @cindex reading news
10642 @cindex news backends
10644 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10645 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10646 or it can read from a local spool.
10649 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10650 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10655 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10658 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10659 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10660 server as the, uhm, address.
10662 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10663 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10664 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10665 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10667 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10668 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10669 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10671 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10676 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10677 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10678 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10680 @cindex authentification
10681 @cindex nntp authentification
10682 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10683 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10684 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10685 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10686 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10687 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10688 present in this hook.
10690 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10691 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10692 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10693 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10694 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10695 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10696 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10697 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10698 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10699 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10700 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10701 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10705 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10708 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
10710 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10711 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
10712 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
10713 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
10714 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
10715 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
10716 @samp{force} is explained below.
10720 Here's an example file:
10723 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10724 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10727 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10728 have to be first, for instance.
10730 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10731 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10732 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10733 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10734 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10735 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10736 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10738 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10739 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10745 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10746 previously mentioned.
10748 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10750 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10751 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10752 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10753 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10754 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10757 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10758 '(("innd" (ding))))
10761 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10763 The default value is
10766 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10767 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10770 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10771 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10773 @item nntp-maximum-request
10774 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10775 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10776 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10777 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10778 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10779 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10780 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10782 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10783 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10784 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10785 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10786 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10787 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10788 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10789 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10790 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10791 no timeouts are done.
10793 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10794 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10795 @c @cindex PPP connections
10796 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10797 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10798 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10799 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10800 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10801 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10802 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10803 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10804 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10805 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10807 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10808 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10809 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10810 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10811 @c described above.
10813 @item nntp-server-hook
10814 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10815 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10818 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
10819 @findex nntp-open-telnet
10820 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10821 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10822 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10823 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
10824 functions are supplied:
10827 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10828 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10831 @item nntp-open-rlogin
10832 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
10833 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
10836 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
10840 @item nntp-rlogin-program
10841 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
10842 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
10843 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
10845 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
10846 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
10847 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
10849 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10850 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10851 User name on the remote system.
10855 @item nntp-open-telnet
10856 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
10857 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
10859 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
10862 @item nntp-telnet-command
10863 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
10864 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
10866 @item nntp-telnet-switches
10867 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
10868 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
10870 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
10871 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
10872 User name for log in on the remote system.
10874 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
10875 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
10876 Password to use when logging in.
10878 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
10879 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
10880 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
10883 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10884 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10885 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
10886 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
10888 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10889 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10890 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
10891 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
10892 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
10896 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10897 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10898 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10899 you must have SSLay installed
10900 (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10901 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
10902 define a server as follows:
10905 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10907 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
10909 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
10910 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
10911 (nntp-port-number "snews")
10912 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
10917 @item nntp-end-of-line
10918 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
10919 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
10920 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
10921 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
10923 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10924 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10925 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10929 @vindex nntp-address
10930 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10932 @item nntp-port-number
10933 @vindex nntp-port-number
10934 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10937 @item nntp-buggy-select
10938 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10939 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10941 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10942 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10943 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10944 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10947 @item nntp-xover-commands
10948 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10951 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10952 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10956 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10957 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10958 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10959 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10960 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10961 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10962 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10963 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10964 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10965 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10966 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10968 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10969 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10970 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10972 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10973 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10974 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10975 server closes connection.
10977 @item nntp-record-commands
10978 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10979 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10980 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10981 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10982 that doesn't seem to work.
10988 @subsection News Spool
10992 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10993 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10994 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10997 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10998 anything else) as the address.
11000 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
11001 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
11002 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
11003 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
11007 @item nnspool-inews-program
11008 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
11009 Program used to post an article.
11011 @item nnspool-inews-switches
11012 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
11013 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
11015 @item nnspool-spool-directory
11016 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
11017 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
11018 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
11020 @item nnspool-nov-directory
11021 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
11022 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
11023 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
11025 @item nnspool-lib-dir
11026 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
11027 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
11029 @item nnspool-active-file
11030 @vindex nnspool-active-file
11031 The path to the active file.
11033 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
11034 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
11035 The path to the group descriptions file.
11037 @item nnspool-history-file
11038 @vindex nnspool-history-file
11039 The path to the news history file.
11041 @item nnspool-active-times-file
11042 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
11043 The path to the active date file.
11045 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
11046 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
11047 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
11050 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11051 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
11053 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
11054 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
11055 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
11061 @section Getting Mail
11062 @cindex reading mail
11065 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
11069 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
11070 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
11071 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
11072 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
11073 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
11074 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
11075 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
11076 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
11077 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
11078 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
11079 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
11080 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
11081 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
11085 @node Mail in a Newsreader
11086 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
11088 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
11089 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
11090 of a culture shock.
11092 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
11093 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
11095 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
11096 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
11097 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
11098 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
11100 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
11102 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
11103 deleted? How awful!
11105 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
11106 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
11107 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
11108 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
11111 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
11112 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
11113 they want to treat a message.
11115 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
11116 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
11117 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
11118 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
11119 archived somewhere else.
11121 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
11122 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
11123 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
11124 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
11125 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
11127 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
11128 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
11129 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
11131 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
11132 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
11135 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
11136 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
11137 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
11138 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
11139 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
11141 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
11142 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
11143 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
11144 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
11145 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
11146 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
11150 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
11151 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
11153 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
11154 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
11155 and things will happen automatically.
11157 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
11158 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
11161 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
11162 '((nnml "private")))
11165 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
11166 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
11167 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
11168 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
11169 like any other group.
11171 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
11174 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11175 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11176 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11180 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
11181 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
11182 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
11185 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
11186 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
11187 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
11190 @node Splitting Mail
11191 @subsection Splitting Mail
11192 @cindex splitting mail
11193 @cindex mail splitting
11195 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
11196 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
11197 to be split into groups.
11200 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11201 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11202 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
11203 ("mail.other" "")))
11206 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
11207 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
11208 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
11209 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
11210 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
11211 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
11212 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
11215 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
11218 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
11219 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
11220 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
11221 mail belongs in that group.
11223 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
11224 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
11225 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
11226 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
11227 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
11228 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
11230 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
11231 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
11232 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
11233 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
11234 thinks should carry this mail message.
11236 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
11237 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
11238 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
11239 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
11241 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
11242 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
11243 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
11244 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
11245 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
11247 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
11250 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
11251 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
11252 links. If that's the case for you, set
11253 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
11254 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
11256 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
11257 @kindex nnmail-split-history
11258 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
11259 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
11260 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
11261 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
11264 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
11265 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
11266 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
11267 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
11268 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
11269 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
11270 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
11271 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
11272 month's rent money.
11276 @subsection Mail Sources
11278 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
11279 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
11283 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
11284 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
11285 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
11289 @node Mail Source Specifiers
11290 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
11292 @cindex mail server
11295 @cindex mail source
11297 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
11298 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
11303 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
11306 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
11307 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
11308 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
11311 The following mail source types are available:
11315 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
11321 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
11322 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
11325 An example file mail source:
11328 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
11331 Or using the default path:
11337 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
11338 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
11339 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
11342 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
11346 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
11349 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
11353 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
11356 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
11358 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
11361 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
11365 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
11366 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. Setting
11367 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
11368 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
11369 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
11375 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
11379 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
11383 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
11384 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
11385 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
11386 predicate are considered.
11390 Script run before/after fetching mail.
11394 An example directory mail source:
11397 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
11402 Get mail from a POP server.
11408 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
11409 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11412 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
11413 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
11414 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
11415 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
11416 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
11419 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
11423 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
11427 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
11428 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
11431 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
11434 The valid format specifier characters are:
11438 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
11439 included in this string.
11442 The name of the server.
11445 The port number of the server.
11448 The user name to use.
11451 The password to use.
11454 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11455 corresponding keywords.
11458 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11459 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11462 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11463 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11466 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11467 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11470 @item :authentication
11471 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11472 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11477 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11478 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11480 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11481 default user name, and default fetcher:
11487 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11490 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11491 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11494 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11497 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11501 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11502 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11503 contains exactly one mail.
11509 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11510 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
11513 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
11514 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
11516 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11517 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11518 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11521 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11522 from locking problems).
11526 Two example maildir mail sources:
11529 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/" :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
11533 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/" :subdirs ("new"))
11537 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
11538 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
11539 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
11540 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
11547 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11548 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11551 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11552 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11555 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11559 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11563 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11564 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11565 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11567 @item :authentication
11568 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11569 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11570 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11574 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
11575 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
11576 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
11582 The valid format specifier characters are:
11586 The name of the server.
11589 User name from `imap-default-user'.
11592 The port number of the server.
11595 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11596 corresponding keywords.
11599 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11600 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11603 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11604 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11605 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11606 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11607 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11608 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
11611 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
11612 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
11613 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11614 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
11617 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11618 after finishing the fetch.
11622 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11625 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11629 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11630 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
11632 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
11635 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
11636 required for url "4.0pre.46".
11638 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11644 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11645 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11648 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11652 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11656 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11657 folder after finishing the fetch.
11661 An example webmail source:
11664 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11669 @item Common Keywords
11670 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11676 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
11677 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
11681 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
11686 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
11687 useful when you use local mail and news.
11692 @subsubsection Function Interface
11694 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
11695 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
11696 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
11697 consider the following mail-source setting:
11700 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
11701 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
11704 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
11705 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
11706 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
11707 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
11708 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
11710 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
11713 @node Mail Source Customization
11714 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11716 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11717 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11721 @item mail-source-crash-box
11722 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11723 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11724 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11726 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11727 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11728 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11730 @item mail-source-directory
11731 @vindex mail-source-directory
11732 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11733 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11734 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11737 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11738 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
11739 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
11740 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
11741 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
11742 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
11744 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11745 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11746 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11751 @node Fetching Mail
11752 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11754 @vindex mail-sources
11755 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11756 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11757 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11758 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11760 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11761 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11764 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11765 mail server, you'd say something like:
11770 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11771 :password "secret")))
11774 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11778 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11779 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11782 :password "secret")))
11786 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11787 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11788 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11789 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11790 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11791 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11795 @node Mail Backend Variables
11796 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11798 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11802 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11803 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11804 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11805 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11807 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11808 @item nnmail-split-hook
11809 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11810 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
11811 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
11812 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11813 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11814 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11815 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11816 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11817 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11820 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11821 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11822 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11823 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11824 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11825 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11826 starting to handle the new mail) and
11827 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11828 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11829 default file modes the new mail files get:
11832 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11833 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
11835 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
11836 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
11839 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
11840 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
11841 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
11842 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
11843 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
11844 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
11845 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
11847 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
11848 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
11849 @findex delete-file
11850 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
11852 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11853 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11854 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
11855 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
11856 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
11861 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
11862 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
11863 @cindex mail splitting
11864 @cindex fancy mail splitting
11866 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
11867 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
11868 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
11869 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
11870 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
11871 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
11873 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
11876 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
11877 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
11878 ;; from real errors.
11879 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
11881 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
11882 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
11883 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
11884 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
11885 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
11886 ;; Other mailing lists...
11887 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
11888 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
11889 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
11890 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
11891 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
11892 ;; message was really cross-posted.
11893 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
11894 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
11896 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
11897 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
11901 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
11902 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
11903 the five possible split syntaxes:
11908 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
11909 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
11913 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
11914 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
11915 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
11916 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
11917 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
11918 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
11919 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
11920 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
11923 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11924 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
11925 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
11926 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
11929 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11930 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
11933 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
11934 this message. Use with extreme caution.
11937 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
11938 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
11939 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
11940 function should return a @var{split}.
11943 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
11944 body of the messages:
11947 (defun split-on-body ()
11949 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
11950 (goto-char (point-min))
11951 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
11955 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
11956 when the @code{:} function is run.
11959 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11960 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
11961 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
11965 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
11969 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
11970 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
11971 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
11972 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
11973 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
11975 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
11976 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
11977 are expanded as specified by the variable
11978 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
11979 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
11982 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
11983 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
11984 when all this splitting is performed.
11986 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
11987 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
11988 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
11991 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
11994 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
11995 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
11997 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
11998 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
11999 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
12000 groupings 1 through 9.
12002 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
12003 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
12004 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
12005 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
12006 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
12007 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
12008 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
12009 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
12010 it once per thread.
12012 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to a
12013 non-nil value. And then you can include
12014 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon feature, like so:
12016 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12017 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
12018 ;; other splits go here
12022 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
12023 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
12024 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
12025 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
12026 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
12027 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
12028 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
12029 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
12030 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name. It
12031 is recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
12032 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
12033 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300
12035 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12036 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
12037 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
12038 messages goes into the new group.
12041 @node Group Mail Splitting
12042 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
12043 @cindex mail splitting
12044 @cindex group mail splitting
12046 @findex gnus-group-split
12047 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
12048 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
12049 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
12050 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
12051 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
12052 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
12053 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
12054 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
12056 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
12057 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
12058 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
12059 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
12061 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
12062 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
12063 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
12064 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
12065 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
12066 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
12067 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
12069 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
12070 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
12071 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
12072 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
12073 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
12074 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
12075 @code{gnus-group-split}.
12077 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
12078 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
12079 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
12080 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
12081 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
12082 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
12083 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
12084 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
12085 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
12086 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
12087 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
12088 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
12089 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
12091 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
12096 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
12097 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
12099 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
12100 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
12101 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
12102 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
12104 ((split-spec . catch-all))
12107 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
12108 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
12109 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
12112 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
12113 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
12114 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
12118 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
12119 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
12120 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
12124 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
12127 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
12128 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
12129 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
12130 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
12131 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
12132 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
12133 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
12134 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
12135 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
12137 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
12138 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
12139 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
12140 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
12141 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
12142 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
12143 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
12144 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
12145 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
12147 @findex gnus-group-split-update
12148 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
12149 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
12150 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
12151 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
12152 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
12155 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
12158 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
12159 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
12160 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
12161 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
12162 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
12165 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
12166 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
12167 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
12168 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
12170 @node Incorporating Old Mail
12171 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
12173 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
12174 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
12175 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
12178 Doing so can be quite easy.
12180 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
12181 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
12182 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
12183 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
12184 your @code{nnml} groups.
