10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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294 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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303 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
305 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 no
311 Invariant Sections, 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 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
333 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
334 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
336 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
337 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
338 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
339 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
340 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
341 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
342 License'' in the Emacs manual.
344 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
345 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
346 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
348 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
349 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
350 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
351 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
359 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
362 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
363 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
365 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
367 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
368 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
369 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
370 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
371 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
372 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
373 License'' in the Emacs manual.
375 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
376 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
377 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
379 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
380 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
381 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
382 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
391 @top The Gnus Newsreader
395 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
396 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
397 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
400 This manual corresponds to Gnus v5.10.6.
411 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
412 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
414 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
415 being accused of plagiarism:
417 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
418 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
419 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
420 can even read news with it!
422 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
423 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
424 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
425 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
426 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
432 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
433 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
434 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
435 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
436 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
437 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
438 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
439 * Various:: General purpose settings.
440 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
441 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
442 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
443 * Key Index:: Key Index.
445 Other related manuals
447 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
448 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
449 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
450 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
451 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
454 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
458 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
459 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
460 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
461 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
462 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
463 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
464 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
465 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
466 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
467 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
468 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
472 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
473 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
474 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
478 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
479 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
480 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
481 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
482 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
483 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
484 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
485 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
486 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
487 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
488 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
489 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
490 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
491 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
492 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
493 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
494 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
498 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
499 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
500 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
504 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
505 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
506 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
507 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
508 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
512 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
513 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
514 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
515 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
516 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
520 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
521 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
522 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
523 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
524 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
525 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
526 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
527 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
528 * Threading:: How threads are made.
529 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
530 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
531 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
532 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
533 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
534 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
535 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
536 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
537 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
538 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
539 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
540 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
541 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
542 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
543 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
544 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
545 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
546 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
547 or reselecting the current group.
548 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
549 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
550 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
551 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
553 Summary Buffer Format
555 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
556 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
557 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
558 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
562 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
563 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
565 Reply, Followup and Post
567 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
568 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
569 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
570 * Canceling and Superseding::
574 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
575 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
576 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
580 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
581 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
582 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
586 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
587 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
589 Customizing Threading
591 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
592 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
593 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
594 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
598 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
599 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
600 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
601 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
602 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
603 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
607 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
608 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
609 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
613 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
614 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
615 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
616 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
617 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
618 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
619 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
620 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
621 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
622 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
623 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
625 Alternative Approaches
627 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
628 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
630 Various Summary Stuff
632 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
633 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
634 * Summary Generation Commands::
635 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
639 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
640 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
641 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
642 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
643 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
647 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
648 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
649 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
650 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
651 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
652 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
653 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
654 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
658 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
659 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
660 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
661 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
662 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
663 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
664 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
665 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
669 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
670 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
671 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
672 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
673 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
674 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
675 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
679 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
680 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
684 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
685 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
686 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
690 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
691 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
692 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
693 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
694 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
695 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
696 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
697 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
698 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
699 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
700 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
701 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
702 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
706 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
707 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
708 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
710 Choosing a Mail Back End
712 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
713 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
714 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
715 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
716 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
717 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
718 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
723 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
724 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
725 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
726 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
727 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
728 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
732 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
733 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
734 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
735 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
736 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
737 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
741 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
742 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
743 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
744 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
745 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
749 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
753 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
754 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
755 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
759 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
760 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
764 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
765 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
766 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
767 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
768 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
769 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
770 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
771 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
772 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
773 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
774 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
775 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
776 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
780 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
781 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
782 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
786 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
787 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
788 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
792 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
793 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
794 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
795 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
796 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
797 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
798 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
799 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
800 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
801 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
802 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
803 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
804 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
805 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
806 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
807 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
808 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
812 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
813 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
814 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
815 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
819 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
820 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
821 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
825 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
826 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
827 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
828 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
829 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
830 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
831 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
832 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
833 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
834 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
835 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
836 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
837 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
838 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
839 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
840 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
841 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
842 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
843 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
844 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
848 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
849 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
850 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
851 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
852 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
853 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
854 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
855 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
859 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
860 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
861 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
862 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
863 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
867 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
868 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
869 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
870 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
871 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
872 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
874 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
876 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
877 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
878 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
879 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
880 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
882 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
883 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
885 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
887 * ifile spam filtering::
888 * spam-stat spam filtering::
890 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
892 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
894 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
895 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
896 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
900 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
901 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
902 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
903 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
904 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
905 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
906 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
907 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
908 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
912 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
913 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
914 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
915 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
916 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
917 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
918 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
919 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
920 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
924 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
925 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
926 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
927 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
928 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
929 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
930 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
934 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
935 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
936 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
937 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
941 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
942 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
943 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
944 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
945 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
946 * Group Info:: The group info format.
947 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
948 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
949 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
953 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
954 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
955 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
956 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
957 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
958 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
962 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
963 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
967 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
968 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
974 @chapter Starting Gnus
979 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
980 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
983 @findex gnus-other-frame
984 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
985 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
986 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
988 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
989 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
990 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
992 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
993 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
996 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
997 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
998 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
999 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
1000 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
1001 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
1002 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
1003 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
1004 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
1005 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
1006 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
1010 @node Finding the News
1011 @section Finding the News
1012 @cindex finding news
1014 @vindex gnus-select-method
1016 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1017 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1018 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1019 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1022 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1023 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1026 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1029 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1032 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1035 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1036 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1037 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1039 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1041 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1042 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1043 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1044 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1045 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1046 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1047 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1049 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1050 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1051 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1052 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1054 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1055 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1056 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1057 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1058 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1059 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1060 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1061 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1062 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1065 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1067 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1068 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1069 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1070 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1071 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1072 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1074 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1076 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1077 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1078 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1079 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1080 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1081 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1084 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1085 you would typically set this variable to
1088 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1092 @node The First Time
1093 @section The First Time
1094 @cindex first time usage
1096 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1097 be subscribed by default.
1099 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1100 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1101 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1102 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1105 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1106 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1107 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1109 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1110 help you with most common problems.
1112 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1113 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1117 @node The Server is Down
1118 @section The Server is Down
1119 @cindex server errors
1121 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1122 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1123 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1125 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1126 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1127 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1128 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1129 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1130 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1131 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1133 @findex gnus-no-server
1134 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1136 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1137 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1138 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1139 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1140 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1141 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1142 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1146 @section Slave Gnusae
1149 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1150 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1151 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1152 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1154 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1155 @file{.newsrc} file.
1157 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1158 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1159 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1160 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1161 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1162 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1163 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1166 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1167 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1168 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1169 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1170 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1171 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1172 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1173 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1175 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1176 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1178 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1179 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1180 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1181 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1182 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1184 @node Fetching a Group
1185 @section Fetching a Group
1186 @cindex fetching a group
1188 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1189 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1190 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1191 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1192 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1193 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1199 @cindex subscription
1201 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1202 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1203 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1204 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1205 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1206 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1207 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1208 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1209 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1212 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1213 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1214 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1218 @node Checking New Groups
1219 @subsection Checking New Groups
1221 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1222 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1223 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1224 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1225 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1226 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1227 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1228 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1229 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1230 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1232 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1233 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1234 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1235 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1236 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1237 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1238 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1239 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1240 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1241 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1242 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1244 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1245 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1246 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1247 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1248 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1249 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1252 @node Subscription Methods
1253 @subsection Subscription Methods
1255 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1256 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1257 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1259 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1260 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1262 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1266 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1267 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1268 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1269 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1270 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1272 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1273 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1274 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1275 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1277 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1278 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1279 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1281 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1282 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1283 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1284 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1285 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1286 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1287 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1288 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1289 up. Or something like that.
1291 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1292 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1293 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1294 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1295 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1297 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1298 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1299 Kill all new groups.
1301 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1302 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1303 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1304 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1305 topic parameter that looks like
1311 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1314 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1319 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1320 A closely related variable is
1321 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1322 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1323 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1324 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1327 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1328 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1329 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1330 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1333 @node Filtering New Groups
1334 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1336 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1337 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1338 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1341 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1344 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1345 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1346 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1347 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1348 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1349 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1350 subscribing these groups.
1351 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1352 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1354 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1355 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1356 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1357 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1358 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1359 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1360 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1361 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1363 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1364 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1365 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1366 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1367 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1368 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1369 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1370 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1371 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1372 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1375 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1376 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1379 @node Changing Servers
1380 @section Changing Servers
1381 @cindex changing servers
1383 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1384 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1385 very flaky and you want to use another.
1387 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1388 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1392 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1393 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1394 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1395 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1398 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1399 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1400 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1401 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1403 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1404 @findex gnus-change-server
1405 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1406 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1407 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1408 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1409 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1411 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1412 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1413 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1414 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1415 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1417 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1418 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1419 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1420 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1421 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1422 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1424 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1425 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1426 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1427 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1429 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1430 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1431 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1432 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1433 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1434 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1435 cache for all groups).
1439 @section Startup Files
1440 @cindex startup files
1445 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1446 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1448 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1449 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1450 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1451 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1452 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1453 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1454 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1456 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1457 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1458 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1459 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1460 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1461 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1463 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1464 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1465 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1466 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1467 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1468 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1469 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1470 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1471 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1472 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1474 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1475 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1476 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1477 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1478 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1479 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1480 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1481 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1482 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1483 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1484 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1485 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1487 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1488 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1489 @vindex version-control
1490 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1491 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1492 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1493 If you want version control for this file, set
1494 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1495 @code{version-control} variable.
1497 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1498 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1499 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1500 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1501 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1502 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1503 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1504 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1505 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1506 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1509 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1510 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1512 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1513 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1516 @vindex gnus-init-file
1517 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1518 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1519 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1520 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1521 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1522 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1523 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1524 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1525 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1526 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1532 @cindex dribble file
1535 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1536 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1537 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1538 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1539 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1542 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1543 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1546 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1547 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1548 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1550 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1551 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1552 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1553 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1554 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1555 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1557 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1558 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1559 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1562 @node The Active File
1563 @section The Active File
1565 @cindex ignored groups
1567 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1568 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1569 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1571 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1572 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1573 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1574 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1575 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1576 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1577 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1580 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1581 @c if you set it to anything else.
1583 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1585 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1586 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1587 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1589 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1590 you actually subscribe to.
1592 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1593 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1594 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1595 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1597 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1598 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1599 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1600 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1601 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1602 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1604 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1605 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1606 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1609 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1610 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1611 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1612 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1613 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1614 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1616 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1617 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1619 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1620 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1622 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1623 secondary select methods.
1626 @node Startup Variables
1627 @section Startup Variables
1631 @item gnus-load-hook
1632 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1633 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1634 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1635 times you start Gnus.
1637 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1638 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1639 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1641 @item gnus-startup-hook
1642 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1643 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1645 @item gnus-started-hook
1646 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1647 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1650 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1651 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1652 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1653 generating the group buffer.
1655 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1656 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1657 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1658 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1659 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1660 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1661 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1662 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1664 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1665 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1666 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1667 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1668 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1669 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1671 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1672 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1673 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1675 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1676 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1677 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1679 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1680 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1681 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1682 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1688 @chapter Group Buffer
1689 @cindex group buffer
1691 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1693 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1694 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1695 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1696 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1697 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1698 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1699 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1700 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1701 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1702 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1703 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1704 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1705 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1706 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1707 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1708 @c human rights at 9...
1711 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1712 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1713 long as Gnus is active.
1717 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1718 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1719 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1720 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1721 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1722 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1723 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1724 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1730 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1731 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1732 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1733 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1734 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1735 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1736 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1737 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1738 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1739 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1740 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1741 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1742 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1743 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1744 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1745 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1746 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1750 @node Group Buffer Format
1751 @section Group Buffer Format
1754 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1755 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1756 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1760 @node Group Line Specification
1761 @subsection Group Line Specification
1762 @cindex group buffer format
1764 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1765 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1767 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1770 25: news.announce.newusers
1771 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1776 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1777 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1778 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1779 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1781 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1782 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1783 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1784 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1785 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1786 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1788 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1790 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1791 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1792 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1793 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1794 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1796 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1797 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1798 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1800 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1805 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1808 Whether the group is subscribed.
1811 Level of subscribedness.
1814 Number of unread articles.
1817 Number of dormant articles.
1820 Number of ticked articles.
1823 Number of read articles.
1826 Number of unseen articles.
1829 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1830 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1832 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1833 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1834 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1835 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1836 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1837 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1838 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1839 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1842 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1845 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1854 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1855 comment element in the group parameters.
1858 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1859 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1860 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1864 @samp{m} if moderated.
1867 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1873 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1879 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1883 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1886 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1887 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1888 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1889 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1890 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1893 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1895 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1899 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1902 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1906 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1907 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1908 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1909 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1910 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1911 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1916 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1917 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1918 group, or a bogus native group.
1921 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1922 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1923 @cindex group mode line
1925 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1926 The mode line can be changed by setting
1927 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1928 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1932 The native news server.
1934 The native select method.
1938 @node Group Highlighting
1939 @subsection Group Highlighting
1940 @cindex highlighting
1941 @cindex group highlighting
1943 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1944 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1945 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1946 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1947 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1949 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1953 (cond (window-system
1954 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1955 (defface my-group-face-1
1956 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1957 (defface my-group-face-2
1958 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1959 "Second group face")
1960 (defface my-group-face-3
1961 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1962 (defface my-group-face-4
1963 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1964 (defface my-group-face-5
1965 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1967 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1968 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1969 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1970 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1971 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1972 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1975 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1977 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1984 The number of unread articles in the group.