12190 Go to the group buffer.
12193 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
12194 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12197 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
12200 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
12201 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12204 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
12205 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
12208 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
12209 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
12210 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
12211 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
12212 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
12214 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
12215 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
12216 using the new mail backend.
12219 @node Expiring Mail
12220 @subsection Expiring Mail
12221 @cindex article expiry
12223 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
12224 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
12225 different approach to mail reading.
12227 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
12228 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
12229 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
12230 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
12231 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
12232 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
12235 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
12236 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
12237 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
12238 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
12239 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
12240 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
12241 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
12242 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
12244 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12245 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
12246 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
12247 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
12248 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
12249 column in the summary buffer.
12251 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
12252 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
12253 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
12254 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
12257 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
12259 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
12260 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
12261 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
12264 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
12265 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
12266 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
12267 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
12268 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
12270 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
12271 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
12274 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
12275 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
12278 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
12279 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
12281 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
12282 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
12283 don't really mix very well.
12285 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
12286 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
12287 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
12288 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
12291 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
12292 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
12293 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
12294 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
12297 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12299 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
12301 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
12303 ((string= group "mail.junk")
12305 ((string= group "important")
12311 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
12312 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
12314 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
12315 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
12316 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
12319 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
12320 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
12322 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
12323 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
12324 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
12325 other groups instead of deleting them. The variable @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
12326 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
12327 variable supplies a default value for all groups, which can be
12328 overridden for specific groups by the group parameter.
12329 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
12330 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
12331 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
12332 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
12333 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
12336 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
12338 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
12342 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
12343 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
12344 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
12345 easier for procmail users.
12347 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
12348 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
12349 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
12350 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
12351 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
12352 caution. Even more dangerous is the
12353 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
12354 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
12355 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
12356 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
12357 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
12358 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
12359 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
12362 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
12364 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
12365 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
12366 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
12367 auto-expire turned on.
12371 @subsection Washing Mail
12372 @cindex mail washing
12373 @cindex list server brain damage
12374 @cindex incoming mail treatment
12376 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
12377 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
12378 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
12379 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
12380 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
12381 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
12383 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
12384 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
12385 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
12388 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
12389 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
12390 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
12391 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
12394 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12395 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
12396 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
12397 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
12398 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
12401 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12402 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
12403 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
12404 Emacs running on MS machines.
12408 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12409 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
12410 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
12411 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
12414 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12415 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
12416 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
12417 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
12419 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12420 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
12421 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
12422 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
12423 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
12424 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
12425 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
12428 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
12429 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
12432 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
12433 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
12436 This can also be done non-destructively with
12437 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
12439 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
12440 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
12441 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
12443 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12444 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
12446 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
12447 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
12448 @code{References} headers.
12452 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12453 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
12454 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
12458 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
12459 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
12460 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
12467 @subsection Duplicates
12469 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
12470 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
12471 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
12472 @cindex duplicate mails
12473 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
12474 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
12475 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
12476 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
12477 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
12478 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
12479 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
12480 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
12481 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
12482 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
12483 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
12484 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
12485 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
12487 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
12488 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
12489 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
12490 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
12492 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
12495 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
12496 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
12500 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12501 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
12502 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
12503 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
12504 (any mail "mail.misc")
12511 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12512 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
12517 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
12518 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
12519 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
12520 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
12521 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
12524 @node Not Reading Mail
12525 @subsection Not Reading Mail
12527 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
12528 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
12529 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
12531 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
12532 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
12533 mail, which should help.
12535 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12536 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12537 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12538 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12539 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12540 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
12541 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
12542 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
12543 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
12544 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
12545 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
12547 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
12548 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
12552 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
12553 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
12555 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
12556 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
12557 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
12559 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
12560 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
12561 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
12562 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
12565 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
12566 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
12567 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
12568 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
12569 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
12570 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
12574 @node Unix Mail Box
12575 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
12577 @cindex unix mail box
12579 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12580 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12581 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
12582 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
12583 which group it belongs in.
12585 Virtual server settings:
12588 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
12589 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12590 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
12593 @item nnmbox-active-file
12594 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12595 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
12596 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
12598 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
12599 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12600 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
12601 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
12606 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
12610 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12611 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12612 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
12613 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
12614 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
12616 Virtual server settings:
12619 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
12620 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12621 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
12623 @item nnbabyl-active-file
12624 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12625 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
12626 @file{~/.rmail-active}
12628 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12629 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12630 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
12636 @subsubsection Mail Spool
12638 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
12640 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
12641 format. It should be used with some caution.
12643 @vindex nnml-directory
12644 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
12645 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
12646 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
12647 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
12649 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
12652 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
12653 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
12654 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
12655 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
12656 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
12657 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
12658 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
12659 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
12661 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
12662 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
12663 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
12664 backend when it comes to reading mail.
12666 Virtual server settings:
12669 @item nnml-directory
12670 @vindex nnml-directory
12671 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
12672 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
12675 @item nnml-active-file
12676 @vindex nnml-active-file
12677 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
12678 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
12680 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
12681 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
12682 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12683 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
12685 @item nnml-get-new-mail
12686 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12687 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
12690 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
12691 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
12692 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
12693 default is @code{nil}
12695 @item nnml-nov-file-name
12696 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
12697 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
12699 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12700 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12701 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
12705 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
12706 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
12707 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
12708 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
12709 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
12710 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
12711 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
12716 @subsubsection MH Spool
12718 @cindex mh-e mail spool
12720 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
12721 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
12722 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
12723 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
12725 Virtual server settings:
12728 @item nnmh-directory
12729 @vindex nnmh-directory
12730 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
12731 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
12734 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
12735 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12736 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
12740 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
12741 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
12742 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
12743 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
12744 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
12745 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
12746 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
12751 @subsubsection Mail Folders
12753 @cindex mbox folders
12754 @cindex mail folders
12756 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
12757 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
12758 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
12761 Virtual server settings:
12764 @item nnfolder-directory
12765 @vindex nnfolder-directory
12766 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
12767 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
12770 @item nnfolder-active-file
12771 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
12772 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
12774 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12775 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12776 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12777 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
12779 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
12780 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12781 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
12784 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12785 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12786 @cindex backup files
12787 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
12788 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
12789 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
12790 your @file{.emacs} file:
12793 (defun turn-off-backup ()
12794 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
12796 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
12799 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12800 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12801 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
12802 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
12803 extract some information from it before removing it.
12805 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
12806 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
12807 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
12808 default is @code{nil}.
12813 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
12814 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
12815 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
12816 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
12817 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
12818 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
12821 @node Comparing Mail Backends
12822 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
12824 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
12825 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
12826 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
12827 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
12828 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
12830 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
12831 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
12832 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
12833 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
12834 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
12835 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
12836 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
12837 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
12840 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
12841 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
12842 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
12843 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
12848 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
12849 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
12850 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
12851 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
12852 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
12853 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
12854 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
12855 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
12856 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
12857 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
12858 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
12859 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
12860 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
12865 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
12866 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
12867 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
12868 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
12869 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
12870 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
12871 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
12872 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
12873 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
12874 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
12875 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
12876 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
12877 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
12878 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
12880 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
12881 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
12886 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
12887 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
12888 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
12889 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
12890 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
12891 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
12892 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
12893 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
12894 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
12895 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
12896 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
12897 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
12898 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
12899 provided by the active file and overviews.
12901 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
12902 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
12903 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
12904 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
12905 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
12908 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
12909 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
12914 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
12915 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
12916 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
12917 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
12918 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
12919 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
12920 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
12924 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
12925 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
12926 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
12927 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
12928 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
12929 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
12930 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
12931 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
12932 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
12934 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
12935 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
12936 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
12937 friendly mail backend all over.
12942 @node Browsing the Web
12943 @section Browsing the Web
12945 @cindex browsing the web
12949 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
12950 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
12951 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
12952 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
12953 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
12954 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
12955 even know what a news group is.
12957 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
12958 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
12959 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
12960 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
12961 you mad in the end.
12963 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
12966 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
12967 interfaces to these sources.
12970 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
12971 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
12972 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
12973 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
12974 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
12975 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
12978 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
12980 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
12981 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
12982 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
12983 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
12984 though, you should be ok.
12986 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
12987 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
12988 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
12989 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
12990 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
12994 @subsection Web Searches
12998 @cindex InReference
12999 @cindex Usenet searches
13000 @cindex searching the Usenet
13002 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
13003 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
13004 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
13005 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
13006 searches without having to use a browser.
13008 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
13009 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
13010 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
13011 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
13012 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
13014 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
13015 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
13016 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
13017 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
13018 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
13019 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
13020 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
13021 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
13022 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
13023 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
13026 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
13027 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
13028 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
13029 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
13030 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
13031 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
13033 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
13034 to use @code{nnweb}.
13036 Virtual server variables:
13041 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
13042 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
13046 @vindex nnweb-search
13047 The search string to feed to the search engine.
13049 @item nnweb-max-hits
13050 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
13051 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
13054 @item nnweb-type-definition
13055 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
13056 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
13057 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
13062 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
13066 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
13069 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
13072 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
13076 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
13083 @subsection Slashdot
13087 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
13088 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
13089 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
13091 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
13092 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
13095 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
13096 '((nnslashdot "")))
13099 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
13100 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
13101 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
13102 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
13103 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
13106 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
13107 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13109 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
13110 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
13111 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
13112 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
13113 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
13114 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
13117 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
13120 @item nnslashdot-threaded
13121 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
13122 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
13123 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
13124 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
13125 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
13126 but much, much slower than untreaded.
13128 @item nnslashdot-login-name
13129 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
13130 The login name to use when posting.
13132 @item nnslashdot-password
13133 @vindex nnslashdot-password
13134 The password to use when posting.
13136 @item nnslashdot-directory
13137 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
13138 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
13139 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
13141 @item nnslashdot-active-url
13142 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
13143 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
13144 news articles and comments. The default is
13145 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
13147 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
13148 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
13149 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
13151 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
13153 @item nnslashdot-article-url
13154 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
13155 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
13157 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
13159 @item nnslashdot-threshold
13160 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
13161 The score threshold. The default is -1.
13163 @item nnslashdot-group-number
13164 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
13165 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
13166 updated. The default is 0.
13173 @subsection Ultimate
13175 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
13177 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
13178 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
13179 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
13180 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
13182 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
13183 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
13184 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
13185 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
13186 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
13187 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
13188 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
13190 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
13193 @item nnultimate-directory
13194 @vindex nnultimate-directory
13195 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
13196 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
13201 @subsection Web Archive
13203 @cindex Web Archive
13205 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
13206 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
13207 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
13208 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13211 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
13212 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
13213 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
13214 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
13215 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
13216 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
13217 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
13219 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
13222 @item nnwarchive-directory
13223 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
13224 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
13225 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
13227 @item nnwarchive-login
13228 @vindex nnwarchive-login
13229 The account name on the web server.
13231 @item nnwarchive-passwd
13232 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
13233 The password for your account on the web server.
13241 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
13242 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
13243 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
13246 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
13247 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
13250 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
13253 @item nnrss-directory
13254 @vindex nnrss-directory
13255 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
13256 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
13260 @node Customizing w3
13261 @subsection Customizing w3
13267 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
13268 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
13269 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
13271 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
13272 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
13273 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
13276 (eval-after-load "w3"
13278 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
13279 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
13280 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
13281 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
13283 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
13286 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
13287 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
13291 @node Other Sources
13292 @section Other Sources
13294 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
13295 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
13299 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
13300 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
13301 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
13302 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
13303 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
13304 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
13308 @node Directory Groups
13309 @subsection Directory Groups
13311 @cindex directory groups
13313 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
13314 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
13317 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
13318 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
13319 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
13320 backend to read directories. Big deal.
13322 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
13323 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
13324 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
13325 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
13326 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
13328 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
13330 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
13331 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
13332 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
13333 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
13336 @node Anything Groups
13337 @subsection Anything Groups
13340 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
13341 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
13342 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
13345 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
13346 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
13347 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
13348 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
13349 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
13350 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
13351 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
13352 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
13353 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
13354 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
13357 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
13358 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
13359 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
13360 in the article buffer, just as usual.
13362 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
13363 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
13364 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
13365 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
13367 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
13368 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
13369 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
13370 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
13371 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
13372 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
13373 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
13374 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
13379 @item nneething-map-file-directory
13380 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
13381 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
13382 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
13384 @item nneething-exclude-files
13385 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
13386 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
13387 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
13389 @item nneething-include-files
13390 @vindex nneething-include-files
13391 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
13392 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
13394 @item nneething-map-file
13395 @vindex nneething-map-file
13396 Name of the map files.
13400 @node Document Groups
13401 @subsection Document Groups
13403 @cindex documentation group
13406 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
13407 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
13414 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
13419 The standard Unix mbox file.
13421 @cindex MMDF mail box
13423 The MMDF mail box format.
13426 Several news articles appended into a file.
13429 @cindex rnews batch files
13430 The rnews batch transport format.
13431 @cindex forwarded messages
13434 Forwarded articles.
13437 Netscape mail boxes.
13440 MIME multipart messages.
13442 @item standard-digest
13443 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
13446 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
13449 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
13450 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
13451 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
13454 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
13455 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
13456 group. And that's it.