1988 Whether the group is a mail group.
1990 The level of the group.
1992 The score of the group.
1994 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1996 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1997 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1999 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
2000 topic being inserted.
2003 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
2004 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
2005 functions for snarfing info on the group.
2007 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
2008 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
2009 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2010 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2011 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2014 @node Group Maneuvering
2015 @section Group Maneuvering
2016 @cindex group movement
2018 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2019 expected, hopefully.
2025 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2026 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2027 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2033 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2034 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2035 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2039 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2040 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2044 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2045 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2049 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2050 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2051 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2055 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2056 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2057 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2060 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2066 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2067 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2068 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2073 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2074 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2075 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2079 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2080 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2081 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2084 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2085 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2086 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2087 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2091 @node Selecting a Group
2092 @section Selecting a Group
2093 @cindex group selection
2098 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2099 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2100 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2101 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2102 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2103 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2104 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2105 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2106 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2107 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2109 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2110 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2111 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2113 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2114 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2119 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2120 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2121 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2122 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2123 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2127 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2128 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2129 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2130 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2131 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2132 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2133 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2134 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2135 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2136 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2139 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2140 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2141 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2142 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2143 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2146 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2147 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2148 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2149 doing any processing of its contents
2150 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2151 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2152 manner will have no permanent effects.
2156 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2157 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2158 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2159 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2160 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2161 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2162 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2163 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2164 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2165 most recently will be fetched.
2167 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2168 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2169 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2172 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2173 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2174 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2175 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2176 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2177 Which article this is is controlled by the
2178 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2184 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2187 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2190 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2192 @item unseen-or-unread
2193 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2194 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2198 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2202 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2203 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2205 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2206 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2207 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2208 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2212 @node Subscription Commands
2213 @section Subscription Commands
2214 @cindex subscription
2222 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2223 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2224 Toggle subscription to the current group
2225 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2231 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2232 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2233 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2234 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2240 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2241 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2242 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2248 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2249 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2252 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2253 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2254 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2255 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2256 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2262 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2263 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2267 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2268 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2271 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2272 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2273 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2274 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2275 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2276 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2277 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2278 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2279 @file{.newsrc} file.
2283 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2293 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2294 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2295 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2296 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2297 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2298 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2303 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2304 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2305 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2309 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2310 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2311 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2313 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2314 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2315 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2316 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2317 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2318 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2325 @section Group Levels
2329 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2330 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2331 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2332 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2333 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2335 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2341 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2342 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2343 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2344 prompted for a level.
2347 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2348 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2349 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2350 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2351 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2352 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2353 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2354 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2355 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2356 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2357 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2358 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2359 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2360 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2361 reasons of efficiency.
2363 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2364 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2366 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2367 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2368 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2369 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2370 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2371 groups are hidden, in a way.
2373 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2374 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2375 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2376 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2377 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2378 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2380 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2381 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2382 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2383 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2384 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2385 list of killed groups.)
2387 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2388 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2389 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2391 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2392 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2393 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2394 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2395 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2396 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2397 relevant valid ranges.
2399 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2400 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2401 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2402 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2403 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2404 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2407 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2408 one with the best level.
2410 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2411 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2412 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2415 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2416 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2417 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2418 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2421 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2422 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2423 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2424 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2426 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2427 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2428 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2429 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2430 to 5. The default is 6.
2434 @section Group Score
2439 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2440 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2441 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2444 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2445 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2446 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2447 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2448 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2449 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2450 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2451 least significant part.))
2453 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2454 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2455 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2456 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2457 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2458 action after each summary exit, you can add
2459 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2460 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2461 slow things down somewhat.
2464 @node Marking Groups
2465 @section Marking Groups
2466 @cindex marking groups
2468 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2469 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2470 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2471 bidding on those groups.
2473 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2474 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2475 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2483 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2484 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2490 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2491 Remove the mark from the current group
2492 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2496 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2497 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2501 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2502 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2506 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2507 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2511 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2512 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2513 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2516 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2518 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2519 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2520 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2521 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2522 the command to be executed.
2525 @node Foreign Groups
2526 @section Foreign Groups
2527 @cindex foreign groups
2529 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2530 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2531 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2532 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2539 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2540 @cindex making groups
2541 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2542 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2543 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2547 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2548 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2549 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2553 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2554 @cindex renaming groups
2555 Rename the current group to something else
2556 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2557 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2563 @findex gnus-group-customize
2564 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2568 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2569 @cindex renaming groups
2570 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2571 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2575 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2576 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2577 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2581 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2582 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2583 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2587 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2589 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2590 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2595 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2596 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2600 @cindex (ding) archive
2601 @cindex archive group
2602 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2603 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2604 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2605 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2606 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2607 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2608 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2612 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2614 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2615 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2616 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2617 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2621 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2623 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2624 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2625 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2629 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2630 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2632 Make a group based on some file or other
2633 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2634 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2635 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2636 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2637 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2638 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2639 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2640 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2641 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2645 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2646 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2647 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2648 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2652 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2656 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2657 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2658 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2659 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2660 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2661 @xref{Web Searches}.
2663 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2664 to a particular group by using a match string like
2665 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2669 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2670 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2671 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2675 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2676 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2677 This function will delete the current group
2678 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2679 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2680 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2681 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2682 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2686 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2687 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2688 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2692 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2693 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2694 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2697 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2700 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2701 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2702 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2703 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2704 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2705 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2709 @node Group Parameters
2710 @section Group Parameters
2711 @cindex group parameters
2713 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2714 Here's an example group parameter list:
2717 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2721 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2722 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2723 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2724 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2726 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2727 is an alist of regexps and values.
2729 The following group parameters can be used:
2734 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2737 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2740 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2741 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2742 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2743 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2744 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2746 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2747 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2748 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2749 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2750 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2751 list address instead.
2753 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2757 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2760 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2763 It is totally ignored
2764 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2765 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2767 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2768 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2769 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2770 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2771 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2773 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2774 @cindex mail list groups
2775 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2776 entering summary buffer.
2778 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2783 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2784 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2785 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2786 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2787 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2788 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2789 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2790 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2793 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2794 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2797 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2798 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2802 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2803 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2804 of whether it has any unread articles.
2806 @item broken-reply-to
2807 @cindex broken-reply-to
2808 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2809 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2810 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2811 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2812 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2813 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2817 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2818 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2822 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2823 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2824 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2829 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2830 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2831 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2832 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2833 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2834 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2835 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2837 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2838 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2839 doesn't accept articles.
2843 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2844 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2845 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2847 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2850 @cindex total-expire
2851 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2852 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2853 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2854 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2857 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2861 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2862 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2863 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2864 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2865 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2866 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2867 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2870 @cindex expiry-target
2871 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2872 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2875 @cindex score file group parameter
2876 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2877 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2878 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2881 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2882 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2883 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2884 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2887 @cindex admin-address
2888 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2889 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2890 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2891 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2895 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2896 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2900 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2903 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2904 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2907 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2911 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2913 Here are some examples:
2917 Display only unread articles.
2920 Display everything except expirable articles.
2922 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2923 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2927 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2928 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2929 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2930 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2931 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2935 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2936 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2937 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2941 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2942 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2943 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2947 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2948 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2949 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2951 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2953 @item ignored-charsets
2954 @cindex ignored-charset
2955 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2956 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2957 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2959 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2962 @cindex posting-style
2963 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2964 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2965 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2966 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2967 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2969 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2970 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2971 like this in the group parameters:
2976 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2977 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2982 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2983 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2987 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2988 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2989 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2990 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2991 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2995 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2996 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2997 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2998 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3000 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3001 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3002 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3003 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3006 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
3007 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
3011 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3012 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3014 @item (agent parameters)
3015 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3016 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3017 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3018 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3019 minimize the configuration effort.
3021 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3022 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3023 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3024 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3025 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3026 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3027 @code{eval}ed there.
3029 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3030 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3031 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3032 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3033 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3034 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3035 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3036 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3039 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3042 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3043 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3044 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3047 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3050 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3051 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3052 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3053 into the group parameters for the group.
3055 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
3056 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
3057 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
3058 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
3059 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
3063 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3064 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3065 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3066 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3067 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3069 @vindex gnus-parameters
3070 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3071 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3075 (setq gnus-parameters
3077 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3078 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3079 (gnus-summary-line-format
3080 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3084 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3088 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3092 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3095 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3096 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3099 @node Listing Groups
3100 @section Listing Groups
3101 @cindex group listing
3103 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3111 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3112 List all groups that have unread articles
3113 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3114 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3115 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3116 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3123 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3124 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3125 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3126 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3127 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3128 unsubscribed groups).
3132 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3133 List all unread groups on a specific level
3134 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3135 with no unread articles.
3139 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3140 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3141 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3142 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3147 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3148 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3152 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3153 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3154 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3158 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3159 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3163 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3164 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3165 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3166 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3167 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3168 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3169 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3170 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3174 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3175 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3176 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3180 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3181 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3182 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3186 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3187 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3191 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3192 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3196 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3197 List groups limited within the current selection
3198 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3202 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3203 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3207 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3208 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3212 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3213 @cindex visible group parameter
3214 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3215 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3216 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3217 get the same effect.
3219 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3220 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3221 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3222 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3223 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3226 @node Sorting Groups
3227 @section Sorting Groups
3228 @cindex sorting groups
3230 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3231 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3232 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3233 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3234 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3235 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3240 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3241 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3242 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3244 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3245 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3246 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3248 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3249 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3250 Sort by group level.
3252 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3253 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3254 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3256 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3257 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3258 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3259 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3261 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3262 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3263 Sort by number of unread articles.
3265 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3266 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3267 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3269 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3270 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3271 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3276 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3277 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3281 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3282 some sorting criteria:
3286 @kindex G S a (Group)
3287 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3288 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3289 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3292 @kindex G S u (Group)
3293 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3294 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3295 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3298 @kindex G S l (Group)
3299 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3300 Sort the group buffer by group level
3301 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3304 @kindex G S v (Group)
3305 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3306 Sort the group buffer by group score
3307 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3310 @kindex G S r (Group)
3311 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3312 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3313 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3316 @kindex G S m (Group)
3317 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3318 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3319 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3322 @kindex G S n (Group)
3323 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3324 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3325 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3329 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3330 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3332 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3333 commands will sort in reverse order.
3335 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3339 @kindex G P a (Group)
3340 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3341 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3342 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3345 @kindex G P u (Group)
3346 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3347 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3348 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3351 @kindex G P l (Group)
3352 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3353 Sort the groups by group level
3354 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3357 @kindex G P v (Group)
3358 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3359 Sort the groups by group score
3360 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3363 @kindex G P r (Group)
3364 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3365 Sort the groups by group rank
3366 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3369 @kindex G P m (Group)
3370 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3371 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3372 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3375 @kindex G P n (Group)
3376 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3377 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3378 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3381 @kindex G P s (Group)
3382 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3383 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3387 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3391 @node Group Maintenance
3392 @section Group Maintenance
3393 @cindex bogus groups
3398 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3399 Find bogus groups and delete them
3400 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3404 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3405 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3406 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3407 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3408 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3412 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3413 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3414 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3415 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3416 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3417 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3420 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3421 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3422 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3423 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3428 @node Browse Foreign Server
3429 @section Browse Foreign Server
3430 @cindex foreign servers
3431 @cindex browsing servers
3436 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3437 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3438 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3439 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3442 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3443 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3444 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3445 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3447 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3452 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3453 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3457 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3458 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3461 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3462 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3463 Enter the current group and display the first article
3464 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3467 @kindex RET (Browse)
3468 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3469 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3473 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3474 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3475 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3481 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3482 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3486 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3487 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3491 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3492 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3493 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3498 @section Exiting Gnus
3499 @cindex exiting Gnus
3501 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3506 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3507 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3508 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3509 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3513 @findex gnus-group-exit
3514 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3515 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3519 @findex gnus-group-quit
3520 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3521 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3524 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3525 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3526 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3527 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3528 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3529 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3535 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3536 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3537 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3543 @section Group Topics
3546 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3547 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3548 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3549 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3550 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3551 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3555 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3556 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3567 2: alt.religion.emacs
3570 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3572 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3573 13: comp.sources.unix
3576 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3578 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3579 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3580 is a toggling command.)
3582 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3583 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3584 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3585 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3588 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3589 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3590 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3593 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3597 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3598 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3599 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3600 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3601 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3605 @node Topic Commands
3606 @subsection Topic Commands
3607 @cindex topic commands
3609 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3610 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3611 definitions slightly.
3613 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3614 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3615 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3616 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3617 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3618 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3620 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3627 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3628 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3629 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3633 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3635 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3636 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3637 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3638 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3641 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3642 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3643 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3644 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3648 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3649 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3650 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3651 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3657 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3658 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3659 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3663 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3664 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3665 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3668 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3669 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3670 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3671 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3672 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3674 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3675 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3679 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3680 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3687 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3689 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3690 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3691 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3692 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3693 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3694 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3698 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3704 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3705 Move the current group to some other topic
3706 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3707 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3711 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3712 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3716 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3717 Copy the current group to some other topic
3718 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3719 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3723 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3724 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3725 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3729 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3730 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3731 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3735 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3736 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3737 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3738 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3739 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3740 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3741 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3744 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3745 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3749 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3750 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3751 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3755 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3756 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3757 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3761 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3762 Toggle hiding empty topics
3763 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3767 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3768 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3769 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3770 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3773 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3774 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3775 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3776 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3777 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3780 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3781 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3782 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3783 expiry process (if any)
3784 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3788 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3789 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3792 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3793 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3794 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3798 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3799 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3800 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3803 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3804 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3805 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3808 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3809 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3810 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3814 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3815 @cindex group parameters
3816 @cindex topic parameters
3818 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3819 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3824 @node Topic Variables
3825 @subsection Topic Variables
3826 @cindex topic variables
3828 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3829 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3831 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3832 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3833 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3846 Number of groups in the topic.