13458 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
13459 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
13460 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
13461 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
13462 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
13463 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
13464 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
13465 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
13466 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
13467 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
13469 Virtual server variables:
13472 @item nndoc-article-type
13473 @vindex nndoc-article-type
13474 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
13475 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
13476 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
13477 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
13479 @item nndoc-post-type
13480 @vindex nndoc-post-type
13481 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
13482 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
13487 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
13491 @node Document Server Internals
13492 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
13494 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
13495 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
13496 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
13497 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
13499 First, here's an example document type definition:
13503 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
13504 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
13507 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
13508 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
13509 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
13510 types can be defined with very few settings:
13513 @item first-article
13514 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
13515 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
13518 @item article-begin
13519 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
13520 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
13522 @item head-begin-function
13523 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
13526 @item nndoc-head-begin
13527 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
13530 @item nndoc-head-end
13531 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
13532 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
13534 @item body-begin-function
13535 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
13539 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
13542 @item body-end-function
13543 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
13547 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
13550 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
13551 regexp will be totally ignored.
13555 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
13556 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
13557 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
13558 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
13559 something that's palatable for Gnus:
13562 @item prepare-body-function
13563 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
13564 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
13565 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
13567 @item article-transform-function
13568 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
13569 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
13570 body of the article.
13572 @item generate-head-function
13573 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
13574 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
13575 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
13576 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
13580 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
13585 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13586 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
13587 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
13588 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
13589 (head-end . "^ ?$")
13590 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
13591 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
13592 (subtype digest guess))
13595 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
13596 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
13597 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
13598 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
13599 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
13601 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
13602 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
13603 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
13604 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
13605 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
13606 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
13607 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
13608 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
13609 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
13610 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
13618 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
13619 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
13620 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
13622 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
13623 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
13624 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
13627 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
13628 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
13629 that interested in doing things properly.
13631 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
13632 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
13635 First some terminology:
13640 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
13641 get news and/or mail from.
13644 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
13645 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
13648 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
13652 @item message packets
13653 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
13654 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
13655 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13657 @item response packets
13658 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
13659 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
13660 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13670 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
13671 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
13672 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
13673 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
13676 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
13679 You put the packet in your home directory.
13682 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
13683 the native or secondary server.
13686 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
13687 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
13690 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
13694 You transfer this packet to the server.
13697 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
13700 You then repeat until you die.
13704 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
13705 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
13708 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
13709 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
13710 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
13714 @node SOUP Commands
13715 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
13717 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
13721 @kindex G s b (Group)
13722 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
13723 Pack all unread articles in the current group
13724 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
13725 process/prefix convention.
13728 @kindex G s w (Group)
13729 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
13730 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
13733 @kindex G s s (Group)
13734 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
13735 Send all replies from the replies packet
13736 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
13739 @kindex G s p (Group)
13740 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
13741 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
13744 @kindex G s r (Group)
13745 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
13746 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
13749 @kindex O s (Summary)
13750 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
13751 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
13752 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
13753 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13758 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
13763 @item gnus-soup-directory
13764 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
13765 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
13766 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
13768 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
13769 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
13770 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
13771 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
13773 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
13774 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
13775 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
13776 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
13778 @item gnus-soup-packer
13779 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
13780 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13781 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
13783 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
13784 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
13785 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13786 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13788 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
13789 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
13790 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
13792 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13793 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13794 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
13795 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
13801 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
13804 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
13805 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
13806 you can read them at leisure.
13808 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
13812 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
13813 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
13814 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
13815 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
13817 @item nnsoup-directory
13818 @vindex nnsoup-directory
13819 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
13820 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
13822 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
13823 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
13824 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
13825 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
13827 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
13828 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
13829 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
13830 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
13831 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
13833 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
13834 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
13835 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
13836 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
13838 @item nnsoup-active-file
13839 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
13840 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
13841 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
13842 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
13843 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
13845 @item nnsoup-packer
13846 @vindex nnsoup-packer
13847 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
13848 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
13850 @item nnsoup-unpacker
13851 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
13852 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
13853 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13855 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
13856 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
13857 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
13860 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
13861 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
13862 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
13865 @item nnsoup-always-save
13866 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
13867 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
13873 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
13875 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
13876 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
13877 more for that to happen.
13879 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
13880 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
13881 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
13884 In specific, this is what it does:
13887 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
13888 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
13891 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
13892 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
13893 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
13896 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
13897 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
13898 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
13901 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
13902 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
13903 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
13905 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
13911 @item nngateway-address
13912 @vindex nngateway-address
13913 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
13915 @item nngateway-header-transformation
13916 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
13917 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
13918 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
13919 transformation should be called, and defaults to
13920 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
13921 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
13924 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
13925 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
13926 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
13929 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
13932 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
13935 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
13938 The following pre-defined functions exist:
13940 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13943 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13944 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13945 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
13947 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13949 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13950 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13951 @code{nngateway-address}.
13956 (setq gnus-post-method
13957 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
13958 (nngateway-header-transformation
13959 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
13967 So, to use this, simply say something like:
13970 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
13976 @subsection @sc{imap}
13980 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
13981 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
13982 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
13983 specify the network address of the server.
13985 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
13986 POP can, it can hence be viewed as POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
13987 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
13988 protocol. (@sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp} because news
13989 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.)
13991 If you want to use @sc{imap} as POP++, use an imap entry in
13992 mail-sources. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the @sc{imap}
13993 server and store them on the local disk. This is not the usage
13994 described in this section. @xref{Mail Sources}.
13996 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
13997 entry in gnus-secondary-select-methods. With this, Gnus will
13998 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
13999 usage explained in this section.
14001 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14002 might look something like this:
14005 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14006 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14007 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14009 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14010 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14011 ; a UW server running on localhost
14013 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14014 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14015 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14016 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14017 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14018 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14019 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14020 (nnimap-stream network))
14021 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14023 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14024 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14025 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14028 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14033 @item nnimap-address
14034 @vindex nnimap-address
14036 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14037 server name if not specified.
14039 @item nnimap-server-port
14040 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14041 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14043 Note that this should be a integer, example server specification:
14046 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14047 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14050 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14051 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14052 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14053 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14054 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14055 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14056 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14058 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14059 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14060 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14063 Example server specification:
14066 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14067 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14068 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14071 @item nnimap-stream
14072 @vindex nnimap-stream
14073 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14074 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14075 of SSL. (SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can be automatically
14076 detected, but it's not widely deployed yet).
14078 Example server specification:
14081 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14082 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14085 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14089 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Require the
14090 @samp{imtest} program.
14092 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Require the @samp{imtest} program.
14094 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14095 SSL). Require the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14098 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Require OpenSSL (the
14099 program @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
14101 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14103 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14106 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14107 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD, nnimap support
14108 both @samp{imtest} version 1.5.x and version 1.6.x. The variable
14109 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14112 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14113 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14114 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14115 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14116 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14117 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14118 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14121 @vindex imap-shell-program
14122 @vindex imap-shell-host
14123 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14124 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14126 @item nnimap-authenticator
14127 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14129 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14130 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14132 Example server specification:
14135 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14136 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14139 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14143 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
14144 external program @code{imtest}.
14146 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
14149 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
14150 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14152 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14154 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14156 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14159 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14161 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14162 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14163 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14164 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14165 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14166 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14169 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14170 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14171 running in circles yet?
14173 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14174 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14177 The possible options are:
14182 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14185 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14186 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14187 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14188 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14190 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14195 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14196 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14198 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14199 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14200 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14206 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14207 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14208 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14213 @node Splitting in IMAP
14214 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
14215 @cindex splitting imap mail
14217 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14218 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14219 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14220 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14221 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14225 Here are the variables of interest:
14229 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14230 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14232 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14234 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14235 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14237 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14239 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14240 @cindex splitting, inbox
14242 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14244 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
14245 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
14249 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
14250 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
14253 No nnmail equivalent.
14255 @item nnimap-split-rule
14256 @cindex Splitting, rules
14257 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
14259 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
14262 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
14263 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
14264 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
14265 Neither did I, we need examples.
14268 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14269 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
14270 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
14271 ("INBOX.private" "")))
14274 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
14275 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
14276 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
14278 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
14279 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
14283 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
14286 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14287 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
14288 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
14289 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
14291 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
14292 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
14293 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
14294 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
14295 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
14296 them every time you fetch new mail.)
14298 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
14299 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
14300 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
14302 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
14303 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
14304 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14306 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
14308 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
14309 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
14310 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
14313 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14314 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
14315 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
14316 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
14317 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
14318 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
14321 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
14322 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
14323 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
14324 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
14325 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
14326 group/function elements.
14328 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
14330 @item nnimap-split-predicate
14332 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
14334 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
14335 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
14337 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
14338 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
14339 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
14342 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14343 @cindex splitting, fancy
14344 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
14345 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
14347 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14348 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
14349 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14351 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
14352 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14353 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
14354 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14359 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
14360 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
14363 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14367 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
14368 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14369 @cindex editing imap acls
14370 @cindex Access Control Lists
14371 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14373 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
14375 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
14376 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
14377 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
14380 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
14381 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
14382 editing window with detailed instructions.
14384 Some possible uses:
14388 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
14389 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
14390 follow the list without subscribing to it.
14392 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
14393 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
14394 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
14398 @node Expunging mailboxes
14399 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
14403 @cindex Manual expunging
14405 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
14407 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
14408 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
14409 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
14411 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
14416 @node Combined Groups
14417 @section Combined Groups
14419 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
14423 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
14424 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
14428 @node Virtual Groups
14429 @subsection Virtual Groups
14431 @cindex virtual groups
14432 @cindex merging groups
14434 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
14437 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
14438 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
14439 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
14441 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
14442 regexp to match component groups.
14444 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
14445 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
14446 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
14447 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
14448 the virtual group.)
14450 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
14451 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
14454 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
14457 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
14458 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
14460 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
14461 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
14462 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
14463 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
14466 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
14469 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
14470 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
14471 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
14473 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
14474 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
14475 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
14476 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
14477 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
14479 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
14480 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
14481 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
14483 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
14484 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
14485 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
14486 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
14487 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
14488 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
14489 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
14490 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
14491 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
14492 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
14493 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
14495 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
14496 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
14497 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
14498 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
14499 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
14500 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
14501 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
14503 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
14504 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
14508 @node Kibozed Groups
14509 @subsection Kibozed Groups
14513 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
14514 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
14515 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
14516 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
14518 @kindex G k (Group)
14519 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
14522 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
14523 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
14524 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
14525 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
14527 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
14528 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
14529 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
14531 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
14532 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
14533 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
14534 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
14535 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
14536 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
14537 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
14538 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
14540 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
14541 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
14542 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
14543 Stranger things have happened.
14545 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
14546 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
14548 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
14549 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
14550 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
14551 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
14552 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
14553 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
14555 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
14556 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
14559 @node Gnus Unplugged
14560 @section Gnus Unplugged
14565 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
14567 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
14568 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
14569 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
14570 read news. Believe it or not.
14572 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
14573 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
14574 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
14575 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
14576 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
14578 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
14579 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
14580 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
14581 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
14582 reading news on a machine.
14584 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
14588 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
14589 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
14593 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
14594 @file{.gnus.el} file:
14601 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
14603 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
14606 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
14607 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
14608 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
14609 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
14610 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
14611 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
14612 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
14613 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
14614 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
14615 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
14620 @subsection Agent Basics
14622 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
14624 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
14625 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
14626 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
14627 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
14629 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
14630 connected to the net continuously.
14632 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
14633 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
14635 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
14640 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
14641 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
14642 already fetched while in this mode.
14645 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
14646 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
14647 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
14648 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
14649 Source Specifiers}).
14652 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
14653 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
14654 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
14655 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
14656 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
14659 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
14660 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
14661 then you read the news offline.
14664 And then you go to step 2.
14667 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
14673 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
14674 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
14675 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
14676 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
14677 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
14678 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
14681 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
14688 @node Agent Categories
14689 @subsection Agent Categories
14691 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
14692 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
14693 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
14694 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
14695 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
14696 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
14697 you're interested in the articles anyway.
14699 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
14700 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
14701 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
14702 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
14703 managing categories.
14706 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
14707 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
14708 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
14712 @node Category Syntax
14713 @subsubsection Category Syntax
14715 A category consists of two things.
14719 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
14720 are eligible for downloading; and
14723 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
14724 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
14725 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
14728 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
14729 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
14730 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
14731 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
14733 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
14734 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
14735 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
14737 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
14738 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
14739 operators sprinkled in between.
14741 Perhaps some examples are in order.
14743 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
14744 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
14750 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
14751 short (for some value of ``short'').
14753 Here's a more complex predicate:
14762 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
14763 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
14766 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
14767 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
14768 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
14770 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
14771 you want to do, you can write your own.
14775 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
14776 lines; default 100.
14779 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
14780 lines; default 200.
14783 True iff the article has a download score less than
14784 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
14787 True iff the article has a download score greater than
14788 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
14791 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
14792 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
14793 checksum and sees whether articles match.
14802 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
14803 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
14804 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
14807 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
14808 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
14809 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
14810 something along the lines of the following:
14813 (defun my-article-old-p ()
14814 "Say whether an article is old."
14815 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
14816 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
14819 with the predicate then defined as:
14822 (not my-article-old-p)
14825 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
14826 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
14827 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
14828 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
14831 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
14832 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
14833 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
14836 and simply specify your predicate as:
14842 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
14843 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
14844 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
14845 just don't give a damn.
14847 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
14848 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
14849 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
14850 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
14851 parameters like so:
14854 (agent-predicate . short)
14857 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
14858 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
14859 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
14861 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
14864 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
14867 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
14868 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
14869 predicate is assumed to be a list.
14872 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
14873 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
14874 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
14875 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
14876 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
14877 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
14879 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
14880 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
14881 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
14882 if it's to be specific to that group.