3848 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3850 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3853 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3854 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3855 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3858 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3859 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3861 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3862 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3863 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3867 @subsection Topic Sorting
3868 @cindex topic sorting
3870 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3876 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3877 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3878 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3879 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3882 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3883 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3884 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3885 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3888 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3889 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3890 Sort the current topic by group level
3891 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3894 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3895 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3896 Sort the current topic by group score
3897 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3900 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3901 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3902 Sort the current topic by group rank
3903 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3906 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3907 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3908 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3909 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3912 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3913 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3914 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3915 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3918 @kindex T S s (Topic)
3919 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3920 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3921 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3922 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3926 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3927 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3931 @node Topic Topology
3932 @subsection Topic Topology
3933 @cindex topic topology
3936 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3943 2: alt.religion.emacs
3946 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3948 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3949 13: comp.sources.unix
3953 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3954 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3955 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3960 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3961 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3965 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3966 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3967 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3968 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3969 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3970 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3972 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3973 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3974 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3977 @node Topic Parameters
3978 @subsection Topic Parameters
3979 @cindex topic parameters
3981 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
3982 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
3983 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
3984 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
3985 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
3987 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3992 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3993 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3994 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3997 @item subscribe-level
3998 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3999 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4000 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4004 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4005 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4006 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4007 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4014 2: alt.religion.emacs
4018 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4020 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4021 13: comp.sources.unix
4026 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4027 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4028 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4029 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4030 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4031 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4033 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4034 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4035 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4036 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4037 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4039 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4040 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4041 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4042 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4043 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4044 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4045 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4046 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4049 @node Misc Group Stuff
4050 @section Misc Group Stuff
4053 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4054 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4055 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4056 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4057 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4064 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4065 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4066 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4070 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4071 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4072 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4073 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4074 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4075 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4076 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4080 @findex gnus-group-mail
4081 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4082 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4083 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4084 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4088 @findex gnus-group-news
4089 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4090 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4091 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4093 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4094 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4095 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4096 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4097 for this to work though.
4101 Variables for the group buffer:
4105 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4106 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4107 is called after the group buffer has been
4110 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4111 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4112 is called after the group buffer is
4113 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4116 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4117 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4118 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4119 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4121 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4122 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4123 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4124 whether they are empty or not.
4126 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4127 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4128 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4129 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4133 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4134 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4137 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4138 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4139 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4140 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4141 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4142 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4143 default is @code{nil}.
4147 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4148 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4153 @node Scanning New Messages
4154 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4155 @cindex new messages
4156 @cindex scanning new news
4162 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4163 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4164 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4165 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4166 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4167 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4172 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4173 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4174 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4175 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4176 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4177 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4178 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4180 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4181 @cindex activating groups
4183 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4184 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4189 @findex gnus-group-restart
4190 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4191 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4192 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4196 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4197 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4199 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4200 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4204 @node Group Information
4205 @subsection Group Information
4206 @cindex group information
4207 @cindex information on groups
4214 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4215 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4218 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4219 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4220 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4221 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4222 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4223 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4224 used for fetching the file.
4226 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4227 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4231 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4232 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4234 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4235 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4238 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4239 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4240 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4244 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4245 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4246 @cindex control message
4247 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4248 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4249 group if given a prefix argument.
4251 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4252 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4253 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4254 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4256 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4257 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4258 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4262 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4264 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4265 @cindex describing groups
4266 @cindex group description
4267 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4268 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4269 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4273 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4274 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4275 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4282 @findex gnus-version
4283 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4287 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4288 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4291 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4294 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4295 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4299 @node Group Timestamp
4300 @subsection Group Timestamp
4302 @cindex group timestamps
4304 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4305 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4306 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4309 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4312 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4314 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4315 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4318 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4319 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4322 This will result in lines looking like:
4325 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4326 0: custom 19961002T012713
4329 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4330 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4334 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4335 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4338 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4339 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4343 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4344 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4345 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4346 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4348 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4354 @subsection File Commands
4355 @cindex file commands
4361 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4362 @vindex gnus-init-file
4363 @cindex reading init file
4364 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4365 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4369 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4370 @cindex saving .newsrc
4371 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4372 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4373 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4376 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4377 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4378 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4383 @node Sieve Commands
4384 @subsection Sieve Commands
4385 @cindex group sieve commands
4387 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4388 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4389 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4390 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4391 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4393 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4394 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4395 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4396 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4397 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4398 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4399 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4400 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4401 regenerate the Sieve script.
4403 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4404 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4405 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4406 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4407 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4408 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4409 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4410 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4411 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4412 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4415 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4416 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4421 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4427 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4428 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4429 @cindex generating sieve script
4430 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4431 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4435 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4436 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4437 @cindex updating sieve script
4438 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4439 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4440 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4445 @node Summary Buffer
4446 @chapter Summary Buffer
4447 @cindex summary buffer
4449 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4450 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4452 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4453 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4455 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4458 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4459 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4460 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4461 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4462 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4463 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4464 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4465 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4466 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4467 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4468 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4469 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4470 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4471 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4472 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4473 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4474 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4475 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4476 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4477 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4478 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4479 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4480 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4481 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4482 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4483 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4484 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4485 or reselecting the current group.
4486 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4487 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4488 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4489 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4493 @node Summary Buffer Format
4494 @section Summary Buffer Format
4495 @cindex summary buffer format
4499 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4500 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4501 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4507 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4508 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4509 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4510 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4513 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4514 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4515 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4516 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4517 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4518 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4519 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4520 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4521 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4522 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4523 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4526 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4527 'mail-extract-address-components)
4530 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4531 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4532 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4533 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4536 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4537 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4539 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4540 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4541 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4542 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4543 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4545 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4546 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4547 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4548 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4549 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4550 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4552 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4554 The following format specification characters and extended format
4555 specification(s) are understood:
4561 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4562 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4564 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4565 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4566 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4568 Full @code{From} header.
4570 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4572 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4575 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4576 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4577 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4578 may be more thorough.
4580 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4583 Number of lines in the article.
4585 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4586 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4588 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4589 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4591 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4593 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4594 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4607 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4608 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4609 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4610 line-drawing glyphs.
4612 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4613 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4614 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4615 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4617 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4618 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4619 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4620 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4622 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4623 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4624 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4625 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4627 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4628 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4629 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4631 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4632 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4633 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4635 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4636 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4637 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4639 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4640 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4641 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4646 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4647 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4649 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4650 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4652 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4653 for adopted articles.
4655 One space for each thread level.
4657 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4659 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4662 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4663 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4664 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4667 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4669 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4670 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4671 default level. If the difference between
4672 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4673 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4681 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4683 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4689 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4690 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4692 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4693 article has any children.
4699 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4700 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4702 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4703 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4704 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4705 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4706 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4707 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4710 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4711 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4712 There can only be one such area.
4714 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4715 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4716 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4717 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4718 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4719 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4721 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4722 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4724 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4727 @node To From Newsgroups
4728 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4732 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4733 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4734 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4735 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4736 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4740 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4741 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4742 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4746 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4747 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4750 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4751 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4754 @findex gnus-extra-header
4755 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4756 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4757 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4760 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4764 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4765 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4766 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4767 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4768 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4769 headers are used instead.
4773 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4774 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4775 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4776 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4777 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4778 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4781 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4782 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4783 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4784 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4786 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4790 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4792 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4793 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4794 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4795 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4799 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4802 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4803 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4806 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4807 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4808 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4814 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4815 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4818 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4819 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4821 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4822 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4823 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4824 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4826 Here are the elements you can play with:
4832 Unprefixed group name.
4834 Current article number.
4836 Current article score.
4840 Number of unread articles in this group.
4842 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4845 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4846 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4847 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4848 and no unselected ones.
4850 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4851 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4853 Subject of the current article.
4855 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4857 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4859 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4861 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4863 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4865 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4869 @node Summary Highlighting
4870 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4874 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4875 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4876 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4877 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4878 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4880 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4881 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4882 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4883 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4885 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4886 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4887 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4888 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4890 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4891 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4892 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4893 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4894 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4895 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4898 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4899 ((> score default) . bold))
4901 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4902 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4906 @node Summary Maneuvering
4907 @section Summary Maneuvering
4908 @cindex summary movement
4910 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4911 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4913 None of these commands select articles.
4918 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4919 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4920 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4921 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4922 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4926 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4927 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4928 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4929 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4930 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4933 @kindex G g (Summary)
4934 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4935 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4936 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4939 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4940 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4941 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4942 to the group buffer.
4944 Variables related to summary movement:
4948 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4949 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4950 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4951 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4952 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4953 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4954 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4955 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4956 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4957 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4958 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4959 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4960 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4961 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4963 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4964 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4965 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4966 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4967 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4968 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4969 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4971 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4973 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4974 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4975 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4976 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4977 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4979 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4980 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4981 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4982 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4983 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4984 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4985 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4986 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4989 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4990 the given number of lines from the top.
4995 @node Choosing Articles
4996 @section Choosing Articles
4997 @cindex selecting articles
5000 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
5001 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
5005 @node Choosing Commands
5006 @subsection Choosing Commands
5008 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
5009 and they all select and display an article.
5011 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
5012 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
5016 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5017 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5018 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5019 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5021 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5022 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5023 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5028 @kindex G n (Summary)
5029 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5030 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5031 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5036 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5037 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5038 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5043 @kindex G N (Summary)
5044 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5045 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5050 @kindex G P (Summary)
5051 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5052 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5055 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5056 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5057 Go to the next article with the same subject
5058 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5061 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5062 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5063 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5064 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5068 @kindex G f (Summary)
5070 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5071 Go to the first unread article
5072 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5076 @kindex G b (Summary)
5078 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5079 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5080 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5081 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5086 @kindex G l (Summary)
5087 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5088 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5091 @kindex G o (Summary)
5092 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5094 @cindex article history
5095 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5096 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5097 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5098 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5099 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5100 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5105 @kindex G j (Summary)
5106 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5107 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5108 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5113 @node Choosing Variables
5114 @subsection Choosing Variables
5116 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5119 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5120 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5121 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5122 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5123 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5124 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5126 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5127 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5128 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5129 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5130 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5131 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5133 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5134 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5135 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5136 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5137 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5138 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5139 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5140 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5141 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5142 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5143 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5144 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5145 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5146 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5151 @node Paging the Article
5152 @section Scrolling the Article
5153 @cindex article scrolling
5158 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5159 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5160 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5161 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5162 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5164 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5165 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5166 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5167 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5168 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5169 what is considered uninteresting with
5170 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5171 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5174 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5175 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5176 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5179 @kindex RET (Summary)
5180 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5181 Scroll the current article one line forward
5182 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5185 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5186 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5187 Scroll the current article one line backward
5188 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5192 @kindex A g (Summary)
5194 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5195 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5196 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5197 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5198 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5199 the way it came from the server.
5201 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5202 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5203 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5206 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5211 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5216 @kindex A < (Summary)
5217 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5218 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5219 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5224 @kindex A > (Summary)
5225 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5226 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5230 @kindex A s (Summary)
5232 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5233 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5234 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5238 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5239 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5244 @node Reply Followup and Post
5245 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5248 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5249 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5250 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5251 * Canceling and Superseding::
5255 @node Summary Mail Commands
5256 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5258 @cindex composing mail
5260 Commands for composing a mail message:
5266 @kindex S r (Summary)
5268 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5269 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5270 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5271 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5272 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5277 @kindex S R (Summary)
5278 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5279 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5280 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5281 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5282 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5285 @kindex S w (Summary)
5286 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5287 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5288 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5289 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5290 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5291 present, that's used instead.
5294 @kindex S W (Summary)
5295 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5296 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5297 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5298 the process/prefix convention.
5301 @kindex S v (Summary)
5302 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5303 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5304 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5305 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5306 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5307 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5310 @kindex S V (Summary)
5311 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5312 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5313 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5314 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5317 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5318 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5319 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5320 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5321 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5322 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5323 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5324 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5327 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5328 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5329 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5330 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5331 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5335 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5336 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5337 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5338 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5339 Forward the current article to some other person
5340 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5341 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5342 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5343 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5344 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5345 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5346 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5347 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5348 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
5354 @kindex S m (Summary)
5355 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5356 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5357 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5358 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5359 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5364 @kindex S i (Summary)
5365 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5366 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5367 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5368 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5370 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5371 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5372 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5373 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5374 for this to work though.
5377 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5378 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5379 @cindex bouncing mail
5380 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5381 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5382 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5383 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5384 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5385 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5386 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5387 very well fail, though.
5390 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5391 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5392 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5393 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5394 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5395 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5396 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5397 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5398 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5399 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5401 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5402 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5403 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5404 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5405 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5407 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5408 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5411 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5412 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5413 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5414 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5415 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5418 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5419 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5420 @cindex crossposting
5421 @cindex excessive crossposting
5422 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5423 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5425 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5426 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5427 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5428 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5429 command understands the process/prefix convention
5430 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5434 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5435 Manual}, for more information.
5438 @node Summary Post Commands
5439 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5441 @cindex composing news
5443 Commands for posting a news article:
5449 @kindex S p (Summary)
5450 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5451 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5452 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5453 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5454 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5459 @kindex S f (Summary)
5460 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5461 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5462 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5466 @kindex S F (Summary)
5468 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5469 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5470 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5471 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5472 process/prefix convention.