14884 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
14891 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
14892 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
14898 Category specification
14902 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14908 Group Parameter specification
14911 (agent-score ("from"
14912 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14917 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
14923 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
14930 Category specification
14933 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
14939 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
14943 Group Parameter specification
14946 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
14949 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
14954 Use @code{normal} score files
14956 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
14957 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
14958 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
14959 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
14961 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
14962 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
14963 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
14964 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
14968 Category Specification
14975 Group Parameter specification
14978 (agent-score . file)
14983 @node Category Buffer
14984 @subsubsection Category Buffer
14986 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
14987 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
14988 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
14990 The following commands are available in this buffer:
14994 @kindex q (Category)
14995 @findex gnus-category-exit
14996 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
14999 @kindex k (Category)
15000 @findex gnus-category-kill
15001 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
15004 @kindex c (Category)
15005 @findex gnus-category-copy
15006 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
15009 @kindex a (Category)
15010 @findex gnus-category-add
15011 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
15014 @kindex p (Category)
15015 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
15016 Edit the predicate of the current category
15017 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
15020 @kindex g (Category)
15021 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
15022 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
15023 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
15026 @kindex s (Category)
15027 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
15028 Edit the download score rule of the current category
15029 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
15032 @kindex l (Category)
15033 @findex gnus-category-list
15034 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
15038 @node Category Variables
15039 @subsubsection Category Variables
15042 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
15043 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
15044 Hook run in category buffers.
15046 @item gnus-category-line-format
15047 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
15048 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
15049 Variables}). Valid elements are:
15053 The name of the category.
15056 The number of groups in the category.
15059 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
15060 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
15061 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
15063 @item gnus-agent-short-article
15064 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
15065 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
15067 @item gnus-agent-long-article
15068 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
15069 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
15071 @item gnus-agent-low-score
15072 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
15073 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
15076 @item gnus-agent-high-score
15077 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
15078 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
15084 @node Agent Commands
15085 @subsection Agent Commands
15087 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
15088 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
15089 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
15093 * Group Agent Commands::
15094 * Summary Agent Commands::
15095 * Server Agent Commands::
15098 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
15099 following incantation:
15101 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15103 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
15108 @node Group Agent Commands
15109 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
15113 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
15114 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
15115 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
15116 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
15119 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
15120 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
15121 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
15124 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
15125 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
15126 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
15127 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
15130 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
15131 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
15132 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
15133 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
15136 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
15137 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
15138 Add the current group to an Agent category
15139 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
15140 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15143 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
15144 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
15145 Remove the current group from its category, if any
15146 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
15147 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15150 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
15151 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15152 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
15158 @node Summary Agent Commands
15159 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
15163 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
15164 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
15165 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
15168 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
15169 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
15170 Remove the downloading mark from the article
15171 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
15174 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
15175 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
15176 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
15179 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
15180 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
15181 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
15186 @node Server Agent Commands
15187 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
15191 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
15192 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
15193 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
15194 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
15197 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
15198 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
15199 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
15200 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
15206 @subsection Agent Expiry
15208 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
15209 @findex gnus-agent-expire
15210 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
15211 @cindex Agent expiry
15212 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
15215 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
15216 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
15217 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
15218 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
15219 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
15220 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
15222 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
15223 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
15224 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
15225 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
15226 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
15229 @node Agent and IMAP
15230 @subsection Agent and IMAP
15232 The Agent work with any Gnus backend, including nnimap. However,
15233 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
15234 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
15235 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
15237 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
15238 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
15239 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
15240 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
15242 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
15243 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
15244 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
15245 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
15246 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
15248 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
15249 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
15250 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
15251 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
15252 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
15253 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
15255 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
15256 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
15257 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
15258 in the group buffer by default.
15260 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
15261 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
15266 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
15269 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
15273 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
15274 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
15275 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
15276 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
15277 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
15278 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
15279 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
15280 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
15283 @node Outgoing Messages
15284 @subsection Outgoing Messages
15286 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
15287 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
15288 after posting, and edit them at will.
15290 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
15291 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
15292 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
15293 messages in the draft group.
15297 @node Agent Variables
15298 @subsection Agent Variables
15301 @item gnus-agent-directory
15302 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
15303 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
15304 @file{~/News/agent/}.
15306 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
15307 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
15308 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
15309 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
15310 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
15313 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
15314 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
15315 Hook run when connecting to the network.
15317 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
15318 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
15319 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
15324 @node Example Setup
15325 @subsection Example Setup
15327 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
15328 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
15329 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
15332 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
15333 ;;; from your ISP's server.
15334 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
15336 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
15337 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
15338 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
15340 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
15341 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
15343 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
15347 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
15348 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
15351 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
15352 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
15353 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
15354 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
15355 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
15358 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
15359 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
15360 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
15361 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
15362 back all the killed groups.)
15364 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
15365 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
15366 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
15369 @node Batching Agents
15370 @subsection Batching Agents
15372 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
15373 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
15374 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
15378 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
15382 @node Agent Caveats
15383 @subsection Agent Caveats
15385 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
15386 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
15390 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
15395 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
15396 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
15402 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
15403 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
15410 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
15411 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
15412 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
15415 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
15416 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
15417 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
15418 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
15419 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
15421 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
15422 before generating the summary buffer.
15424 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
15425 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
15426 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
15428 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
15429 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
15430 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
15431 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
15434 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
15435 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
15436 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
15437 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
15438 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
15439 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
15440 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
15441 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
15442 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
15443 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
15444 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
15445 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
15446 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
15447 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
15448 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
15449 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
15453 @node Summary Score Commands
15454 @section Summary Score Commands
15455 @cindex score commands
15457 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
15458 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
15459 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
15460 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
15461 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
15463 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
15464 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
15465 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
15466 score file the current one.
15468 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
15473 @kindex V s (Summary)
15474 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
15475 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
15478 @kindex V S (Summary)
15479 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
15480 Display the score of the current article
15481 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
15484 @kindex V t (Summary)
15485 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
15486 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
15487 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
15490 @kindex V R (Summary)
15491 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
15492 Run the current summary through the scoring process
15493 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
15494 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
15495 effect you're having.
15498 @kindex V c (Summary)
15499 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
15500 Make a different score file the current
15501 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
15504 @kindex V e (Summary)
15505 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
15506 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
15507 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
15511 @kindex V f (Summary)
15512 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
15513 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
15514 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
15517 @kindex V F (Summary)
15518 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15519 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
15520 after editing score files.
15523 @kindex V C (Summary)
15524 @findex gnus-score-customize
15525 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
15526 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
15530 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
15535 @kindex V m (Summary)
15536 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
15537 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
15538 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
15541 @kindex V x (Summary)
15542 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
15543 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
15544 expunge all articles below this score
15545 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
15548 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
15549 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
15552 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
15553 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
15557 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
15558 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
15560 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
15561 keys are available:
15565 Score on the author name.
15568 Score on the subject line.
15571 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
15574 Score on the @code{References} line.
15580 Score on the number of lines.
15583 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
15586 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
15587 the followups to this author.
15601 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
15602 what headers you are scoring on.
15614 Substring matching.
15617 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
15646 Greater than number.
15651 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
15652 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
15653 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
15657 Temporary score entry.
15660 Permanent score entry.
15663 Immediately scoring.
15668 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
15669 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
15670 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
15671 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
15673 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
15674 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
15675 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
15676 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
15677 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
15679 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
15680 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
15681 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
15682 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
15683 current score file.
15685 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
15686 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
15687 pretend they are keymaps or not.
15690 @node Group Score Commands
15691 @section Group Score Commands
15692 @cindex group score commands
15694 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
15699 @kindex W f (Group)
15700 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
15701 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
15702 all the time. This command will flush the cache
15703 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
15707 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
15709 @findex gnus-batch-score
15710 @cindex batch scoring
15712 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
15716 @node Score Variables
15717 @section Score Variables
15718 @cindex score variables
15722 @item gnus-use-scoring
15723 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
15724 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
15725 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
15727 @item gnus-kill-killed
15728 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
15729 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
15730 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
15731 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
15732 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
15733 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
15734 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
15736 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
15737 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
15738 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
15739 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
15740 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
15742 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
15743 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
15744 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
15745 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
15747 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15748 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
15749 @cindex score cache
15750 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
15751 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
15752 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
15753 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
15754 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
15755 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
15758 @item gnus-save-score
15759 @vindex gnus-save-score
15760 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
15761 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
15762 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
15764 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
15765 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
15766 across group visits.
15768 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15769 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15770 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
15771 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
15772 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
15773 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
15774 manually entered data.
15776 @item gnus-summary-default-score
15777 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
15778 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
15780 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
15781 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
15782 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
15783 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
15784 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
15785 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
15787 @item gnus-score-over-mark
15788 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
15789 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
15790 default. Default is @samp{+}.
15792 @item gnus-score-below-mark
15793 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
15794 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
15795 default. Default is @samp{-}.
15797 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15798 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15799 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
15800 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
15802 Predefined functions available are:
15805 @item gnus-score-find-single
15806 @findex gnus-score-find-single
15807 Only apply the group's own score file.
15809 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
15810 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
15811 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
15812 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
15813 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
15814 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
15815 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
15816 then a regexp match is done.
15818 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
15819 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
15821 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
15822 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
15823 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
15824 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
15826 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15827 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15828 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
15829 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
15830 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
15834 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
15835 functions will be called with the group name as argument, and all the
15836 returned lists of score files will be applied. These functions can also
15837 return lists of score alists directly. In that case, the functions that
15838 return these non-file score alists should probably be placed before the
15839 ``real'' score file functions, to ensure that the last score file
15840 returned is the local score file. Phu.
15842 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
15843 overall score file, you could use the value
15845 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE")) 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
15848 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
15849 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
15850 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
15851 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
15852 are expired. It's 7 by default.
15854 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15855 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15856 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
15857 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
15858 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
15859 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
15860 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
15863 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15864 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15865 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
15867 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
15868 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
15869 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
15870 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
15871 threading---according to the current value of
15872 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
15873 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
15874 simplified in this manner.
15879 @node Score File Format
15880 @section Score File Format
15881 @cindex score file format
15883 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
15884 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
15885 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
15887 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
15891 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
15893 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
15895 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
15897 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
15902 (mark-and-expunge -10)
15906 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
15907 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
15908 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
15909 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
15913 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
15914 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
15916 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
15917 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
15918 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
15920 Six keys are supported by this alist:
15925 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
15926 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
15927 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
15928 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
15929 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
15930 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
15931 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
15932 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
15933 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
15934 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
15935 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
15936 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
15937 to articles that matches these score entries.
15939 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
15940 score entry has one to four elements.
15944 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
15945 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
15949 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
15950 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
15951 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
15952 is successful. If this element is not present, the
15953 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
15954 instead. This is 1000 by default.
15957 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
15958 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
15959 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
15960 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
15961 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
15964 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
15965 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
15966 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
15967 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
15970 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
15971 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
15972 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
15973 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
15974 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
15975 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
15976 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
15977 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
15978 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
15979 instead, if you feel like.
15982 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
15983 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
15985 These predicates are true if
15988 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
15991 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
15992 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
15999 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
16000 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
16001 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
16002 it's not. I think.)
16004 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
16005 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
16006 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
16007 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
16010 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
16011 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
16012 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
16013 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
16014 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
16015 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
16016 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
16020 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
16021 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
16022 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
16023 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
16024 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
16025 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
16026 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
16027 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
16030 @item Head, Body, All
16031 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
16035 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
16036 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
16037 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
16038 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
16039 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
16040 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
16041 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
16045 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
16046 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
16047 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
16048 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
16049 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
16050 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
16051 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
16052 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
16053 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
16054 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
16055 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
16059 @cindex Score File Atoms
16061 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16062 lower than this number will be marked as read.
16065 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16066 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
16068 @item mark-and-expunge
16069 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
16070 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
16073 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
16074 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
16075 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
16076 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
16077 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
16080 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
16081 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
16084 @item exclude-files
16085 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
16086 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
16090 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
16091 ignored when handling global score files.
16094 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
16095 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
16096 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
16097 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
16100 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
16101 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
16102 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
16103 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
16105 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
16109 (mark-and-expunge -100)
16112 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
16113 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
16114 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
16115 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
16116 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
16118 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
16119 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
16120 scoring rules exist.
16123 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
16124 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
16125 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
16126 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
16127 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
16128 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
16129 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16130 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
16131 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
16132 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
16133 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
16137 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
16138 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
16139 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
16140 file for a number of groups.
16143 @cindex local variables
16144 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
16145 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
16146 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
16147 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
16148 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
16152 @node Score File Editing
16153 @section Score File Editing
16155 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
16156 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
16157 with a mode for that.
16159 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
16160 additional commands:
16165 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
16166 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
16167 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
16168 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
16171 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
16172 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
16173 Insert the current date in numerical format
16174 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
16175 you were wondering.
16178 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
16179 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
16180 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
16181 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
16182 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
16187 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
16189 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
16190 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
16192 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
16193 e} to begin editing score files.
16196 @node Adaptive Scoring
16197 @section Adaptive Scoring
16198 @cindex adaptive scoring
16200 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
16201 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
16202 stupidity, to be precise.
16204 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
16205 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
16206 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
16207 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
16208 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
16209 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
16210 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
16211 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
16212 variable to @code{(word line)}.
16214 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
16215 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
16216 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
16217 might look something like this:
16220 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
16221 '((gnus-unread-mark)
16222 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
16223 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
16224 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
16225 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
16226 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
16227 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
16228 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
16229 (gnus-ancient-mark)
16230 (gnus-low-score-mark)
16231 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
16234 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
16235 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
16236 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
16237 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
16238 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
16239 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
16242 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
16243 will be applied to each article.
16245 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
16246 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
16247 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
16248 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
16250 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
16251 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
16252 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
16253 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
16255 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
16256 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
16257 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
16258 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
16260 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
16261 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
16262 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
16263 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
16264 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
16265 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
16267 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
16268 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
16269 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
16270 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
16271 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
16272 aspirins afterwards.)
16274 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
16275 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
16276 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
16278 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
16279 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
16280 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
16282 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
16283 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
16284 let you use different rules in different groups.