5475 @kindex S n (Summary)
5476 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5477 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5478 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5481 @kindex S N (Summary)
5482 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5483 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5484 message through mail and include the original message
5485 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5486 the process/prefix convention.
5489 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5490 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5491 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5492 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5493 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5494 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5495 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5496 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5497 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5498 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5499 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5500 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5501 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
5504 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5505 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5507 @cindex making digests
5508 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5509 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5510 process/prefix convention.
5513 @kindex S u (Summary)
5514 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5515 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5516 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5517 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5520 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5521 Manual}, for more information.
5524 @node Summary Message Commands
5525 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5529 @kindex S y (Summary)
5530 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5531 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5532 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5533 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5534 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5539 @node Canceling and Superseding
5540 @subsection Canceling Articles
5541 @cindex canceling articles
5542 @cindex superseding articles
5544 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5545 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5547 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5549 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5551 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5552 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5553 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5554 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5555 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5556 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5558 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5559 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5562 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5563 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5564 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5566 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
5567 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
5568 message, Message Manual}).
5570 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5571 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5572 your original article.
5574 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5576 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5577 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5578 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5581 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5582 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5583 have posted almost the same article twice.
5585 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5586 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5587 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5588 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5589 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5590 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5591 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5592 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5593 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5594 canceled/superseded.
5596 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5598 @node Delayed Articles
5599 @section Delayed Articles
5600 @cindex delayed sending
5601 @cindex send delayed
5603 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5604 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5605 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5606 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5609 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5612 @findex gnus-delay-article
5613 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5614 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5615 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5616 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5620 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5621 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5622 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5623 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5626 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5627 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5628 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5631 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5632 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5633 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5634 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5635 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5636 that means a time tomorrow.
5639 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5640 couple of variables:
5643 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5644 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5645 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5646 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5648 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5649 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5650 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5651 formats described above.
5653 @item gnus-delay-group
5654 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5655 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5656 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5657 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5659 @item gnus-delay-header
5660 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5661 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5662 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5663 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5666 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5667 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5668 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5669 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5670 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5672 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5673 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5674 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5675 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5676 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5677 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5678 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5681 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5682 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5683 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5684 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5685 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5686 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5687 argument is ignored.
5689 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5690 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5691 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5695 @node Marking Articles
5696 @section Marking Articles
5697 @cindex article marking
5698 @cindex article ticking
5701 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5703 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5704 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5705 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5707 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5710 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5711 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5712 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5716 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5720 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5721 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5722 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5726 @node Unread Articles
5727 @subsection Unread Articles
5729 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5734 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5735 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5737 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5738 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5739 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5740 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5741 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5742 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5743 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5746 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5747 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5749 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5750 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5751 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5752 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5756 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5757 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5759 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5764 @subsection Read Articles
5765 @cindex expirable mark
5767 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5772 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5773 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5774 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5777 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5778 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5781 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5782 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5783 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5786 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5787 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5790 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5791 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5794 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5795 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5798 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5799 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5802 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5803 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5806 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5807 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5810 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5811 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5815 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5816 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5817 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5821 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5822 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5824 One more special mark, though:
5828 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5829 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5831 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5832 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5833 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5834 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5840 @subsection Other Marks
5841 @cindex process mark
5844 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5850 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5851 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5852 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5853 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5854 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5857 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5858 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5859 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5860 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5863 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5864 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5865 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5868 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5869 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5870 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5873 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5874 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5875 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5876 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5879 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5880 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5881 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5882 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5883 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5884 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5887 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5888 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5889 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5890 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5893 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5894 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5895 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5896 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5897 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5901 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5902 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5903 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5904 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5905 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5906 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5909 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5910 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5911 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5912 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5913 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5914 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5918 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5919 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5920 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5921 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5922 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5925 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5926 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5927 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5928 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5929 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5930 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5934 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5935 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5936 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5938 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5939 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5940 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5944 @subsection Setting Marks
5945 @cindex setting marks
5947 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5952 @kindex M c (Summary)
5953 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5954 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5955 @cindex mark as unread
5956 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5957 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5963 @kindex M t (Summary)
5964 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5965 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5966 @xref{Article Caching}.
5971 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5972 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5973 Mark the current article as dormant
5974 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5978 @kindex M d (Summary)
5980 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5981 Mark the current article as read
5982 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5986 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5987 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5988 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5993 @kindex M k (Summary)
5994 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5995 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5996 and then select the next unread article
5997 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
6001 @kindex M K (Summary)
6002 @kindex C-k (Summary)
6003 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
6004 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
6005 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
6008 @kindex M C (Summary)
6009 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
6010 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
6011 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
6014 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
6015 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
6016 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
6017 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
6020 @kindex M H (Summary)
6021 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
6022 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
6023 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
6026 @kindex M h (Summary)
6027 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
6028 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6029 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6032 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6033 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6034 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6035 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6038 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6039 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6040 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6041 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6045 @kindex M e (Summary)
6047 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6048 Mark the current article as expirable
6049 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6052 @kindex M b (Summary)
6053 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6054 Set a bookmark in the current article
6055 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6058 @kindex M B (Summary)
6059 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6060 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6061 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6064 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6065 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6066 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6067 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6070 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6071 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6072 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6073 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6076 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6077 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6078 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6079 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6080 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6083 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6084 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6085 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6086 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6087 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6088 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6089 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6090 The default is @code{t}.
6093 @node Generic Marking Commands
6094 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6096 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6097 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6098 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6099 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6100 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6103 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6104 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6107 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6108 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6109 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6110 to list in this manual.
6112 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6113 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6114 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6115 article, you could say something like:
6119 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6120 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6121 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6129 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6130 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6134 @node Setting Process Marks
6135 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6136 @cindex setting process marks
6138 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6139 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6140 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6141 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6142 commands into the cache. For more information,
6143 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6150 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6151 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6152 Mark the current article with the process mark
6153 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6154 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6158 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6159 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6160 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6161 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6164 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6165 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6166 Remove the process mark from all articles
6167 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6170 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6171 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6172 Invert the list of process marked articles
6173 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6176 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6177 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6178 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6179 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6182 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6183 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6184 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6185 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6188 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6189 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6190 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6193 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6194 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6195 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6198 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6199 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6200 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6201 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6204 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6205 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6206 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6207 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6210 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6211 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6212 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6213 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6216 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6217 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6218 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6221 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6222 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6223 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6224 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6227 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6228 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6229 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6232 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6233 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6234 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6235 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6238 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6239 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6240 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6241 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6244 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6245 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6246 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6247 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6250 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6251 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6252 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6253 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6257 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6258 set process marks based on article body contents.
6265 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6266 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6267 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6270 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6271 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6272 additional articles.
6278 @kindex / / (Summary)
6279 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6280 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6281 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6285 @kindex / a (Summary)
6286 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6287 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6288 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6292 @kindex / x (Summary)
6293 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6294 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6295 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6296 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6301 @kindex / u (Summary)
6303 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6304 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6305 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6306 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6307 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6310 @kindex / m (Summary)
6311 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6312 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6313 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6316 @kindex / t (Summary)
6317 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6318 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6319 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6320 articles younger than that number of days.
6323 @kindex / n (Summary)
6324 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6325 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6326 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6327 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6330 @kindex / w (Summary)
6331 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6332 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6333 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6337 @kindex / . (Summary)
6338 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6339 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6340 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6343 @kindex / v (Summary)
6344 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6345 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6346 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6349 @kindex / p (Summary)
6350 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6351 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6352 group parameter predicate
6353 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6354 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6357 @kindex / r (Summary)
6358 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
6359 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
6360 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
6365 @kindex M S (Summary)
6366 @kindex / E (Summary)
6367 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6368 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6369 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6372 @kindex / D (Summary)
6373 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6374 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6375 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6378 @kindex / * (Summary)
6379 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6380 Include all cached articles in the limit
6381 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6384 @kindex / d (Summary)
6385 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6386 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6387 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6390 @kindex / M (Summary)
6391 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6392 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6395 @kindex / T (Summary)
6396 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6397 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6400 @kindex / c (Summary)
6401 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6402 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6403 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6406 @kindex / C (Summary)
6407 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6408 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6409 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6410 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6413 @kindex / N (Summary)
6414 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6415 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6416 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6419 @kindex / o (Summary)
6420 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6421 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6422 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6430 @cindex article threading
6432 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6433 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6434 hierarchical fashion.
6436 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6437 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6438 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6439 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6440 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6441 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6442 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6444 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6448 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6451 A tree-like article structure.
6454 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6457 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6458 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6459 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6460 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6461 called loose threads.
6463 @item thread gathering
6464 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6466 @item sparse threads
6467 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6468 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6474 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6475 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6479 @node Customizing Threading
6480 @subsection Customizing Threading
6481 @cindex customizing threading
6484 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6485 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6486 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6487 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6492 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6495 @cindex loose threads
6498 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6499 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6500 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6501 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6502 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6503 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6505 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6506 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6507 There are four possible values:
6511 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6512 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6513 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6514 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6515 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6520 @cindex adopting articles
6525 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6526 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6527 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6528 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6531 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6532 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6533 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6534 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6535 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6536 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6537 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6538 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6539 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6540 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6543 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6544 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6545 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6549 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6550 display them after one another.
6553 Don't gather loose threads.
6556 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6557 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6558 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6559 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6560 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6561 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6562 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6563 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6564 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6565 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6566 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6568 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6569 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6570 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6573 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6574 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6575 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6576 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6577 simplification is used.
6579 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6580 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6581 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6582 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6584 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6586 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6592 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6593 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6594 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6595 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6600 (mapconcat 'identity
6601 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6603 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6606 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6609 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6610 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6611 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6612 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6613 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6614 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6616 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6619 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6620 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6621 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6623 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6624 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6627 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6628 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6629 Remove excessive whitespace.
6631 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6632 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6633 Remove all whitespace.
6636 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6639 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6640 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6641 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6642 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6643 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6644 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6645 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6646 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6648 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6649 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6650 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6651 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6652 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6653 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6654 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6655 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6656 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6660 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6661 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6662 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6663 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6665 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6666 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6667 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6670 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6674 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6675 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6681 @node Filling In Threads
6682 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6685 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6686 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6687 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6688 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
6689 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
6690 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
6691 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
6692 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
6693 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
6694 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6695 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6696 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
6699 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6700 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6701 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6703 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6704 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6705 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6708 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6709 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6710 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6711 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6712 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6713 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6714 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6715 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6716 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6717 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6718 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6719 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6720 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6721 @code{nil} by default.
6723 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6724 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6725 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6726 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6727 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6728 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6729 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6731 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6732 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6733 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6738 @node More Threading
6739 @subsubsection More Threading
6742 @item gnus-show-threads
6743 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6744 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6745 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6746 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6747 slower and more awkward.
6749 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6750 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6751 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6754 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6755 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6756 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6761 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6762 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6763 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6766 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6767 unread, but you get my drift.)
6770 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6771 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6772 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6773 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6774 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6775 threads are expunged.
6777 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6778 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6779 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6782 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6783 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6784 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6785 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6786 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6787 result in a new thread.
6789 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6790 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6791 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6794 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6795 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6796 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6797 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6798 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6799 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6800 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6801 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6802 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6803 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6804 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6809 @node Low-Level Threading
6810 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6814 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6815 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6816 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6818 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6819 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6820 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6821 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6822 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6823 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6824 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6825 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6826 meaningful. Here's one example:
6829 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6831 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6832 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6834 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6836 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6843 @node Thread Commands
6844 @subsection Thread Commands
6845 @cindex thread commands
6851 @kindex T k (Summary)
6852 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6853 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6854 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6855 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6856 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6861 @kindex T l (Summary)
6862 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6863 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6864 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6865 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6868 @kindex T i (Summary)
6869 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6870 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6871 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6874 @kindex T # (Summary)
6875 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6876 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6877 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6880 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6881 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6882 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6883 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6886 @kindex T T (Summary)
6887 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6888 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6891 @kindex T s (Summary)
6892 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6893 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6894 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6897 @kindex T h (Summary)
6898 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6899 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6902 @kindex T S (Summary)
6903 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6904 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6907 @kindex T H (Summary)
6908 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6909 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6912 @kindex T t (Summary)
6913 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6914 Re-thread the current article's thread
6915 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6916 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6919 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6920 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6921 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6922 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6926 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6927 understand the numeric prefix.
6932 @kindex T n (Summary)
6934 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6936 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6937 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6938 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6941 @kindex T p (Summary)
6943 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6945 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6946 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6947 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6950 @kindex T d (Summary)
6951 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6952 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6955 @kindex T u (Summary)
6956 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6957 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6960 @kindex T o (Summary)
6961 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6962 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6965 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6966 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6967 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6968 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6969 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6970 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6971 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6972 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6973 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6974 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6975 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6976 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6980 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6981 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6983 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6984 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6985 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6986 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6987 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6988 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6989 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6990 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6991 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
6992 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
6993 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6994 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6995 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6996 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6998 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6999 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
7000 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
7001 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
7002 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
7003 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
7004 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
7005 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
7007 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
7008 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
7009 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
7011 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
7012 last function in the list. You should probably always include
7013 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
7014 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
7015 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
7016 ascending article order.
7018 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
7019 by number, you could do something like:
7022 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7023 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7024 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7025 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
7028 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
7029 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
7030 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7031 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7032 which the articles arrived.
7034 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7038 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7040 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
7041 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7044 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7045 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7046 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7047 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7050 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7051 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7052 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7053 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7054 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7055 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7056 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7057 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7058 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7059 variable. It is very similar to the
7060 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7061 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7062 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7063 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7064 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7065 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7066 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7068 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7072 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7073 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7074 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7079 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7080 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7081 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7082 @cindex article pre-fetch
7085 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7086 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7087 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7088 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7089 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7091 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7092 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
7094 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7095 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7096 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7097 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7098 connection is blocked.
7100 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7101 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7102 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7103 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
7105 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7106 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7107 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7108 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7111 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7114 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7115 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7116 happen automatically.
7118 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7119 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7120 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7121 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7122 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7123 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7124 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7126 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7127 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7128 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7129 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7130 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7131 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7132 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7133 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7134 article data structure as the only parameter.
7136 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7137 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7140 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7141 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7142 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7143 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7146 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7149 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7150 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7151 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7153 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7154 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7155 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7156 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7160 Remove articles when they are read.
7163 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7166 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7168 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7169 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7170 @c from the next group.
7173 @node Article Caching
7174 @section Article Caching
7175 @cindex article caching
7178 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7179 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7180 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7181 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7182 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7184 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7186 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7187 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7188 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7189 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7190 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7191 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7192 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7193 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7195 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7196 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7197 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7198 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7199 as dormant, and don't worry.
7201 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7203 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7204 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7205 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7206 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7207 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7208 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7209 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7210 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7211 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7212 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7214 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7215 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7216 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7217 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7218 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7219 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7220 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7221 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7222 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7223 not then be downloaded by this command.
7225 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7226 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7227 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7228 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7229 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7230 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7232 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7233 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7234 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7235 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7236 variables, the group is not cached.
7238 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7239 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7240 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7241 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7242 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7243 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7244 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7245 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7246 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7249 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7250 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7251 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7252 where, isn't that cool?
7254 @node Persistent Articles
7255 @section Persistent Articles
7256 @cindex persistent articles
7258 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7259 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7260 useful in my opinion.
7262 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7263 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7264 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7265 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7266 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7267 the expiry going on at the news server.
7269 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7270 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7271 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7277 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7278 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7281 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7282 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7283 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7284 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7288 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7290 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7291 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7292 interested in persistent articles:
7295 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7299 @node Article Backlog
7300 @section Article Backlog
7302 @cindex article backlog
7304 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7305 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7306 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7307 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7308 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7309 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7310 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7311 increase memory usage some.
7313 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7314 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7315 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7316 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7317 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7318 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7319 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7321 The default value is 20.
7324 @node Saving Articles
7325 @section Saving Articles
7326 @cindex saving articles
7328 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7329 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7330 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7331 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7332 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7334 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7335 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7336 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7338 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7339 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7340 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7342 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7343 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7344 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7345 deleted before saving.
7351 @kindex O o (Summary)
7353 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7354 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7355 Save the current article using the default article saver
7356 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7359 @kindex O m (Summary)
7360 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7361 Save the current article in mail format
7362 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7365 @kindex O r (Summary)
7366 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7367 Save the current article in Rmail format
7368 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7371 @kindex O f (Summary)
7372 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7373 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7374 Save the current article in plain file format
7375 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7378 @kindex O F (Summary)
7379 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7380 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7381 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7384 @kindex O b (Summary)
7385 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7386 Save the current article body in plain file format
7387 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7390 @kindex O h (Summary)
7391 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7392 Save the current article in mh folder format
7393 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7396 @kindex O v (Summary)
7397 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7398 Save the current article in a VM folder
7399 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7403 @kindex O p (Summary)
7405 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7406 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7407 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7408 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7409 complete headers in the piped output.
7412 @kindex O P (Summary)
7413 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7414 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7415 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7416 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7417 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7418 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7419 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7423 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7424 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7425 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7426 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7427 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7428 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7429 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7430 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7431 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7432 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7433 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7434 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7438 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7439 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7440 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7441 functions below, or you can create your own.
7445 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7446 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7447 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7448 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7449 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7450 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7451 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7453 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7454 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7455 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7456 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7457 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7458 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7460 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7461 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7462 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7463 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7464 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7465 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7466 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7468 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7469 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7470 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7471 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7472 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7473 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7475 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7476 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7477 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7478 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7479 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7481 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7482 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7483 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7484 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7485 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7488 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7489 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7490 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7491 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7492 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7494 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7495 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7496 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7497 reader to use this setting.
7500 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7501 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7502 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7503 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7506 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7507 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7508 available functions that generate names:
7512 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7513 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7514 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7516 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7517 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7518 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7520 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7521 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7522 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7524 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7525 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7526 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7528 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7529 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7530 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7533 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7534 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7535 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7536 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7537 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7541 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7542 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7543 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7544 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7547 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7548 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7549 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7550 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7551 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7552 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7553 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7554 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7555 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7557 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7558 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7559 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7560 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7562 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7563 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7564 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7567 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7568 lots of mail groups called things like
7569 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7570 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7571 following will do just that:
7574 (defun my-save-name (group)
7575 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7576 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7578 (setq gnus-split-methods
7579 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7584 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7585 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7586 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7587 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7588 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7589 all the files in the top level directory
7590 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7591 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7592 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7593 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7595 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7596 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7597 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7598 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7599 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7602 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7606 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7607 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7608 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7611 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7612 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7613 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7614 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7617 @node Decoding Articles
7618 @section Decoding Articles
7619 @cindex decoding articles
7621 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7622 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7625 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7626 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7627 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7628 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7629 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7630 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7634 @cindex article series
7635 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7636 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7637 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7638 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7639 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7641 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7642 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7643 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7645 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7646 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7647 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7649 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7650 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7651 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7654 @node Uuencoded Articles
7655 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7657 @cindex uuencoded articles
7662 @kindex X u (Summary)
7663 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7664 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7665 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7668 @kindex X U (Summary)
7669 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7670 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7671 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7674 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7675 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7676 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7679 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7680 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7681 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7682 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7686 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7687 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7688 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7689 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7690 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7692 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7693 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7694 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7695 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7698 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7699 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7700 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7701 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7702 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7703 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7707 @node Shell Archives
7708 @subsection Shell Archives
7710 @cindex shell archives
7711 @cindex shared articles
7713 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7714 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7715 some commands to deal with these:
7720 @kindex X s (Summary)
7721 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7722 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7725 @kindex X S (Summary)
7726 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7727 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7730 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7731 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7732 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7735 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7736 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7737 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7738 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7742 @node PostScript Files
7743 @subsection PostScript Files
7749 @kindex X p (Summary)
7750 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7751 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7754 @kindex X P (Summary)
7755 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7756 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7757 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7760 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7761 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7762 View the current PostScript series
7763 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7766 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7767 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7768 View and save the current PostScript series
7769 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7774 @subsection Other Files
7778 @kindex X o (Summary)
7779 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7780 Save the current series
7781 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7784 @kindex X b (Summary)
7785 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7786 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7787 doesn't really work yet.
7791 @node Decoding Variables
7792 @subsection Decoding Variables
7794 Adjective, not verb.
7797 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7798 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7799 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7803 @node Rule Variables
7804 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7805 @cindex rule variables
7807 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7808 variables are of the form
7811 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7818 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7819 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7821 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7822 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7825 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7826 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7829 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7830 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7831 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7832 user and default view rules.
7834 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7835 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7836 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7841 @node Other Decode Variables
7842 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7845 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7847 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7848 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7849 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7850 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7851 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7855 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7856 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7859 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7860 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7861 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7864 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7865 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7866 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7867 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7868 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7871 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7872 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7873 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7875 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7876 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7877 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7878 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7879 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7882 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7883 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7884 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7886 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7887 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7888 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7889 looking for files to display.
7891 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7892 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7893 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7896 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7897 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7898 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7901 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7902 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7903 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7906 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7907 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7908 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7911 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7912 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7913 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7914 decoded articles as unread.
7916 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7917 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7918 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7919 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7921 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7922 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7923 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7925 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7926 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7928 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7929 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
7930 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7931 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7933 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7934 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7935 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7936 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7937 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7938 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7939 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7940 simply dropped them.
7945 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7946 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7950 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7951 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7952 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7953 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7954 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7955 for you when you post the article.
7957 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7958 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7959 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7960 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7962 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7963 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7964 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7965 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7966 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7967 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7968 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7970 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7971 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7972 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7973 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7974 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7975 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7976 Default is @code{t}.
7982 @subsection Viewing Files
7983 @cindex viewing files
7984 @cindex pseudo-articles
7986 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7987 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7988 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7989 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7990 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7991 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7992 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7994 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7995 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7996 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7997 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7999 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
8000 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
8001 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
8003 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
8004 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
8005 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
8006 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
8007 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
8009 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
8010 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
8011 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
8012 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
8013 a list of parameters to that command.
8015 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
8016 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
8017 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
8019 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
8020 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
8021 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
8024 @node Article Treatment
8025 @section Article Treatment
8027 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8028 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8029 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8030 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8031 these articles easier.
8034 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8035 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8036 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8037 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8038 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8039 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8040 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8041 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8042 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
8043 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8044 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8048 @node Article Highlighting
8049 @subsection Article Highlighting
8050 @cindex highlighting
8052 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8053 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8058 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8059 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8060 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8061 Do much highlighting of the current article
8062 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8063 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8066 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8067 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8068 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8069 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8070 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8071 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8072 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8073 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8074 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8075 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8076 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8077 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8080 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8081 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8082 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8084 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8087 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8089 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8090 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8091 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8093 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8094 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8095 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8097 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8098 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8099 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8100 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8101 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8102 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8104 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8105 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8106 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8108 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8109 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8110 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8112 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8113 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8114 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8115 that it's a citation.
8117 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8118 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8119 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8121 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8122 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8123 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8125 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8126 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8127 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8128 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8134 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8135 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8136 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8137 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8138 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8139 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8140 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8141 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8146 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8149 @node Article Fontisizing
8150 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8152 @cindex article emphasis
8154 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8155 @kindex W e (Summary)
8156 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8157 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8158 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8159 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8161 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8162 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8163 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8164 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8165 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8166 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8167 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8168 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8172 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8173 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8174 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8183 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8184 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8185 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8186 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8187 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8188 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8189 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8190 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8191 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8192 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8193 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8194 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8195 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8197 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8198 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8199 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8203 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8206 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8208 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8209 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8210 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8211 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8213 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8216 @node Article Hiding
8217 @subsection Article Hiding
8218 @cindex article hiding
8220 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8221 too much cruft in most articles.
8226 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8227 @findex gnus-article-hide
8228 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8229 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8230 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8233 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8234 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8235 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8239 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8240 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8241 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8242 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8245 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8246 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8247 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8251 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8252 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8253 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8254 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8255 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8256 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8257 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8258 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8262 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8263 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8264 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8265 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8270 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8271 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8272 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8273 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8276 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8277 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8278 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8279 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8282 @cindex stripping advertisements
8283 @cindex advertisements
8284 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8285 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8286 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8287 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8288 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8289 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8290 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8291 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8292 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8293 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8296 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8297 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8298 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8302 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8303 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8304 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8305 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8306 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8307 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8308 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8309 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8310 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8311 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8312 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8315 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8316 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8322 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8323 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8324 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8325 customizing the hiding:
8329 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8330 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8331 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8332 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8333 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8334 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8335 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8340 Starting point of the hidden text.
8342 Ending point of the hidden text.
8344 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8346 Number of lines of hidden text.
8349 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8350 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8351 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8352 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8353 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8358 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8359 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8361 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8362 following two variables:
8365 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8366 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8367 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8368 50), hide the cited text.
8370 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8371 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8372 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8377 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8378 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8379 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8380 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8381 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8382 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8386 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8387 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8388 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8390 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8391 citation customization.
8393 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8397 @node Article Washing
8398 @subsection Article Washing
8400 @cindex article washing
8402 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8403 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8405 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8406 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8409 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8410 articles by default.
8415 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8416 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8420 Force redisplaying of the current article
8421 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8422 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8423 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8424 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8427 @kindex W l (Summary)
8428 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8429 Remove page breaks from the current article
8430 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8434 @kindex W r (Summary)
8435 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8436 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8437 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8438 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8439 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8440 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8442 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8443 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8444 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8445 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8448 @kindex W m (Summary)
8449 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8450 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8454 @kindex W t (Summary)
8456 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8457 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8458 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8461 @kindex W v (Summary)
8462 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8463 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8464 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8467 @kindex W o (Summary)
8468 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8469 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8472 @kindex W d (Summary)
8473 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8474 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8476 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8478 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8479 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8480 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8481 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8484 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8485 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8486 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8487 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8490 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8491 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8492 @cindex Outlook Express
8493 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8494 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8495 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8498 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8499 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8500 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8501 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8502 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8503 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8504 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8505 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8506 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8507 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8510 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8511 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8512 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8513 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8516 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8517 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8518 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8519 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8522 @kindex W w (Summary)
8523 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8524 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8526 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8530 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8531 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8532 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8535 @kindex W C (Summary)
8536 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8537 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8538 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8541 @kindex W c (Summary)
8542 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8543 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8544 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8545 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8546 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8549 @kindex W q (Summary)
8550 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8551 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8552 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8553 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8554 makes strings like @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which
8555 doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually done
8556 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8557 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8558 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8561 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8562 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8563 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8564 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8565 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8566 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8567 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8568 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8571 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8572 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8573 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8574 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8575 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8578 @kindex W A (Summary)
8579 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
8580 Translate ANSI SGR control sequences into overlays or extents
8581 (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). ANSI sequences are used in
8582 some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
8585 @kindex W u (Summary)
8586 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8587 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8588 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8589 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8590 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8593 @kindex W h (Summary)
8594 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8595 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8596 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8597 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8599 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8601 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8602 The default is to use the function specified by
8603 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8604 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8605 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8606 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8614 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8617 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8620 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8623 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8628 @kindex W b (Summary)
8629 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8630 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8631 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8634 @kindex W B (Summary)
8635 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8636 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8637 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8640 @kindex W p (Summary)
8641 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8642 Verify a signed control message
8643 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8644 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8645 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8646 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8647 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8648 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8651 @kindex W s (Summary)
8652 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8653 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8654 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8655 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8658 @kindex W a (Summary)
8659 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8660 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8661 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8664 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8665 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8666 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8667 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8670 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8671 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8672 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8673 lines with a single empty line.