16286 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
16287 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
16288 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
16291 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
16292 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
16293 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
16294 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
16295 the length of the match is less than
16296 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
16297 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
16300 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
16301 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
16302 headers. If you adapt on words, the
16303 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
16304 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
16307 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
16308 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
16309 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
16310 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
16311 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
16314 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
16315 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
16316 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
16317 score with 30 points.
16319 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
16320 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
16321 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
16322 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
16323 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
16325 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
16326 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
16327 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
16328 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
16329 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
16331 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
16332 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
16333 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
16334 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
16336 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
16337 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
16338 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
16339 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
16341 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
16342 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
16343 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
16344 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
16345 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
16347 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
16348 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
16349 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
16351 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
16352 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
16353 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
16354 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
16357 @node Home Score File
16358 @section Home Score File
16360 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
16361 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
16362 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
16363 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
16365 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
16366 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
16367 could perhaps use the same home score file.
16369 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
16370 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
16375 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
16379 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
16380 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
16384 A list. The elements in this list can be:
16388 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
16389 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
16392 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
16393 the home score file.
16396 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
16399 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
16404 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
16407 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16408 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
16411 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
16412 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
16414 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
16416 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16417 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
16420 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
16421 Other functions include
16424 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
16425 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
16426 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
16427 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
16431 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
16432 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
16433 their own home score files:
16436 (setq gnus-home-score-file
16437 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
16438 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
16439 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
16440 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
16443 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
16444 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
16445 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
16446 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
16447 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
16449 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
16450 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
16451 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
16452 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
16453 precedence over this variable.
16456 @node Followups To Yourself
16457 @section Followups To Yourself
16459 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
16460 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
16461 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
16462 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
16463 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
16464 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
16468 @item gnus-score-followup-article
16469 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
16470 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
16473 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
16474 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
16475 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
16479 @vindex message-sent-hook
16480 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
16481 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
16483 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
16487 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
16488 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
16492 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
16493 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
16496 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
16497 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
16502 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
16506 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
16507 is system-dependent.
16511 @section Scoring Tips
16512 @cindex scoring tips
16518 @cindex scoring crossposts
16519 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
16520 the @code{Xref} header.
16522 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
16525 @item Multiple crossposts
16526 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
16527 more than, say, 3 groups:
16529 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
16532 @item Matching on the body
16533 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
16534 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
16535 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
16536 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
16537 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
16538 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
16539 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
16542 @item Marking as read
16543 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
16544 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
16545 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
16549 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
16551 @item Negated character classes
16552 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
16553 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
16554 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
16558 @node Reverse Scoring
16559 @section Reverse Scoring
16560 @cindex reverse scoring
16562 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
16563 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
16564 like this in your score file:
16568 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
16573 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
16574 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
16577 @node Global Score Files
16578 @section Global Score Files
16579 @cindex global score files
16581 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
16582 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
16583 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
16585 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
16586 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
16587 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
16589 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
16590 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
16591 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
16592 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
16593 files are applicable to which group.
16595 Say you want to use the score file
16596 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
16597 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
16600 (setq gnus-global-score-files
16601 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
16602 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
16605 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
16606 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
16607 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
16608 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
16609 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
16611 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
16612 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
16614 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
16615 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
16616 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
16617 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
16618 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
16619 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
16621 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
16627 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
16629 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
16631 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
16633 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
16634 lowered out of existence.
16636 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
16637 articles completely.
16640 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
16641 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
16642 old articles for a long time.
16645 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
16646 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
16647 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
16648 holding our breath yet?
16652 @section Kill Files
16655 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
16656 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
16657 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
16659 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
16660 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
16661 files into score files.
16663 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
16664 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
16665 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
16666 that isn't a very good idea.
16668 Normal kill files look like this:
16671 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16672 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
16676 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
16677 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
16679 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
16680 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
16683 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
16688 @kindex M-k (Summary)
16689 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
16690 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
16693 @kindex M-K (Summary)
16694 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
16695 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
16698 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
16703 @kindex M-k (Group)
16704 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
16705 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
16708 @kindex M-K (Group)
16709 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
16710 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
16713 Kill file variables:
16716 @item gnus-kill-file-name
16717 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
16718 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
16719 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
16720 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
16721 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
16722 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
16724 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16725 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
16726 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
16727 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
16730 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
16731 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
16732 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
16733 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
16734 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
16735 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
16736 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
16737 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
16738 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
16740 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16741 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
16742 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
16747 @node Converting Kill Files
16748 @section Converting Kill Files
16750 @cindex converting kill files
16752 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
16753 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
16754 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
16757 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
16758 You can fetch it from
16759 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
16761 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
16762 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
16763 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
16771 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
16772 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
16773 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
16775 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
16776 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
16777 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
16778 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
16779 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
16780 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
16781 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
16782 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
16786 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
16787 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
16788 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
16789 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
16793 @node Using GroupLens
16794 @subsection Using GroupLens
16796 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
16798 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
16799 better bit in town at the moment.
16801 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
16805 @item gnus-use-grouplens
16806 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
16807 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
16808 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
16810 @item grouplens-pseudonym
16811 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
16812 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
16813 with the Better Bit Bureau.
16815 @item grouplens-newsgroups
16816 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
16817 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
16821 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
16822 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
16823 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
16824 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
16825 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
16826 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
16829 @node Rating Articles
16830 @subsection Rating Articles
16832 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
16833 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
16834 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
16835 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
16838 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
16843 @kindex r (GroupLens)
16844 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
16845 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
16848 @kindex k (GroupLens)
16849 @findex grouplens-score-thread
16850 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
16851 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
16852 threads in rec.humor.
16856 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
16857 the score of the article you're reading.
16862 @kindex n (GroupLens)
16863 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
16864 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
16867 @kindex , (GroupLens)
16868 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
16869 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
16873 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
16874 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
16877 @node Displaying Predictions
16878 @subsection Displaying Predictions
16880 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
16881 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
16882 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
16883 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
16884 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
16886 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
16887 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
16888 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
16889 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
16890 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
16891 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
16892 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
16893 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
16894 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
16895 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
16896 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
16897 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
16898 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
16900 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
16901 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
16902 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
16903 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
16905 The following are valid values for that variable.
16908 @item prediction-spot
16909 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
16912 @item confidence-interval
16913 A numeric confidence interval.
16915 @item prediction-bar
16916 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
16918 @item confidence-bar
16919 Numerical confidence.
16921 @item confidence-spot
16922 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
16924 @item prediction-num
16925 Plain-old numeric value.
16927 @item confidence-plus-minus
16928 Prediction +/- confidence.
16933 @node GroupLens Variables
16934 @subsection GroupLens Variables
16938 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
16939 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
16940 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
16941 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
16944 @item grouplens-bbb-host
16945 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
16948 @item grouplens-bbb-port
16949 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
16951 @item grouplens-score-offset
16952 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
16953 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
16956 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
16957 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
16958 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
16963 @node Advanced Scoring
16964 @section Advanced Scoring
16966 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
16967 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
16968 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
16969 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
16970 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
16972 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
16976 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
16977 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
16978 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
16982 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
16983 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
16985 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
16986 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
16987 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
16988 non-@code{nil} value.
16990 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
16991 operator, and various match operators.
16998 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16999 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
17000 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
17005 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
17006 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
17007 then this operator will return @code{false}.
17012 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
17013 logical negation of the value of its argument.
17017 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
17018 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
17019 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
17020 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
17021 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
17022 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
17023 the ancestry you want to go.
17025 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
17026 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
17027 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
17028 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
17029 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
17032 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
17033 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
17035 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
17036 when he's talking about Gnus:
17040 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17041 ("subject" "Gnus"))
17047 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
17051 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17058 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
17059 really don't want to read what he's written:
17063 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17064 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
17068 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
17069 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
17070 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
17077 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
17078 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
17079 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
17080 ("body" "white.*socks"))
17084 The possibilities are endless.
17087 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
17088 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
17090 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
17091 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
17092 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
17093 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
17094 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
17095 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
17096 @samp{subject}) first.
17098 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
17099 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
17110 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
17111 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
17117 ("subject" "Gnus")))
17124 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
17125 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
17130 @section Score Decays
17131 @cindex score decays
17134 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
17135 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
17136 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
17137 use them in any sensible way.
17139 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
17140 @findex gnus-decay-score
17141 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
17142 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
17143 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
17144 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
17145 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
17146 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
17147 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
17148 definition of that function:
17151 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
17153 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
17154 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
17157 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
17159 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
17161 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
17164 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
17165 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
17166 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
17167 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
17171 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
17174 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
17177 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
17181 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
17182 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
17183 the new score, which should be an integer.
17185 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
17186 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
17193 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
17194 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
17195 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
17196 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
17197 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
17198 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
17199 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
17200 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
17201 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
17202 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
17203 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
17204 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
17205 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
17206 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
17207 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
17208 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
17209 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
17210 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
17214 @node Process/Prefix
17215 @section Process/Prefix
17216 @cindex process/prefix convention
17218 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
17219 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
17221 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
17222 command to be performed on.
17226 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
17227 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
17228 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
17229 with the current one.
17231 @vindex transient-mark-mode
17232 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
17233 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
17235 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
17236 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
17239 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
17240 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
17242 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
17245 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
17246 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
17247 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
17248 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
17250 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
17251 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
17252 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
17253 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
17254 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
17255 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
17256 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
17257 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
17259 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
17260 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
17261 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
17262 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
17263 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
17267 @section Interactive
17268 @cindex interaction
17272 @item gnus-novice-user
17273 @vindex gnus-novice-user
17274 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
17275 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
17276 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
17277 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
17280 @item gnus-expert-user
17281 @vindex gnus-expert-user
17282 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
17283 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
17284 matter how strange.
17286 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
17287 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
17288 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
17289 is @code{t} by default.
17291 @item gnus-interactive-exit
17292 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
17293 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
17298 @node Symbolic Prefixes
17299 @section Symbolic Prefixes
17300 @cindex symbolic prefixes
17302 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
17303 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
17304 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
17305 rule of 900 to the current article.
17307 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
17308 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
17309 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
17310 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
17311 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
17312 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
17313 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
17315 @kindex M-i (Summary)
17316 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
17317 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
17318 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
17319 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
17320 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
17321 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
17322 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
17323 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
17325 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
17326 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
17327 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
17329 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
17333 @node Formatting Variables
17334 @section Formatting Variables
17335 @cindex formatting variables
17337 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
17338 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
17339 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
17340 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
17341 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
17344 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
17345 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
17346 lots of percentages everywhere.
17349 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
17350 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
17351 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
17352 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
17353 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
17356 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
17357 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
17358 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
17359 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
17360 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
17361 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
17362 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
17363 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
17365 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
17366 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
17368 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
17369 @findex gnus-update-format
17370 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
17371 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
17372 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
17373 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
17377 @node Formatting Basics
17378 @subsection Formatting Basics
17380 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
17381 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
17382 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
17384 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
17385 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
17386 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
17387 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
17388 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
17391 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
17392 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
17393 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
17394 less than 4 characters wide.
17397 @node Mode Line Formatting
17398 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
17400 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
17401 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
17402 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
17403 with the following two differences:
17408 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
17411 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
17412 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
17413 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
17414 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
17415 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
17416 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
17417 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
17422 @node Advanced Formatting
17423 @subsection Advanced Formatting
17425 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
17426 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
17427 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
17428 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
17430 These are the valid modifiers:
17435 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
17439 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
17444 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
17447 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
17452 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
17455 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
17458 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
17461 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
17465 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
17466 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
17467 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
17468 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
17469 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
17470 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
17471 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
17473 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
17474 last operation, padding.
17476 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
17477 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
17478 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
17479 @xref{Compilation}.
17482 @node User-Defined Specs
17483 @subsection User-Defined Specs
17485 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
17486 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
17487 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
17488 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
17489 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
17490 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
17491 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
17492 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
17493 should protect against that.
17495 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
17496 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
17497 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
17498 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
17502 @node Formatting Fonts
17503 @subsection Formatting Fonts
17505 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
17506 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
17507 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
17508 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
17511 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
17512 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
17513 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
17514 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
17515 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
17516 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
17518 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
17519 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
17520 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
17521 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
17522 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
17523 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
17524 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
17525 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
17527 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
17530 ;; Create three face types.
17531 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
17532 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
17534 ;; We want the article count to be in
17535 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
17536 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
17537 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
17539 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
17540 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
17542 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
17543 (setq gnus-group-line-format
17544 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
17547 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
17548 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
17550 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
17551 mode-line variables.
17554 @node Windows Configuration
17555 @section Windows Configuration
17556 @cindex windows configuration
17558 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
17560 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
17561 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
17562 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
17563 @code{t} by default.
17565 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
17566 glitches. Use at your own peril.
17568 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
17569 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
17570 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
17573 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
17574 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
17575 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17579 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
17580 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
17581 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
17582 possible names is listed below.
17584 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
17585 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
17588 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
17592 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
17593 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
17594 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
17595 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
17596 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
17597 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
17598 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
17599 size spec per split.
17601 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
17602 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
17603 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
17604 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
17605 present) gets focus.
17607 Here's a more complicated example:
17610 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
17611 (summary 0.25 point)
17612 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
17616 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
17617 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
17618 occupy, not a percentage.
17620 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
17621 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
17622 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
17623 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
17624 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
17627 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
17630 (article (horizontal 1.0
17635 (summary 0.25 point)
17640 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
17641 @code{horizontal} thingie?
17643 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
17644 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
17645 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
17646 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
17647 the screen is to be given to this strip.
17649 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
17650 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
17651 lines from the splits.