8674 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8677 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8678 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8679 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8680 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8683 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8684 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8685 Do all the three commands above
8686 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8689 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8690 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8691 Remove all blank lines
8692 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8695 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8696 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8697 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8698 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8701 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8702 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8703 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8704 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8708 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8711 @node Article Header
8712 @subsection Article Header
8714 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8719 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8720 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8721 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8724 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8725 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8726 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8727 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8730 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8731 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8732 Fold all the message headers
8733 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8736 @kindex W E w (Summary)
8737 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8738 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8739 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8744 @node Article Buttons
8745 @subsection Article Buttons
8748 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8749 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8750 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8751 button on these references.
8753 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8754 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8755 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8756 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8757 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8761 @item gnus-button-alist
8762 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8763 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8766 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8772 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8773 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8774 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8775 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8776 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8779 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8780 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8781 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8784 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8785 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8786 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8787 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8788 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8790 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8793 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8796 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8797 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8801 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8804 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8807 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8808 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8809 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8810 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8811 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8814 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8817 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8820 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8823 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8824 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8826 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8828 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8829 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8830 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8831 default values of the variables above.
8833 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8835 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8836 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8837 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8838 argument with a string naming the man page.
8840 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8842 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8843 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8844 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8846 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8847 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8848 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8849 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8850 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8851 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8852 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8853 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8854 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8855 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8856 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8857 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8859 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8860 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8861 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8862 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8863 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8866 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8867 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8868 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8869 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8871 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8873 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8874 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8875 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8876 argument, the string naming the URL.
8879 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8880 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8881 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8885 @item gnus-article-button-face
8886 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8887 Face used on buttons.
8889 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8890 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8891 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8895 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8898 @node Article Button Levels
8899 @subsection Article button levels
8900 @cindex button levels
8901 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8902 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8903 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8904 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8905 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8906 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8907 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8908 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
8911 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
8912 (setq gnus-parameters
8913 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
8914 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
8915 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
8920 @item gnus-button-browse-level
8921 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
8922 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
8923 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
8924 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
8925 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
8927 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
8928 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
8929 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
8930 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
8931 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
8932 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
8933 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
8934 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
8935 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
8936 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
8937 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
8938 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
8939 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
8941 @item gnus-button-man-level
8942 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
8943 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
8944 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
8946 @item gnus-button-message-level
8947 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
8948 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
8949 Related variables and functions include
8950 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
8951 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
8952 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
8953 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
8955 @item gnus-button-tex-level
8956 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
8957 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
8958 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
8959 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
8960 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
8961 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
8967 @subsection Article Date
8969 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8970 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8971 when the article was sent.
8976 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8977 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8978 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8979 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8982 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8983 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8985 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8986 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8989 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8990 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8991 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8994 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8995 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8996 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8997 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
9000 @kindex W T s (Summary)
9001 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
9002 @findex gnus-article-date-user
9003 @findex format-time-string
9004 Display the date using a user-defined format
9005 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
9006 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
9007 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
9008 for a list of possible format specs.
9011 @kindex W T e (Summary)
9012 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
9013 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
9014 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
9015 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
9016 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
9019 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
9022 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
9023 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
9024 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
9027 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
9028 into wonderful absurdities.
9030 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
9033 (gnus-start-date-timer)
9036 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
9037 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
9041 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9042 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9043 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9044 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9045 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9046 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9047 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9051 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9052 preferred format automatically.
9055 @node Article Display
9056 @subsection Article Display
9061 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9062 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9064 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9065 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9067 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9068 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9070 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9071 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9073 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9074 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9076 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9081 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9082 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9083 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9084 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9087 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9088 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9089 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9090 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9093 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9094 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9095 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9098 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9099 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9100 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9103 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9104 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9105 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9106 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9109 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9110 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9111 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9112 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9115 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9116 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9117 Remove all images from the article buffer
9118 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9124 @node Article Signature
9125 @subsection Article Signature
9127 @cindex article signature
9129 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9130 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9131 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9132 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9133 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9134 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9135 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9136 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9137 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9140 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9141 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9142 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9143 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9144 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9145 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9146 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9147 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9150 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9153 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9154 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9155 signature when displaying articles.
9159 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9162 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9165 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9166 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9168 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9169 in question is not a signature.
9172 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9173 listed above. Here's an example:
9176 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9177 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9180 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9181 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9182 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9183 signature after all.
9186 @node Article Miscellanea
9187 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9191 @kindex A t (Summary)
9192 @findex gnus-article-babel
9193 Translate the article from one language to another
9194 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9200 @section MIME Commands
9201 @cindex MIME decoding
9203 @cindex viewing attachments
9205 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9206 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9212 @kindex K v (Summary)
9213 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9216 @kindex K o (Summary)
9217 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9220 @kindex K c (Summary)
9221 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9224 @kindex K e (Summary)
9225 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9228 @kindex K i (Summary)
9229 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9232 @kindex K | (Summary)
9233 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9236 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9241 @kindex K b (Summary)
9242 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9243 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9247 @kindex K m (Summary)
9248 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9249 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9250 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9251 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9252 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9255 @kindex X m (Summary)
9256 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9257 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9258 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9259 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9262 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9263 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9264 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9265 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9268 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9269 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9270 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9271 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9274 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9275 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9276 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9277 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9279 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9280 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9281 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9282 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9283 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9284 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9287 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9288 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9289 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9290 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9297 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9298 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9299 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9300 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9303 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9306 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9310 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9311 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9312 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9313 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9314 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9315 default is @code{nil}.
9317 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9318 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9319 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9320 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9321 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9322 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9323 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9325 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9326 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9327 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9328 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9329 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9330 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9331 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9332 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9334 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9335 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9336 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9337 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9338 displayed. This variable overrides
9339 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9340 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9343 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9344 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9345 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9347 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9348 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9349 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9350 default value is @code{nil}.
9352 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9353 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9354 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9355 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9356 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9357 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9358 save all jpegs into some directory).
9360 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9363 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9364 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9366 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9367 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9368 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9369 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9370 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9373 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9374 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9375 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9377 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9378 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9379 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9380 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9382 Ready-made functions include@*
9383 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9384 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9385 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9386 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9387 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9388 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9389 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9390 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9391 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9392 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9393 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9394 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9396 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9397 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9399 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9400 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9401 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9404 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9405 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9406 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9407 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9411 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9420 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9421 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9422 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9423 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9424 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9425 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9426 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9428 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9429 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9430 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9431 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9433 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9434 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9435 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9436 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9437 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9438 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9439 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9440 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9441 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9443 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9444 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9445 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9446 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9447 quoted-printable header encoding.
9449 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9450 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9451 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9455 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9458 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9459 means encode all charsets),
9461 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9462 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9463 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9470 @cindex coding system aliases
9471 @cindex preferred charset
9473 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9475 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9476 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9479 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9480 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9483 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9484 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9486 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9489 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9492 This will almost do the right thing.
9494 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9498 (codepage-setup 1251)
9499 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9503 @node Article Commands
9504 @section Article Commands
9511 @kindex A P (Summary)
9512 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9513 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9514 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9515 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9516 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9517 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9522 @node Summary Sorting
9523 @section Summary Sorting
9524 @cindex summary sorting
9526 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9527 can't really see why you'd want that.
9532 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9533 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9534 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9537 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9538 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9539 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9542 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9543 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9544 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9547 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9548 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9549 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9552 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9553 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9554 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9557 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9558 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9559 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9562 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9563 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9564 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9567 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9568 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9569 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9572 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9573 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9574 Sort using the default sorting method
9575 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9578 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9579 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9580 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9581 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9582 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9586 @node Finding the Parent
9587 @section Finding the Parent
9588 @cindex parent articles
9589 @cindex referring articles
9594 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9595 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9596 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9597 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9598 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9599 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9600 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9601 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9602 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9604 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9605 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9606 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9607 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9608 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9612 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9613 @kindex A R (Summary)
9614 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9615 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9618 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9619 @kindex A T (Summary)
9620 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9621 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9622 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9623 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9624 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9625 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9626 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9628 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9629 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9630 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9631 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9632 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9633 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9636 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9637 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9639 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9640 You can also ask the @acronym{NNTP} server for an arbitrary article, no
9641 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9642 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9643 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9644 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9645 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9648 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9649 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9650 by giving this command a prefix.
9652 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9653 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9654 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9655 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9656 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9657 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9660 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9661 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9662 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9665 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9666 then ask Google if that fails:
9669 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9671 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9674 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9675 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9676 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
9677 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9678 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
9679 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
9680 not support this at all.
9683 @node Alternative Approaches
9684 @section Alternative Approaches
9686 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9687 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9690 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9691 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9696 @subsection Pick and Read
9697 @cindex pick and read
9699 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9700 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9701 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9702 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9704 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9705 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9706 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9707 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9708 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9709 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9711 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9716 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9717 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9718 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9719 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9720 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9721 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9722 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9723 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9726 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9727 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9728 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9729 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9733 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9734 Unpick the thread or article
9735 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9736 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9737 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9738 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9739 the thread or article at that line.
9743 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9744 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9745 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9746 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9747 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9748 will still be visible when you are reading.
9752 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9753 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9754 which is mapped to the same function
9755 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9757 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9760 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9763 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9764 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9766 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9767 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9768 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9770 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9771 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9772 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9773 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9774 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9775 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9776 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9780 @subsection Binary Groups
9781 @cindex binary groups
9783 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9784 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9785 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9786 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9787 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9788 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9789 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9792 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9793 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9794 command, when you have turned on this mode
9795 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9797 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9798 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9802 @section Tree Display
9805 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9806 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9807 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9808 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9811 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9814 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9815 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9816 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9818 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9819 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9820 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9821 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9822 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9824 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9825 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9826 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9827 default is @code{modeline}.
9829 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9830 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9831 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9832 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9833 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9834 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9835 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9841 The name of the poster.
9843 The @code{From} header.
9845 The number of the article.
9847 The opening bracket.
9849 The closing bracket.
9854 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9856 Variables related to the display are:
9859 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9860 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9861 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9862 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
9864 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9865 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
9866 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
9868 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9870 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9871 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9872 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9873 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9877 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9878 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9879 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9880 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9881 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9882 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9883 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9884 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9885 other windows displayed next to it.
9887 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9891 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9892 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9895 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9896 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9897 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9898 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9899 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9900 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9901 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9905 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9908 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9918 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9923 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9924 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9926 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9928 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9934 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9935 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9936 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
9939 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9940 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9941 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9942 (gnus-add-configuration
9946 (summary 0.75 point)
9951 @xref{Window Layout}.
9954 @node Mail Group Commands
9955 @section Mail Group Commands
9956 @cindex mail group commands
9958 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9959 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9961 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9962 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9967 @kindex B e (Summary)
9968 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9969 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9970 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9971 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9972 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9975 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9976 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9977 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9978 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9979 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9980 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9983 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9984 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9985 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9986 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9987 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9988 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9991 @kindex B m (Summary)
9993 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9994 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9995 Move the article from one mail group to another
9996 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9997 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10000 @kindex B c (Summary)
10002 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
10003 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
10004 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
10005 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10006 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10009 @kindex B B (Summary)
10010 @cindex crosspost mail
10011 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
10012 Crosspost the current article to some other group
10013 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
10014 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
10015 be properly updated.
10018 @kindex B i (Summary)
10019 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
10020 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
10021 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
10022 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10025 @kindex B I (Summary)
10026 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
10027 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
10028 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
10029 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10032 @kindex B r (Summary)
10033 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10034 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10035 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10036 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10037 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10038 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10039 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10040 (which is the default).
10044 @kindex B w (Summary)
10045 @kindex e (Summary)
10046 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10047 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10048 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10049 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10050 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10051 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10052 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10055 @kindex B q (Summary)
10056 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10057 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10058 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10059 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10062 @kindex B t (Summary)
10063 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10064 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10065 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10068 @kindex B p (Summary)
10069 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10070 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10071 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10072 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10073 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10074 article from your news server (or rather, from
10075 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10076 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10077 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10078 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10079 just not have arrived yet.
10082 @kindex K E (Summary)
10083 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10084 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10085 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10086 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10087 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10091 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10092 @cindex moving articles
10093 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
10094 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10095 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10096 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10097 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10098 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10099 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10102 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10103 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10104 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10105 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10109 @node Various Summary Stuff
10110 @section Various Summary Stuff
10113 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10114 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10115 * Summary Generation Commands::
10116 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10120 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10121 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10122 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10123 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10124 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10125 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10127 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10128 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10129 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10132 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10133 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10134 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10136 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10137 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10138 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10139 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10140 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10141 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10144 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10145 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10146 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10147 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10148 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10150 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10151 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10152 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10155 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10156 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10157 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10158 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10159 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10160 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10161 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
10162 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10163 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10164 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10166 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10167 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10168 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10169 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10170 list of articles to be selected.
10172 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10173 the list in one particular group:
10176 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10177 (if (string= group "some.group")
10178 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10182 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10183 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10184 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10185 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
10186 @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary buffer is
10187 active. These variables can be used to set variables in the group
10188 parameters while still allowing them to affect operations done in
10189 other buffers. For example:
10192 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10193 '(message-use-followup-to
10194 (gnus-visible-headers .
10195 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10201 @node Summary Group Information
10202 @subsection Summary Group Information
10207 @kindex H f (Summary)
10208 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10209 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10210 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10211 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10212 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10213 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10214 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10215 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10216 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10219 @kindex H d (Summary)
10220 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10221 Give a brief description of the current group
10222 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10223 rereading the description from the server.
10226 @kindex H h (Summary)
10227 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10228 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10229 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10232 @kindex H i (Summary)
10233 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10234 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10238 @node Searching for Articles
10239 @subsection Searching for Articles
10244 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10245 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10246 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10247 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10250 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10251 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10252 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10253 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10256 @kindex & (Summary)
10257 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10258 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10259 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10260 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10261 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10262 search backward instead.
10264 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10265 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10268 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10269 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10270 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10271 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10274 @node Summary Generation Commands
10275 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10280 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10281 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10282 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10285 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10286 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10287 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10288 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10291 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10292 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10293 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10294 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10299 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10300 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10306 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10307 @kindex A D (Summary)
10308 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10309 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10310 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10311 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10312 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10313 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10314 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10315 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10319 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10320 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10321 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10322 several documents into one biiig group
10323 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10324 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10325 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10326 command understands the process/prefix convention
10327 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10330 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10331 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10332 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10333 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10334 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10335 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10338 @kindex = (Summary)
10339 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10340 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10341 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10344 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10345 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10346 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10347 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10350 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10351 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10352 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10353 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10358 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10359 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10360 @cindex summary exit
10361 @cindex exiting groups
10363 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10364 group and return you to the group buffer.
10371 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10372 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
10373 @kindex q (Summary)
10374 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10375 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10376 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10377 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10378 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10379 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10380 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10381 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10382 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10383 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10384 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10385 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10389 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10390 @kindex Q (Summary)
10391 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10392 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10393 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10397 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10398 @kindex c (Summary)
10399 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10400 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10401 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10402 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10405 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10406 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10407 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10408 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10411 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10412 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10413 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10414 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10418 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10419 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
10420 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10421 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10422 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10423 all articles, both read and unread.
10427 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10428 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10429 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10430 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10431 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10432 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10433 articles, both read and unread.
10436 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10437 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10438 Exit the group and go to the next group
10439 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10442 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10443 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10444 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10445 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10448 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10449 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10450 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10451 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10452 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10453 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10456 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10457 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10458 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10459 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10461 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10462 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10463 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10464 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10465 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10466 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10467 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10468 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10469 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10470 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10471 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10472 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10474 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10476 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10477 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10478 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10479 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10480 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10481 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10482 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10483 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10484 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10487 @node Crosspost Handling
10488 @section Crosspost Handling
10492 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10493 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10494 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10495 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10496 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10497 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10500 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10501 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10502 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10503 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10504 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10506 @cindex cross-posting
10508 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10509 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10510 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10511 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10512 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10513 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10514 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10515 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10516 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10517 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10518 the cross reference mechanism.
10520 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10521 @cindex overview.fmt
10522 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10523 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10524 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10525 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10526 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10527 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10530 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10531 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10532 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10537 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10540 @node Duplicate Suppression
10541 @section Duplicate Suppression
10543 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10544 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10545 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10546 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10551 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10552 is evil and not very common.
10555 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10556 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10559 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10560 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10563 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10566 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10567 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10569 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10570 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10571 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10572 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10573 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10574 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10575 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10578 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10579 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10580 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10581 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10582 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10583 saw the article in.
10586 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10587 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10588 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10590 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10591 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10592 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10593 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10594 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10595 session are suppressed.
10597 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10598 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10599 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10600 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10602 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10603 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10604 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10605 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10608 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10609 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10610 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10611 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10612 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10613 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10614 to you to figure out, I think.
10619 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10620 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10621 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10626 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10627 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10628 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10629 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10632 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10633 or newer is recommended.
10637 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10638 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10641 @item mm-verify-option
10642 @vindex mm-verify-option
10643 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10644 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10645 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10647 @item mm-decrypt-option
10648 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10649 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10650 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10651 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10654 @vindex mml1991-use
10655 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10656 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10657 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10661 @vindex mml2015-use
10662 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10663 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10664 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10669 @cindex snarfing keys
10670 @cindex importing PGP keys
10671 @cindex PGP key ring import
10672 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10673 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10674 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10675 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10676 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10677 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10678 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10679 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10680 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10683 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10686 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10687 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10690 @section Mailing List
10691 @cindex mailing list
10694 @kindex A M (summary)
10695 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10696 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10697 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10698 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10701 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10706 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10707 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10708 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10711 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10712 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10713 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10716 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10717 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10718 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10722 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10723 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10724 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10727 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10728 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10729 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10732 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10733 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10734 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10739 @node Article Buffer
10740 @chapter Article Buffer
10741 @cindex article buffer
10743 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10744 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10745 tell Gnus otherwise.
10748 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10749 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10750 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10751 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10752 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10756 @node Hiding Headers
10757 @section Hiding Headers
10758 @cindex hiding headers
10759 @cindex deleting headers
10761 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10762 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10764 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10765 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10766 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10767 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10768 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10769 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10770 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10771 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10772 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10774 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10778 @item gnus-visible-headers
10779 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10780 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10781 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10782 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10784 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10785 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10788 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10791 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10794 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10795 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10796 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10797 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10798 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10799 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10801 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10802 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10805 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10808 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10811 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10812 variable will have no effect.
10816 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10817 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10818 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10819 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10820 the headers are to be displayed.
10822 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10823 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10826 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10829 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10830 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10832 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10833 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10834 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10835 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10836 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10837 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
10838 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10841 These conditions are:
10844 Remove all empty headers.
10846 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10847 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10849 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
10850 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
10853 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10856 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10857 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
10859 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10860 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10862 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10863 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10865 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10868 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10870 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10873 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10876 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10877 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10880 This is also the default value for this variable.
10884 @section Using MIME
10885 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
10887 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10888 while people stand around yawning.
10890 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10891 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10893 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10894 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10895 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10897 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10898 @findex gnus-display-mime
10899 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10900 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10901 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10902 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
10904 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10905 @acronym{MIME} button:
10908 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10909 @item RET (Article)
10910 @kindex RET (Article)
10911 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10912 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
10913 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
10914 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
10915 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
10916 object is displayed inline.
10918 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10919 @item M-RET (Article)
10920 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10922 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
10923 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10925 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10927 @kindex t (Article)
10928 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
10929 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10931 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10933 @kindex C (Article)
10934 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
10935 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10937 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10939 @kindex o (Article)
10940 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
10941 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10943 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10944 @item C-o (Article)
10945 @kindex C-o (Article)
10946 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
10947 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10948 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10949 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
10950 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
10951 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10953 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
10955 @kindex d (Article)
10956 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
10957 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
10958 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
10960 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10962 @kindex c (Article)
10963 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10964 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
10965 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
10966 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
10967 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
10969 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10971 @kindex p (Article)
10972 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10973 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10974 @file{.mailcap} file.
10976 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10978 @kindex i (Article)
10979 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
10980 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10981 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10982 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10983 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
10986 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
10988 @kindex E (Article)
10989 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10990 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10991 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
10993 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
10995 @kindex e (Article)
10996 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
10997 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
10999 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
11001 @kindex | (Article)
11002 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
11004 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
11006 @kindex . (Article)
11007 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
11008 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
11012 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
11013 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
11014 @acronym{MIME} manual.
11016 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
11017 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
11018 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
11019 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
11020 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
11021 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
11022 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
11023 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
11024 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
11026 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
11028 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
11031 @node Customizing Articles
11032 @section Customizing Articles
11033 @cindex article customization
11035 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
11036 exist. You can call these functions interactively
11037 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
11038 called automatically when you select the articles.
11040 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
11041 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
11042 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
11043 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
11045 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
11046 for sensible values.
11050 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
11053 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
11056 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
11059 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
11062 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
11066 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
11067 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
11068 regexps in the list.
11071 A list where the first element is not a string:
11073 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
11074 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
11075 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
11079 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
11084 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
11085 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
11086 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
11087 considered to contain just a single part.
11089 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
11090 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
11091 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11092 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11093 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11094 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11095 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11097 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11098 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11099 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11100 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11103 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11104 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11106 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11108 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11109 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11110 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11111 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11112 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
11113 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11114 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11115 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11116 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11117 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11119 @xref{Article Washing}.
11121 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
11122 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
11123 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
11124 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
11125 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
11126 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
11127 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
11129 @xref{Article Date}.
11131 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11132 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11133 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11137 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11139 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11141 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11142 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11143 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11147 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11151 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11155 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11156 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11157 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11158 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11159 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11160 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11161 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11162 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11163 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11164 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11166 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11168 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11169 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11170 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11172 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11174 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11175 @item gnus-treat-translate
11176 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11178 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11179 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11180 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11181 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11183 @xref{Article Header}.
11188 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11189 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11190 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11191 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11192 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11196 @node Article Keymap
11197 @section Article Keymap
11199 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11200 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11201 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11202 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11205 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11210 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11211 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11212 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11213 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11216 @kindex DEL (Article)
11217 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11218 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11219 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11222 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11223 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11224 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11225 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11226 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11229 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11230 @findex gnus-article-mail
11231 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11232 given a prefix, include the mail.
11235 @kindex s (Article)
11236 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11237 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11238 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11241 @kindex ? (Article)
11242 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11243 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11244 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11247 @kindex TAB (Article)
11248 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11249 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11250 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11253 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11254 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11255 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11258 @kindex R (Article)
11259 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11260 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11261 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11262 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11266 @kindex F (Article)
11267 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11268 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11269 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11270 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11278 @section Misc Article
11282 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11283 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11284 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11285 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11288 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11289 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11290 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11291 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11292 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11294 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11295 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11296 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11297 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11298 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11299 the contents of the article buffer.
11301 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11302 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11303 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11305 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11306 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11307 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11308 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11310 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11311 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11312 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11313 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11315 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11316 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11317 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11318 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
11319 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
11325 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11326 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11327 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11332 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11335 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11338 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11339 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11340 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11343 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11346 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11349 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11354 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11358 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11360 @item gnus-break-pages
11361 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11362 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11363 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11364 paging will not be done.
11366 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11367 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11368 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11372 @cindex internationalized domain names
11373 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11374 @item gnus-use-idna
11375 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11376 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11377 @samp{Cc} headers. This requires
11378 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11379 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11384 @node Composing Messages
11385 @chapter Composing Messages
11386 @cindex composing messages
11389 @cindex sending mail
11394 @cindex using s/mime
11395 @cindex using smime
11397 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11398 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11399 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11400 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11401 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11402 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11405 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11406 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11407 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11408 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11409 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11410 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11411 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11412 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11415 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11416 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11422 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11425 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11426 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11427 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11428 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11429 @code{nil} include all headers.
11431 @item gnus-add-to-list
11432 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11433 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11434 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11436 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11437 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11438 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11439 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11440 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11441 confirmation is should be asked for.
11443 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11444 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11446 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11447 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11448 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11449 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11450 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11455 @node Posting Server
11456 @section Posting Server
11458 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11459 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11461 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11463 It can be quite complicated.
11465 @vindex gnus-post-method
11466 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11467 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11468 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11469 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11470 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11471 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11472 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11473 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11474 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11477 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11480 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11481 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11482 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11483 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11485 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11486 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11488 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11489 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11492 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11493 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11495 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11496 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11497 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11498 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11499 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11500 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11501 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11502 package correctly. An example:
11505 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11506 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11509 To the thing similar to this, there is
11510 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your ISP requires
11511 the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. See the
11512 documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11514 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11515 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11516 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11518 @node Mail and Post
11519 @section Mail and Post
11521 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11525 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11526 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11527 @cindex mailing lists
11529 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11530 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11531 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11532 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11533 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11534 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11535 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11536 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11537 still a pain, though.
11539 @item gnus-user-agent
11540 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11543 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11544 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11545 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11546 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11547 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11548 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11549 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11553 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11554 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11555 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11558 @findex ispell-message
11560 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11563 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11564 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11567 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11571 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11572 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11574 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11577 Modify to suit your needs.
11580 @node Archived Messages
11581 @section Archived Messages
11582 @cindex archived messages
11583 @cindex sent messages
11585 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11586 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11587 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11588 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11591 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11592 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11595 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11596 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11597 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11600 (nnfolder "archive"
11601 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11602 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11603 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11604 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11607 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11608 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11609 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11610 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11613 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11614 '(nnfolder "archive"
11615 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11616 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11617 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11620 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11622 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11623 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11624 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11626 This variable can be used to do the following:
11630 Messages will be saved in that group.
11632 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11633 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11634 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11635 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11636 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11637 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11638 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11639 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11642 @item a list of strings
11643 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11645 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11646 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11649 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11654 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11656 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11659 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11661 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11664 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11666 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11667 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11668 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11669 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11672 More complex stuff:
11674 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11675 '((if (message-news-p)
11680 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11681 messages in one file per month:
11684 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11685 '((if (message-news-p)
11687 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11690 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11691 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11693 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11694 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11695 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11696 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11697 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11698 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11699 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11700 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11701 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11702 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11704 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11705 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11706 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11707 this will disable archiving.