17653 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
17657 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
17658 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
17659 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
17660 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
17661 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
17662 size = number | frame-params
17663 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
17666 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
17667 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
17668 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
17669 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
17671 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
17672 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
17673 @cindex window height
17674 @cindex window width
17675 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
17676 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
17677 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
17678 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
17679 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
17680 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
17682 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
17683 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
17684 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
17685 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
17687 @findex gnus-configure-frame
17688 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
17689 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
17690 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
17691 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
17692 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
17693 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
17694 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
17695 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
17696 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
17697 configuration list.
17700 (gnus-configure-frame
17704 (article 0.3 point))
17712 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
17713 @code{frame} split:
17716 (gnus-configure-frame
17719 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
17721 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
17722 (user-position . t)
17723 (left . -1) (top . 1))
17728 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
17729 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
17730 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
17731 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
17732 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
17733 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
17734 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
17735 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
17737 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
17738 be found in its default value.
17740 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
17741 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
17742 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
17746 (message (horizontal 1.0
17747 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
17749 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
17754 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
17755 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
17756 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
17759 (message (frame 1.0
17760 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
17761 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
17762 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
17763 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
17764 (name . "Message"))
17765 (message 1.0 point))))
17768 @findex gnus-add-configuration
17769 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
17770 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
17771 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
17772 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
17775 (gnus-add-configuration
17776 '(article (vertical 1.0
17778 (summary .25 point)
17782 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
17783 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
17784 Gnus has been loaded.
17786 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
17787 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
17788 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
17789 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
17790 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
17792 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
17793 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
17794 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
17797 @subsection Example Window Configurations
17801 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
17802 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
17817 (gnus-add-configuration
17820 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
17822 (summary 0.16 point)
17825 (gnus-add-configuration
17828 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
17829 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
17835 @node Faces and Fonts
17836 @section Faces and Fonts
17841 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
17842 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
17843 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
17848 @section Compilation
17849 @cindex compilation
17850 @cindex byte-compilation
17852 @findex gnus-compile
17854 Remember all those line format specification variables?
17855 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
17856 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
17857 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
17858 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
17859 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
17862 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
17863 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
17864 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
17865 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
17866 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
17867 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
17868 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
17872 @section Mode Lines
17875 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
17876 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
17877 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
17878 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
17879 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
17880 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
17881 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
17884 @cindex display-time
17886 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
17887 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
17888 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
17889 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
17890 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
17891 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
17892 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
17893 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
17896 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
17898 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
17899 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
17901 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
17902 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
17903 (length display-time-string)))))
17906 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
17907 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
17908 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
17909 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
17910 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
17913 @node Highlighting and Menus
17914 @section Highlighting and Menus
17916 @cindex highlighting
17919 @vindex gnus-visual
17920 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
17921 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
17922 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
17925 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
17926 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
17929 @item group-highlight
17930 Do highlights in the group buffer.
17931 @item summary-highlight
17932 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
17933 @item article-highlight
17934 Do highlights in the article buffer.
17936 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
17938 Create menus in the group buffer.
17940 Create menus in the summary buffers.
17942 Create menus in the article buffer.
17944 Create menus in the browse buffer.
17946 Create menus in the server buffer.
17948 Create menus in the score buffers.
17950 Create menus in all buffers.
17953 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
17954 buffers, you could say something like:
17957 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
17960 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
17963 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
17966 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
17967 in all Gnus buffers.
17969 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
17972 @item gnus-mouse-face
17973 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
17974 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
17975 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
17979 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
17983 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
17984 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
17985 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
17987 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
17988 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
17989 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
17991 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
17992 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
17993 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
17995 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
17996 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
17997 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
17999 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
18000 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
18001 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
18003 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
18004 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
18005 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
18016 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
18017 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
18018 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
18019 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
18020 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
18024 @vindex gnus-carpal
18025 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
18026 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
18027 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
18032 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
18033 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
18034 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
18036 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
18037 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
18038 Face used on buttons.
18040 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
18041 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
18042 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
18044 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
18045 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
18046 Buttons in the group buffer.
18048 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
18049 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
18050 Buttons in the summary buffer.
18052 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
18053 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
18054 Buttons in the server buffer.
18056 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
18057 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
18058 Buttons in the browse buffer.
18061 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
18062 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
18063 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
18071 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
18072 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
18073 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
18074 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
18075 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
18077 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
18078 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
18079 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
18081 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
18082 been idle for thirty minutes:
18085 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
18088 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
18092 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
18095 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
18096 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
18097 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
18099 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
18100 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
18101 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
18102 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
18104 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
18105 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
18106 @var{idle} minutes.
18108 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
18109 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
18112 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
18113 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
18114 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
18116 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
18117 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
18118 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
18119 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
18121 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
18122 your @file{.gnus} file:
18124 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
18126 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
18129 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
18130 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
18131 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
18132 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
18133 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
18134 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
18135 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
18136 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
18137 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
18138 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
18139 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
18141 @findex gnus-demon-init
18142 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
18143 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
18144 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
18145 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
18146 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
18148 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
18149 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
18150 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
18159 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
18160 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
18162 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
18163 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
18164 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
18165 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
18168 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
18169 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
18170 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
18171 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
18173 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
18174 this will make spam disappear.
18176 There are some variables to customize, of course:
18179 @item gnus-use-nocem
18180 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
18181 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
18184 @item gnus-nocem-groups
18185 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
18186 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
18187 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
18188 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
18190 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
18191 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
18192 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
18193 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
18194 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
18195 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
18197 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
18198 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
18200 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
18201 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
18202 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
18203 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
18204 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
18205 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
18206 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
18207 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
18208 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
18209 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
18211 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
18212 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
18215 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
18218 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
18219 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
18222 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
18225 The specs are applied left-to-right.
18228 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
18229 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
18231 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
18232 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
18233 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
18234 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
18236 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
18237 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
18240 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
18242 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
18250 This might be dangerous, though.
18252 @item gnus-nocem-directory
18253 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
18254 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
18255 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
18257 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
18258 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
18259 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
18260 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
18261 might then see old spam.
18263 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
18264 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
18265 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
18266 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
18267 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
18270 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
18271 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
18272 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
18273 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
18277 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
18278 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
18279 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
18280 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
18287 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
18288 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
18289 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
18291 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
18292 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
18293 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
18294 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
18295 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
18296 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
18297 @code{undo} function.
18299 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
18300 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
18301 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
18302 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
18303 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
18304 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
18305 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
18306 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
18307 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
18308 never be totally undoable.
18310 @findex gnus-undo-mode
18311 @vindex gnus-use-undo
18313 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
18314 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
18315 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
18316 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
18321 @section Moderation
18324 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
18325 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
18326 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
18329 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
18333 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
18336 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18338 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
18343 You split your incoming mail by matching on
18344 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
18345 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
18348 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
18349 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
18352 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
18353 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
18357 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
18360 (setq gnus-moderated-list
18361 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
18365 @node XEmacs Enhancements
18366 @section XEmacs Enhancements
18369 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
18373 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
18374 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
18375 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
18376 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
18389 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
18390 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
18391 over your shoulder as you read news.
18394 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
18395 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
18396 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
18397 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
18398 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
18403 @subsubsection Picon Basics
18405 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
18414 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
18415 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
18416 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
18417 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
18418 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
18419 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
18420 @code{GIF} formats.
18423 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18424 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
18425 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
18426 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
18427 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
18429 @vindex gnus-picons-database
18430 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
18431 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
18432 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
18433 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
18434 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
18437 @node Picon Requirements
18438 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
18440 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
18441 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
18444 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
18445 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
18446 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
18448 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18449 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
18450 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
18451 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
18452 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
18456 @subsubsection Easy Picons
18458 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
18459 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
18462 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
18463 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
18466 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
18467 containing the Picons databases.
18469 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
18472 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18473 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
18478 @subsubsection Hard Picons
18486 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
18487 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
18488 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
18489 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
18490 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
18495 @item gnus-picons-database
18496 @vindex gnus-picons-database
18497 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
18498 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
18499 subdirectories. This is only useful if
18500 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
18501 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
18503 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18504 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
18505 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
18506 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
18507 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
18508 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
18509 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
18511 @item gnus-picons-display-where
18512 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
18513 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
18514 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
18515 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
18516 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
18517 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
18518 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
18520 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
18521 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
18522 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
18527 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
18528 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
18530 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
18531 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
18534 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
18536 @item gnus-article-display-picons
18537 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
18538 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
18539 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
18541 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
18542 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
18543 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
18549 @node Picon Useless Configuration
18550 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
18558 The following variables offer further control over how things are
18559 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
18560 don't need to worry about.
18564 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
18565 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
18566 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
18567 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
18569 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
18570 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
18571 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
18572 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
18574 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
18575 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
18576 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
18577 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
18578 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
18580 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18581 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
18582 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
18583 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
18584 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
18585 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
18586 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
18588 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
18589 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
18590 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
18591 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
18593 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
18594 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
18595 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
18596 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
18597 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
18598 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
18599 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
18601 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
18602 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
18603 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
18604 Defaults to @code{nil}.
18606 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
18607 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
18608 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
18609 Defaults to @code{t}.
18611 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18612 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
18613 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
18614 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
18616 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
18617 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
18618 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
18620 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18621 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
18622 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
18623 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
18625 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
18626 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
18628 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18629 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
18630 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
18631 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
18632 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
18633 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
18634 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
18635 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
18646 @subsection Smileys
18651 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
18656 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
18657 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
18659 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
18660 @file{.gnus.el} file:
18663 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
18666 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
18667 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
18668 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
18669 text and maps that to file names.
18671 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
18672 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
18673 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
18674 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
18675 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
18676 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
18678 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
18679 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
18681 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
18682 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
18683 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
18685 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
18686 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
18690 @item smiley-data-directory
18691 @vindex smiley-data-directory
18692 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
18694 @item smiley-flesh-color
18695 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
18696 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
18698 @item smiley-features-color
18699 @vindex smiley-features-color
18700 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18702 @item smiley-tongue-color
18703 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
18704 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
18706 @item smiley-circle-color
18707 @vindex smiley-circle-color
18708 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
18710 @item smiley-mouse-face
18711 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
18712 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
18718 @subsection Toolbar
18728 @item gnus-use-toolbar
18729 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
18730 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
18731 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
18732 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
18734 @item gnus-group-toolbar
18735 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
18736 The toolbar in the group buffer.
18738 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
18739 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
18740 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
18742 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18743 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
18744 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
18750 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
18753 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18754 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
18755 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
18756 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
18757 unusual directory structure.
18759 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18760 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
18761 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
18762 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
18764 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18765 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
18766 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
18767 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
18768 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
18769 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
18771 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18772 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
18773 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
18787 @node Fuzzy Matching
18788 @section Fuzzy Matching
18789 @cindex fuzzy matching
18791 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
18792 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
18794 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
18795 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
18796 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
18798 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
18799 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
18800 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
18801 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
18802 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
18805 @node Thwarting Email Spam
18806 @section Thwarting Email Spam
18810 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
18812 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
18813 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
18814 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
18815 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
18816 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
18817 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
18818 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
18819 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
18822 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
18823 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
18824 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
18825 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
18826 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
18827 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
18831 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
18832 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
18834 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
18835 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
18836 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
18837 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
18838 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
18839 part of the mail address.)
18842 (setq message-default-news-headers
18843 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
18846 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
18847 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
18852 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
18853 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
18854 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
18860 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
18861 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
18862 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
18863 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
18865 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
18866 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
18867 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
18868 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
18869 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
18870 your fancy split rule in this way:
18875 (to "larsi" "misc")
18879 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
18880 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
18881 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
18882 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
18883 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
18885 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
18886 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
18887 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
18888 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
18889 cosmic balance somewhat.
18891 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
18892 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
18893 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
18894 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
18897 @node Various Various
18898 @section Various Various
18904 @item gnus-home-directory
18905 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
18906 defaults to @file{~/}.
18908 @item gnus-directory
18909 @vindex gnus-directory
18910 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
18911 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
18912 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
18914 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
18915 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
18916 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
18917 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
18919 @item gnus-default-directory
18920 @vindex gnus-default-directory
18921 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
18922 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
18923 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
18924 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
18925 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
18926 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
18929 @vindex gnus-verbose
18930 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
18931 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
18932 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
18933 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
18934 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
18936 @item gnus-verbose-backends
18937 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
18938 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
18939 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
18941 @item nnheader-max-head-length
18942 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
18943 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
18944 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
18945 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
18946 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
18947 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
18948 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
18949 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
18950 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
18952 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
18953 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
18954 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
18955 read when doing the operation described above.
18957 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18958 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18960 @cindex invalid characters in file names
18961 @cindex characters in file names
18962 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
18963 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
18964 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
18967 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18971 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
18972 Windows (phooey) systems.
18974 @item gnus-hidden-properties
18975 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
18976 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
18977 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
18978 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
18980 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
18981 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
18982 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
18983 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
18984 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
18986 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
18987 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
18988 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
18990 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
18991 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
18993 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
18994 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
18995 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
18996 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
18999 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
19008 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
19009 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
19011 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
19013 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
19019 Not because of victories @*
19022 but for the common sunshine,@*
19024 the largess of the spring.
19028 but for the day's work done@*
19029 as well as I was able;@*
19030 not for a seat upon the dais@*
19031 but at the common table.@*
19036 @chapter Appendices
19039 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
19040 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
19041 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
19042 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
19043 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
19044 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
19045 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
19046 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
19054 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
19055 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
19057 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
19058 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
19059 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
19060 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
19061 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
19063 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
19064 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
19065 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
19066 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
19067 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
19068 appropriate name, don't you think?)
19070 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
19071 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
19072 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
19073 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
19076 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
19077 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
19078 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
19079 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
19080 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
19081 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
19082 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
19083 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
19084 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
19088 @node Gnus Versions
19089 @subsection Gnus Versions
19090 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
19092 @cindex September Gnus
19093 @cindex Quassia Gnus
19095 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
19096 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
19097 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
19099 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
19100 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
19102 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
19103 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
19105 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
19106 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
19108 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
19109 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
19112 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
19114 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
19115 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
19116 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
19117 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
19118 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
19119 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
19122 @node Other Gnus Versions
19123 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
19126 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
19127 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
19128 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
19129 @sc{mime} capabilities.