11710 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11711 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11712 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11713 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11714 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11717 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11718 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11719 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11722 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11723 but the latter is the preferred method.
11725 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11726 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11727 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11729 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11730 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11731 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11732 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11733 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11734 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11735 changed in the future.
11740 @node Posting Styles
11741 @section Posting Styles
11742 @cindex posting styles
11745 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11747 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11748 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11749 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11752 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11753 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11754 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11755 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11756 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11761 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11762 (organization "What me?"))
11764 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11765 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11766 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11769 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11770 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11771 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11772 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11773 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11774 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11775 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11776 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11778 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11779 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11780 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11781 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11782 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11783 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
11784 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11785 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11786 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11787 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11788 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11789 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11790 said to @dfn{match}.
11792 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11793 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11794 attribute name can be one of:
11797 @item @code{signature}
11798 @item @code{signature-file}
11799 @item @code{x-face-file}
11800 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
11801 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
11805 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
11806 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
11807 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
11808 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
11809 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
11811 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11812 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11813 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11814 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11815 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11816 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11817 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11818 references chars lines xref extra.
11820 @vindex message-reply-headers
11822 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11823 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11824 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11826 @findex message-mail-p
11827 @findex message-news-p
11829 So here's a new example:
11832 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11834 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11836 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11837 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11839 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11840 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
11841 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11842 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
11843 (signature my-news-signature))
11844 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
11845 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11846 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
11847 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11848 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11849 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
11850 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11851 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11852 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11853 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11855 (From (save-excursion
11856 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11857 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11859 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11862 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11863 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11864 if you fill many roles.
11871 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11872 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11873 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11874 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11875 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11877 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11878 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11879 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11880 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11881 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11885 @vindex nndraft-directory
11886 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11887 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11888 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11889 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11890 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11891 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11893 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11894 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11895 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11896 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11897 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11898 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11899 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11900 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
11901 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
11903 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11904 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11905 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11906 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11907 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11908 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11909 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11910 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11911 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11912 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11913 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11914 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11915 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11916 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11918 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11919 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11920 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11922 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11923 @kindex D e (Draft)
11924 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11925 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11926 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11928 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11931 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11932 @kindex D s (Draft)
11933 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11934 @kindex D S (Draft)
11935 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11936 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11937 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11938 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11939 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11942 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11943 @kindex D t (Draft)
11944 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11945 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11946 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11949 @node Rejected Articles
11950 @section Rejected Articles
11951 @cindex rejected articles
11953 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11954 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11955 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11956 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11958 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11959 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11960 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11961 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11962 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11964 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11965 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11966 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11968 @node Signing and encrypting
11969 @section Signing and encrypting
11971 @cindex using s/mime
11972 @cindex using smime
11974 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
11975 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
11976 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
11977 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
11979 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11980 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11981 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11982 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11983 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11984 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11985 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11986 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11987 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11988 automatically encrypted messages.
11990 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
11991 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
11992 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11997 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
11998 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
12000 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12003 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
12004 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12006 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12009 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
12010 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12012 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12015 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
12016 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
12018 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12021 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
12022 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
12024 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12027 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
12028 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
12030 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12033 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
12034 @findex mml-unsecure-message
12035 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
12039 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
12041 @node Select Methods
12042 @chapter Select Methods
12043 @cindex foreign groups
12044 @cindex select methods
12046 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
12047 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
12048 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
12049 personal mail group.
12051 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
12052 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
12053 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
12054 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
12055 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
12056 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
12058 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
12059 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
12061 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
12064 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
12065 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
12066 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
12067 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
12068 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
12070 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
12073 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
12074 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
12075 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
12076 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
12077 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
12078 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
12079 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
12080 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
12084 @node Server Buffer
12085 @section Server Buffer
12087 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
12088 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
12089 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
12090 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
12091 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
12092 back end represents a virtual server.
12094 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
12095 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
12096 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
12097 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
12099 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
12100 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
12101 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
12102 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
12103 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
12104 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
12105 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
12107 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
12108 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
12111 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
12112 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
12113 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12114 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12115 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12116 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12117 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12120 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12121 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12124 @node Server Buffer Format
12125 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12126 @cindex server buffer format
12128 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12129 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12130 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12131 variable, with some simple extensions:
12136 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12139 The name of this server.
12142 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12145 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12148 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12149 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12150 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12151 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12161 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12164 @node Server Commands
12165 @subsection Server Commands
12166 @cindex server commands
12172 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12173 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12177 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12178 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12181 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12182 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12183 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12187 @findex gnus-server-exit
12188 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12192 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12193 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12197 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12198 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12202 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12203 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12207 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12208 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12212 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12213 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12214 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12219 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12220 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12221 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12222 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12227 @node Example Methods
12228 @subsection Example Methods
12230 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12233 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12236 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12242 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12243 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12246 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12247 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12249 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12250 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12254 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12257 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12258 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12260 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12261 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12262 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12266 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12269 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12272 Here's the method for a public spool:
12276 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12277 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12283 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12284 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12285 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12286 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12287 should probably look something like this:
12291 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12292 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12293 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12294 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12297 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12298 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12299 configuration to the example above:
12302 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12305 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12307 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12308 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12309 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12313 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12314 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12315 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12316 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12319 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12320 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12321 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12322 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12325 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12326 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12328 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12329 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12331 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12332 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
12333 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12335 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
12337 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
12338 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12339 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12340 will contain the following:
12350 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
12351 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12354 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12355 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12356 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12359 @node Server Variables
12360 @subsection Server Variables
12361 @cindex server variables
12362 @cindex server parameters
12364 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12365 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12366 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12367 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12368 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12370 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12371 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12372 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12373 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12374 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12375 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12376 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12377 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12378 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12382 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12383 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12384 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12387 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12389 @node Servers and Methods
12390 @subsection Servers and Methods
12392 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12393 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12394 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12395 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12399 @node Unavailable Servers
12400 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12402 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12403 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12404 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12405 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12406 actually the case or not.
12408 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12409 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12410 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12411 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12412 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12413 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12414 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12415 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12417 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12418 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12420 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12421 with the following commands:
12427 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12428 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12429 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12433 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12434 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12435 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12439 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12440 Mark the current server as unreachable
12441 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12444 @kindex M-o (Server)
12445 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12446 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12447 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12450 @kindex M-c (Server)
12451 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12452 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12453 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12457 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12458 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12459 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12463 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12464 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12470 @section Getting News
12471 @cindex reading news
12472 @cindex news back ends
12474 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12475 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12476 or it can read from a local spool.
12479 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12480 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12488 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12489 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12490 server as the, uhm, address.
12492 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12493 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12494 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12495 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12497 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12498 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12499 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12501 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12506 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12507 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12508 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12510 @cindex authentification
12511 @cindex nntp authentification
12512 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12513 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12514 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12515 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12516 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12517 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12518 present in this hook.
12520 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12521 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12522 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12523 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12524 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12525 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12526 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12527 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12528 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12529 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12530 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12531 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12535 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12538 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12540 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12541 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12542 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12543 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12544 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12545 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12546 @samp{force} is explained below.
12550 Here's an example file:
12553 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12554 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12557 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12558 have to be first, for instance.
12560 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12561 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12562 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12563 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12564 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12565 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12566 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12568 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12569 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12575 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12576 previously mentioned.
12578 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12580 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12581 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12582 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12583 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12584 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12587 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12588 '(("innd" (ding))))
12591 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12593 The default value is
12596 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12597 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12598 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12601 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12602 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12604 @item nntp-maximum-request
12605 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12606 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12607 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12608 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12609 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12610 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12611 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12613 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12614 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12615 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12616 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12617 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12618 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12619 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12620 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12621 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12622 no timeouts are done.
12624 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12625 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12626 @c @cindex PPP connections
12627 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12628 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12629 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12630 @c changes after connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will simply sit
12631 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12632 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12633 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12634 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12635 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12636 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12638 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12639 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12640 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12641 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12642 @c described above.
12644 @item nntp-server-hook
12645 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12646 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @acronym{NNTP}
12649 @item nntp-buggy-select
12650 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12651 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12653 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12654 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12655 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12656 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12659 @item nntp-xover-commands
12660 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12661 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12663 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12664 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12668 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12669 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12670 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12671 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12672 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12673 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12674 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12675 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12676 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12677 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12678 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12680 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12681 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12682 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12684 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12685 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12686 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12687 server closes connection.
12689 @item nntp-record-commands
12690 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12691 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12692 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12693 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12694 that doesn't seem to work.
12696 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12697 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12698 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12699 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12700 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12701 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12702 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12703 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12705 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12706 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12707 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12708 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12709 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12710 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12711 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12714 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12717 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12718 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12720 @item nntp-read-timeout
12721 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12722 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12723 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12724 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12725 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12731 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12732 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12733 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12737 @node Direct Functions
12738 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12739 @cindex direct connection functions
12741 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12742 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12743 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12744 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12747 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12748 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12749 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12752 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12753 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12754 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12755 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12756 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12759 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12760 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12762 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12763 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12764 (nntp-port-number )
12765 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12768 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12769 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12770 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12771 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12772 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12773 then define a server as follows:
12776 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12777 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12779 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12780 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12781 (nntp-port-number 563)
12782 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12785 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12786 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12787 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12788 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12789 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12790 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12791 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12792 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12796 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12797 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12798 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12801 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12802 session, which is not a good idea.
12806 @node Indirect Functions
12807 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12808 @cindex indirect connection functions
12810 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12811 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12812 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12813 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12814 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12815 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12818 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12819 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12820 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12821 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12822 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12824 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12827 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12828 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12829 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12830 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12832 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12833 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12834 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12835 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12836 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12837 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12838 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
12839 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
12843 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12844 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12845 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12846 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12848 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12851 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12852 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12853 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12856 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12857 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12858 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12859 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12861 @item nntp-via-user-password
12862 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12863 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12865 @item nntp-via-envuser
12866 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12867 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12868 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12869 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12871 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12872 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12873 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12874 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12881 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12886 @item nntp-via-user-name
12887 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12888 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12890 @item nntp-via-address
12891 @vindex nntp-via-address
12892 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12897 @node Common Variables
12898 @subsubsection Common Variables
12900 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12901 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12906 @item nntp-pre-command
12907 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12908 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
12909 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
12910 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
12911 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
12914 @vindex nntp-address
12915 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12917 @item nntp-port-number
12918 @vindex nntp-port-number
12919 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12920 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
12921 @acronym{tls}/@acronym{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12922 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
12923 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
12924 not work with named ports.
12926 @item nntp-end-of-line
12927 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12928 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
12929 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12930 using a non native connection function.
12932 @item nntp-telnet-command
12933 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12934 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
12935 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
12936 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12939 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12940 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12941 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12948 @subsection News Spool
12952 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12953 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12954 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12957 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12958 anything else) as the address.
12960 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12961 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12962 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12963 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12967 @item nnspool-inews-program
12968 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12969 Program used to post an article.
12971 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12972 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12973 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12975 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12976 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12977 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12978 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12980 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12981 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12982 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
12983 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12985 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12986 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12987 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12989 @item nnspool-active-file
12990 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12991 The name of the active file.
12993 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12994 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12995 The name of the group descriptions file.
12997 @item nnspool-history-file
12998 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12999 The name of the news history file.
13001 @item nnspool-active-times-file
13002 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
13003 The name of the active date file.
13005 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
13006 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
13007 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
13010 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13011 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13013 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
13014 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
13015 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
13022 @section Getting Mail
13023 @cindex reading mail
13026 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
13030 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
13031 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
13032 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
13033 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
13034 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
13035 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
13036 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
13037 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
13038 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
13039 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
13040 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
13041 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
13042 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
13046 @node Mail in a Newsreader
13047 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
13049 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
13050 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
13051 of a culture shock.
13053 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
13054 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
13056 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
13057 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
13058 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
13059 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
13061 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
13063 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
13064 deleted? How awful!
13066 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
13067 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
13068 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
13069 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
13072 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
13073 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
13074 they want to treat a message.
13076 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
13077 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
13078 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
13079 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
13080 archived somewhere else.
13082 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
13083 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
13084 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
13085 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
13086 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
13088 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
13089 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
13090 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13092 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13093 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13096 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13097 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13098 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13099 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13100 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13102 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13103 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13104 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13105 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13106 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13107 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13111 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13112 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13114 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13115 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13116 and things will happen automatically.
13118 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13119 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13122 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13125 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13126 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13127 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13128 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13129 like any other group.
13131 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13134 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13135 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13136 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13140 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13141 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13142 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13145 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13146 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13147 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13150 @node Splitting Mail
13151 @subsection Splitting Mail
13152 @cindex splitting mail
13153 @cindex mail splitting
13154 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13156 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13157 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13158 to be split into groups.
13161 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13162 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13163 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13164 ("mail.other" "")))
13167 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13168 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13169 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13170 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13171 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13172 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13173 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13176 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13179 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13180 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13181 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13182 mail belongs in that group.
13184 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13185 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
13186 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13187 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
13188 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
13189 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
13191 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13192 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13193 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13194 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13195 thinks should carry this mail message.
13197 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13198 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13199 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13200 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13202 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13203 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13204 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13205 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13206 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
13208 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13211 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13212 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13213 links. If that's the case for you, set
13214 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13215 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13217 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13218 @findex nnmail-split-history
13219 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13220 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13221 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13222 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13225 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13226 Header lines longer than the value of
13227 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13230 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13231 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13232 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13233 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13234 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13235 charset for decoding. The behaviour can be turned off completely by
13236 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13237 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13239 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13240 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13241 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13242 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13243 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13244 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13245 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13246 other kinds of entries.)
13248 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13