19131 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
19132 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
19133 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
19134 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
19141 What's the point of Gnus?
19143 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
19144 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
19145 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
19146 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
19147 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
19148 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
19149 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
19150 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
19151 keep track of millions of people who post?
19153 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
19154 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
19155 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
19156 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
19157 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
19158 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
19159 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
19160 every one of you to explore and invent.
19162 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
19163 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
19166 @node Compatibility
19167 @subsection Compatibility
19169 @cindex compatibility
19170 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
19171 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
19172 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
19177 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
19181 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
19184 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
19187 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
19188 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
19189 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
19190 important variables have their values copied into their global
19191 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
19192 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
19194 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
19195 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
19196 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
19197 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
19198 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
19202 @cindex highlighting
19203 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
19204 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
19205 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
19206 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
19207 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
19208 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
19211 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
19212 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
19213 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
19214 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
19216 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
19217 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
19218 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
19219 to stop doing it the old way.
19221 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
19223 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
19225 @cindex reporting bugs
19227 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
19228 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
19229 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
19231 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
19232 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
19233 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
19234 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
19239 @subsection Conformity
19241 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
19242 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
19249 There are no known breaches of this standard.
19253 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
19255 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
19256 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
19257 We do have some breaches to this one.
19263 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
19264 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
19265 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
19266 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
19267 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
19272 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
19273 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
19274 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
19275 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
19279 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
19280 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
19285 @subsection Emacsen
19291 Gnus should work on :
19299 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
19303 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
19304 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
19307 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
19308 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
19309 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
19313 @node Gnus Development
19314 @subsection Gnus Development
19316 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
19317 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
19318 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
19319 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
19320 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
19321 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
19322 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
19323 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
19325 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
19326 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
19327 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
19328 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
19329 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
19332 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
19333 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
19334 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
19335 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
19336 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
19338 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
19339 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
19340 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
19341 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
19342 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
19343 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
19344 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
19345 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
19346 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
19347 can't be assumed to do so.
19352 @subsection Contributors
19353 @cindex contributors
19355 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
19356 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
19357 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
19358 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
19359 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
19360 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
19361 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
19362 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
19363 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
19364 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
19366 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
19372 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
19375 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
19376 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
19377 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
19378 functionality and stuff.
19381 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
19382 well as numerous other things).
19385 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
19388 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
19391 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
19394 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
19395 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
19398 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
19401 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
19402 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19405 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
19408 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
19411 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
19414 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
19417 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
19418 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
19421 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
19424 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
19427 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
19430 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
19434 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
19437 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
19440 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
19443 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
19444 well as autoconf support.
19448 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
19449 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
19451 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
19460 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
19464 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
19474 Alexei V. Barantsev,
19489 Massimo Campostrini,
19494 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
19495 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
19499 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
19502 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
19508 Michael Welsh Duggan,
19513 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
19517 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
19525 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
19527 Michelangelo Grigni,
19531 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
19533 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
19535 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
19542 François Felix Ingrand,
19543 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
19544 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
19546 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
19557 Peter Skov Knudsen,
19558 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
19560 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
19561 Thor Kristoffersen,
19564 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
19582 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
19583 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
19590 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
19595 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
19599 John McClary Prevost,
19605 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
19610 Christian von Roques,
19613 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
19620 Philippe Schnoebelen,
19622 Randal L. Schwartz,
19636 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
19641 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
19657 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
19662 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
19663 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
19664 (550kB and counting).
19666 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
19669 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
19670 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
19674 @subsection New Features
19675 @cindex new features
19678 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
19679 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
19680 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
19681 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
19682 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
19685 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
19686 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
19687 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
19690 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
19692 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
19697 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
19698 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
19701 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
19702 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
19705 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
19708 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
19709 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
19710 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
19713 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
19714 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
19715 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
19716 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19719 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
19720 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19723 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
19724 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
19725 (@pxref{The Active File}).
19728 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
19729 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
19732 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
19733 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
19734 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19737 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
19738 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
19739 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
19742 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
19743 the @file{.emacs} file.
19746 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
19747 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19750 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
19751 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
19754 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
19755 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19758 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
19759 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
19762 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
19763 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19766 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
19769 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
19770 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
19773 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
19774 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
19777 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
19778 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
19781 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
19784 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
19785 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19788 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
19792 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
19796 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
19797 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
19800 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
19806 @node September Gnus
19807 @subsubsection September Gnus
19811 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
19815 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
19820 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
19821 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
19825 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
19826 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
19830 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
19834 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
19835 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
19838 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
19842 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19845 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
19848 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
19851 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
19855 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
19856 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
19859 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
19863 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
19867 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
19871 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
19875 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
19878 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
19879 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
19882 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
19886 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
19887 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
19890 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
19893 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
19894 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
19895 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19898 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
19902 The Gnus cache is much faster.
19905 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
19909 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
19910 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19913 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
19914 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
19917 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
19918 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19921 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
19922 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
19923 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
19926 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
19927 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
19930 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
19933 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19936 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
19939 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
19942 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
19943 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
19946 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
19950 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
19953 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
19958 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
19961 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
19965 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19968 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
19972 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
19975 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
19978 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
19979 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19982 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
19983 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
19987 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
19988 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
19991 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
19995 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
19996 buffer to allow easier treatment.
19999 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
20002 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
20006 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
20010 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
20011 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
20014 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
20018 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
20019 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
20022 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
20023 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
20026 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
20030 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
20033 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
20036 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
20042 @subsubsection Red Gnus
20044 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
20048 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
20055 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
20058 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
20059 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
20062 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
20063 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
20067 Article washing status can be displayed in the
20068 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
20071 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
20074 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
20075 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
20078 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
20082 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
20083 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
20087 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
20088 Server Internals}).
20091 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
20095 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
20098 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
20099 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
20102 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
20103 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
20104 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
20107 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
20108 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
20111 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
20112 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
20115 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
20119 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
20120 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20123 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
20124 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
20127 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
20131 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
20134 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
20138 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
20139 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20142 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
20143 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
20146 A new command for reading collections of documents
20147 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
20148 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
20151 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
20155 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
20156 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
20159 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
20160 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
20161 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
20164 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
20165 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
20169 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
20173 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
20177 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
20182 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
20186 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
20190 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
20191 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
20194 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
20200 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
20202 New features in Gnus 5.6:
20207 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
20208 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
20209 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
20212 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
20213 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
20214 group, which is created automatically.
20217 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
20221 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
20224 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
20225 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
20228 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
20232 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
20235 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
20236 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
20239 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
20242 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
20243 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
20246 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
20247 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
20250 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
20251 control over simplification.
20254 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
20257 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
20261 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
20264 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
20267 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
20268 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
20269 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
20272 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
20273 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
20276 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
20280 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
20281 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
20284 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
20285 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
20288 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
20292 A history of where mails have been split is available.
20295 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
20298 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
20299 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
20302 A new function for citing in Message has been
20303 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
20306 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
20309 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
20313 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
20314 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
20317 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
20318 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
20321 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
20324 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
20328 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
20329 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
20331 New features in Gnus 5.8:
20335 @item The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
20336 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
20338 If you used procmail like in
20341 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
20342 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
20343 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
20344 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
20347 this now has changed to
20351 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
20355 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
20356 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
20358 @item Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
20359 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
20361 @item Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
20362 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
20364 @item @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
20365 called to position point.
20367 @item The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
20368 summary buffers and NOV files.
20370 @item @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
20371 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
20373 @item The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
20374 subtly different manner.
20376 @item New web-based backends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
20377 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
20378 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
20380 @item Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
20388 @section The Manual
20392 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
20393 either @code{texi2dvi}
20395 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
20396 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
20398 to get what you hold in your hands now.
20400 The following conventions have been used:
20405 This is a @samp{string}
20408 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
20411 This is a @file{file}
20414 This is a @code{symbol}
20418 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
20422 (setq flargnoze "yes")
20425 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
20428 (setq flumphel 'yes)
20431 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
20432 ever get them confused.
20436 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
20437 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
20438 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
20439 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
20440 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
20441 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
20442 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
20448 @node On Writing Manuals
20449 @section On Writing Manuals
20451 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
20452 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
20453 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
20454 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
20455 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
20456 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
20459 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
20460 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
20461 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
20464 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
20465 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
20470 @section Terminology
20472 @cindex terminology
20477 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
20478 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
20479 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
20480 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
20481 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
20485 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
20486 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
20487 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
20488 not posting, and replying is not following up.
20492 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
20496 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
20501 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
20502 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
20503 is all done by the backends.
20507 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
20508 default, way of getting news.
20512 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
20513 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
20518 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
20519 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
20523 A message that has been posted as news.
20526 @cindex mail message
20527 A message that has been mailed.
20531 A mail message or news article
20535 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
20540 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
20545 A line from the head of an article.
20549 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
20550 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
20554 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
20555 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
20556 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
20557 normal @sc{head} format.
20561 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
20562 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
20563 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
20564 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
20565 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
20566 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
20568 @item killed groups
20569 @cindex killed groups
20570 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
20571 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
20573 @item zombie groups
20574 @cindex zombie groups
20575 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
20578 @cindex active file
20579 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
20580 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
20581 is rather large, as you might surmise.
20584 @cindex bogus groups
20585 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
20586 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
20587 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
20590 @cindex activating groups
20591 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
20592 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
20593 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
20597 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
20599 @item select method
20600 @cindex select method
20601 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
20604 @item virtual server
20605 @cindex virtual server
20606 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
20607 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
20608 whole is a virtual server.
20612 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
20613 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
20616 @item ephemeral groups
20617 @cindex ephemeral groups
20618 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
20619 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
20620 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
20623 @cindex solid groups
20624 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
20625 group buffer are solid groups.
20627 @item sparse articles
20628 @cindex sparse articles
20629 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
20630 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
20634 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
20635 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
20639 @cindex thread root
20640 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
20641 articles in the thread.
20645 An article that has responses.
20649 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
20653 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
20654 specified by RFC 1153.
20660 @node Customization
20661 @section Customization
20662 @cindex general customization
20664 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
20665 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
20666 for some quite common situations.
20669 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
20670 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
20671 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
20672 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
20676 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
20677 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
20679 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
20680 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
20681 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
20685 @item gnus-read-active-file
20686 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
20687 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
20688 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20689 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
20690 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
20692 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
20693 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
20694 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
20695 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
20699 @node Slow Terminal Connection
20700 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
20702 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
20703 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
20704 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
20708 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
20709 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
20710 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
20711 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
20712 horizontal and vertical recentering.
20714 @item gnus-visible-headers
20715 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
20716 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
20717 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
20718 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
20720 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
20722 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
20723 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
20724 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
20727 @item gnus-use-full-window
20728 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
20729 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
20730 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
20731 want to read them anyway.
20733 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
20734 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
20737 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
20738 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
20739 lines, which might save some time.
20743 @node Little Disk Space
20744 @subsection Little Disk Space
20747 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
20748 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
20752 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
20753 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
20754 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20755 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20758 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
20759 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
20760 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20761 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20764 @item gnus-save-killed-list
20765 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
20766 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
20767 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
20768 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
20774 @subsection Slow Machine
20775 @cindex slow machine
20777 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
20778 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
20780 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20781 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
20783 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
20784 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
20785 summary buffer faster.
20789 @node Troubleshooting
20790 @section Troubleshooting
20791 @cindex troubleshooting
20793 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
20801 Make sure your computer is switched on.
20804 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
20805 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
20809 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
20810 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
20811 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
20812 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
20815 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
20819 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
20820 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
20821 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
20822 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
20823 something like that.
20826 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
20829 @cindex reporting bugs
20831 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20833 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
20834 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
20835 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
20836 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
20838 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
20839 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
20840 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
20841 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
20844 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
20845 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
20846 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
20847 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
20848 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
20849 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
20851 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
20852 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
20853 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
20856 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
20857 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
20859 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
20860 @cindex ding mailing list
20861 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
20862 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
20866 @node Gnus Reference Guide
20867 @section Gnus Reference Guide
20869 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
20870 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
20871 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
20872 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
20875 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
20876 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
20877 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
20878 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
20879 and general methods of operation.
20882 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
20883 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
20884 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
20885 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
20886 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
20887 * Group Info:: The group info format.
20888 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
20889 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
20890 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
20894 @node Gnus Utility Functions
20895 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
20896 @cindex Gnus utility functions
20897 @cindex utility functions
20899 @cindex internal variables
20901 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
20902 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
20903 Below is a list of the most common ones.
20907 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
20908 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
20909 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
20911 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
20912 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
20913 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
20915 @item gnus-group-real-name
20916 @findex gnus-group-real-name
20917 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
20920 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
20921 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
20922 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
20923 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
20925 @item gnus-get-info
20926 @findex gnus-get-info
20927 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
20929 @item gnus-group-unread
20930 @findex gnus-group-unread
20931 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
20935 @findex gnus-active
20936 The active entry for @var{group}.
20938 @item gnus-set-active
20939 @findex gnus-set-active
20940 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
20942 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20943 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20944 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
20947 @item gnus-continuum-version
20948 @findex gnus-continuum-version
20949 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
20950 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
20953 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
20954 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
20955 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
20957 @item gnus-news-group-p
20958 @findex gnus-news-group-p
20959 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
20961 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20962 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20963 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
20965 @item gnus-server-to-method
20966 @findex gnus-server-to-method
20967 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
20969 @item gnus-server-equal
20970 @findex gnus-server-equal
20971 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
20973 @item gnus-group-native-p
20974 @findex gnus-group-native-p
20975 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
20977 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
20978 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
20979 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
20981 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
20982 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
20983 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
20985 @item group-group-find-parameter
20986 @findex group-group-find-parameter
20987 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
20988 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
20990 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
20991 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
20992 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
20994 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
20995 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
20996 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
20998 @item gnus-check-backend-function
20999 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
21000 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
21001 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
21004 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
21008 @item gnus-read-method
21009 @findex gnus-read-method
21010 Prompts the user for a select method.
21015 @node Backend Interface
21016 @subsection Backend Interface
21018 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
21019 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
21020 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
21021 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
21022 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
21023 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
21025 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
21026 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
21027 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
21028 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
21029 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
21030 been opened, the function should fail.
21032 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
21033 name. Take this example:
21037 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
21038 (nntp-port-number 4324))
21041 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
21042 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
21044 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
21045 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
21046 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
21048 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
21049 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
21050 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
21052 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
21053 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
21054 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
21055 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
21056 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
21057 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
21060 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
21061 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
21062 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
21063 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
21066 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
21069 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
21072 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
21073 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
21074 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
21075 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
21076 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
21077 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
21081 @node Required Backend Functions
21082 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
21086 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
21088 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
21089 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
21090 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
21091 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
21093 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
21094 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
21095 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
21096 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
21098 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
21099 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
21100 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
21101 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
21102 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
21103 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
21104 number, do maximum fetches.
21106 Here's an example HEAD:
21109 221 1056 Article retrieved.
21110 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
21111 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
21112 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
21113 Subject: Re: Something very droll
21114 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
21115 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
21117 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
21118 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
21119 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
21123 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
21124 these in the data buffer.
21126 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
21130 head = error / valid-head
21131 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
21132 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
21133 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
21134 header = <text> eol
21137 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
21138 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
21142 nov-buffer = *nov-line
21143 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
21144 field = <text except TAB>
21147 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
21151 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
21153 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
21154 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
21156 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
21157 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
21158 server. In fact, it should do so.
21160 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
21161 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
21164 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
21166 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
21167 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
21170 There should be no data returned.
21173 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
21175 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
21176 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
21177 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
21178 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
21180 There should be no data returned.
21183 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
21185 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
21186 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
21187 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
21188 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
21190 There should be no data returned.
21193 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
21195 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
21197 There should be no data returned.
21200 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
21202 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
21203 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
21204 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
21205 it would be nice if that were possible.
21207 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
21208 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
21209 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
21210 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
21211 into its article buffer.
21213 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
21214 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
21215 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
21216 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
21217 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
21218 on successful article retrieval.
21221 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
21223 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
21224 making @var{group} the current group.
21226 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
21229 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
21232 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
21235 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
21236 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
21237 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
21238 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
21239 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
21240 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
21241 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
21242 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
21245 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
21246 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
21247 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
21251 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21253 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
21254 a no-op on most backends.
21256 There should be no data returned.
21259 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
21261 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
21264 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
21267 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
21268 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
21271 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
21272 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
21275 active-file = *active-line
21276 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
21278 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
21281 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
21282 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
21283 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
21286 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
21288 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
21289 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
21290 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
21291 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
21292 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
21293 clear if the posting could not be completed.
21295 There should be no result data from this function.
21300 @node Optional Backend Functions
21301 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
21305 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
21307 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
21308 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
21309 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
21311 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
21312 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
21313 former is in the same format as the data from
21314 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
21315 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
21318 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
21322 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
21324 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
21325 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21326 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21327 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21328 should return the (altered) group info.
21330 There should be no result data from this function.
21333 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21335 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21336 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21337 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21338 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21339 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21340 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21341 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21342 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21344 There should be no result data from this function.
21347 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21349 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21350 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21351 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
21352 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
21353 propagate the mark information to the server.
21355 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
21358 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
21361 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
21362 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
21363 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
21364 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
21365 mentioned) marks. MARK is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
21366 Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
21367 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
21368 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
21369 not limit itself to these.
21371 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
21372 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
21373 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
21374 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
21376 An example action list:
21379 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
21380 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
21381 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
21384 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
21385 mark on (currently not used for anything).
21387 There should be no result data from this function.
21389 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
21391 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
21392 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
21393 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
21394 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
21395 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
21397 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
21398 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
21399 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
21402 There should be no result data from this function.
21405 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
21407 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
21408 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
21409 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
21410 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
21411 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
21412 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
21413 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
21415 There should be no result data from this function.
21418 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
21420 The result data from this function should be a description of
21424 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
21426 description = <text>
21429 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
21431 The result data from this function should be the description of all
21432 groups available on the server.
21435 description-buffer = *description-line
21439 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
21441 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
21442 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
21443 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
21446 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21448 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
21450 There should be no return data.
21453 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
21455 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
21456 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
21457 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
21458 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
21459 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
21462 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
21465 There should be no result data returned.
21468 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
21471 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
21472 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
21474 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
21475 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
21476 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
21477 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
21478 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
21479 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
21481 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
21482 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
21485 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21486 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21488 There should be no data returned.
21491 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
21493 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
21494 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
21495 this function in short order.
21497 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21498 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21500 There should be no data returned.
21503 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
21505 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
21506 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
21508 There should be no data returned.
21511 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
21513 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
21514 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
21515 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
21517 There should be no data returned.
21520 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
21522 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
21523 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
21525 There should be no data returned.
21530 @node Error Messaging
21531 @subsubsection Error Messaging
21533 @findex nnheader-report
21534 @findex nnheader-get-report
21535 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
21536 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
21537 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
21538 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
21539 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
21540 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
21543 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
21545 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
21548 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
21549 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
21550 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
21551 takes one argument---the server symbol.
21553 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
21554 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
21555 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
21558 @node Writing New Backends
21559 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
21561 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
21562 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
21563 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
21564 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
21565 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
21568 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
21569 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
21570 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
21572 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
21573 package called @code{nnoo}.
21575 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
21576 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
21582 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
21583 parameters. For instance:
21586 (nnoo-declare nndir
21590 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
21591 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
21594 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
21595 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
21596 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
21598 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
21599 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
21600 a function in those backends.
21603 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21604 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21605 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21608 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
21609 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
21610 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
21612 @item nnoo-define-basics
21613 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
21617 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21621 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
21622 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
21623 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
21625 @item nnoo-map-functions
21626 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
21627 functions from the parent backends.
21630 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21631 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21632 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
21635 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
21636 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
21637 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
21638 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
21641 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
21642 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
21643 haven't already been defined.
21649 nnmh-request-newgroups)
21653 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
21654 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
21655 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
21660 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
21663 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
21664 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
21668 (require 'nnheader)
21672 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
21674 (nnoo-declare nndir
21677 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21678 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21679 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21681 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
21682 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
21685 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
21686 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
21687 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
21689 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
21690 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
21692 ;;; Interface functions.
21694 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21696 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
21697 (setq nndir-directory
21698 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
21700 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
21701 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
21702 (push `(nndir-current-group
21703 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21705 (push `(nndir-top-directory
21706 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21708 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
21710 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21711 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21712 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21713 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
21714 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
21718 nnmh-status-message
21720 nnmh-request-newgroups))
21726 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21727 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21729 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
21730 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
21731 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
21732 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
21734 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
21735 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
21740 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
21743 The abilities can be:
21747 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
21749 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
21751 This backend supports both mail and news.
21753 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
21756 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
21757 articles and groups.
21759 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
21760 true for almost all backends.
21761 @item prompt-address
21762 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
21763 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
21764 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
21768 @node Mail-like Backends
21769 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
21771 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
21772 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
21773 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
21774 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
21777 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
21778 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
21779 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
21782 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
21783 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
21786 This function takes four parameters.
21790 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
21793 @item exit-function
21794 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
21796 @item temp-directory
21797 Where the temporary files should be stored.
21800 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
21801 performed for one group only.
21804 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
21805 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
21806 find the article number assigned to this article.
21808 The function also uses the following variables:
21809 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
21810 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
21811 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
21812 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
21816 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
21817 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
21821 @node Score File Syntax
21822 @subsection Score File Syntax
21824 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
21825 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
21826 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
21828 Here's a typical score file:
21832 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
21839 BNF definition of a score file:
21842 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
21843 element = rule / atom
21844 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
21845 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
21846 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
21847 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
21849 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
21850 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
21851 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
21852 date-header = "date"
21853 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21854 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21855 score = "nil" / <integer>
21856 date = "nil" / <natural number>
21857 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
21858 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
21859 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
21860 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
21861 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21862 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21863 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
21864 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21865 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
21866 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
21867 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
21868 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
21869 exclude-files / read-only / touched
21870 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
21871 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
21872 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
21873 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
21874 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
21875 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
21876 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
21877 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
21878 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
21879 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
21880 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
21881 eval = "eval" space <form>
21882 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
21885 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
21888 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
21889 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
21890 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
21891 one looong line, then that's ok.
21893 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
21894 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21898 @subsection Headers
21900 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
21901 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
21902 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
21903 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
21905 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
21906 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
21907 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
21908 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
21909 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
21910 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
21911 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
21913 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
21914 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
21915 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
21916 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
21917 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
21919 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
21920 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
21926 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
21927 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
21929 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
21930 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
21931 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
21932 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
21934 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
21938 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
21941 is transformed into
21944 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
21947 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
21948 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
21951 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
21954 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
21955 is slightly tricky:
21958 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
21964 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
21967 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
21973 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
21980 and is equal to the previous range.
21982 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
21983 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
21984 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
21988 range = simple-range / normal-range
21989 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
21990 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
21991 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
21992 number *[ " " contents ]
21995 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
21996 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
21997 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
21998 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
21999 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
22004 @subsection Group Info
22006 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
22007 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
22008 describes the group.
22010 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
22011 second is a more complex one:
22014 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
22016 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
22017 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
22019 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
22022 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
22023 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
22024 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
22025 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
22026 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
22027 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
22028 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
22029 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
22030 this section is about.
22032 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
22033 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
22034 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
22036 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
22039 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
22040 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
22041 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22042 group = quote <string> quote
22043 ralevel = rank / level
22044 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22045 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
22046 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22048 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
22049 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
22050 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
22051 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
22054 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
22055 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
22058 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
22059 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
22062 @item gnus-info-group
22063 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
22064 @findex gnus-info-group
22065 @findex gnus-info-set-group
22066 Get/set the group name.
22068 @item gnus-info-rank
22069 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
22070 @findex gnus-info-rank
22071 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
22072 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
22074 @item gnus-info-level
22075 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
22076 @findex gnus-info-level
22077 @findex gnus-info-set-level
22078 Get/set the group level.
22080 @item gnus-info-score
22081 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
22082 @findex gnus-info-score
22083 @findex gnus-info-set-score
22084 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
22086 @item gnus-info-read
22087 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
22088 @findex gnus-info-read
22089 @findex gnus-info-set-read
22090 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
22092 @item gnus-info-marks
22093 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
22094 @findex gnus-info-marks
22095 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
22096 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
22098 @item gnus-info-method
22099 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
22100 @findex gnus-info-method
22101 @findex gnus-info-set-method
22102 Get/set the group select method.
22104 @item gnus-info-params
22105 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
22106 @findex gnus-info-params
22107 @findex gnus-info-set-params
22108 Get/set the group parameters.
22111 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
22112 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
22114 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
22115 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
22116 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
22117 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
22120 @node Extended Interactive
22121 @subsection Extended Interactive
22122 @cindex interactive
22123 @findex gnus-interactive
22125 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
22126 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
22127 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
22130 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
22131 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
22136 The best thing to do would have been to implement
22137 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
22138 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
22139 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
22140 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
22141 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
22142 @code{interactive}.
22144 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
22149 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
22150 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
22154 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
22155 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
22156 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
22159 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
22163 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
22167 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
22173 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
22174 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
22178 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
22179 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
22180 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
22182 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
22183 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
22184 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
22185 Gnus, that's very useful.
22187 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
22188 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
22189 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
22190 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
22191 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
22192 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
22193 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
22194 following function:
22197 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
22201 (,function ,@@args))
22205 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
22206 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
22207 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
22210 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
22211 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
22212 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
22214 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
22215 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
22216 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
22219 @node Various File Formats
22220 @subsection Various File Formats
22223 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
22224 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
22228 @node Active File Format
22229 @subsubsection Active File Format
22231 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
22232 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
22235 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
22238 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
22239 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
22240 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
22241 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
22242 no.general 1000 900 y
22245 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
22248 active = *group-line
22249 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
22250 group = <non-white-space string>
22252 high-number = <non-negative integer>
22253 low-number = <positive integer>
22254 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
22257 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
22258 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
22261 @node Newsgroups File Format
22262 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
22264 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
22265 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
22266 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
22269 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
22270 Here's the definition:
22274 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
22275 group = <non-white-space string>
22277 description = <string>
22282 @node Emacs for Heathens
22283 @section Emacs for Heathens
22285 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
22286 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
22287 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
22288 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
22289 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
22290 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
22291 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
22295 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
22296 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
22301 @subsection Keystrokes
22305 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
22308 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
22311 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
22312 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
22313 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
22314 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
22315 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
22316 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
22318 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
22319 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
22320 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
22321 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
22322 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
22323 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
22324 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22326 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22327 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22328 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22329 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22330 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22331 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22332 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22334 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22335 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22336 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22337 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22338 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22344 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22346 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22347 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22348 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22349 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22351 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
22352 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
22353 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
22354 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
22355 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
22356 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
22357 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
22360 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
22361 write the following:
22364 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
22367 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
22368 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
22369 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
22372 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
22373 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
22374 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
22375 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
22376 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
22378 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
22379 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
22380 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
22384 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
22388 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
22391 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
22392 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
22395 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
22398 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
22399 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
22402 @include gnus-faq.texi
22423 % LocalWords: Backend BNF mucho Backends backends detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
22424 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
22425 % LocalWords: nnmbox backend newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
22426 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
22427 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref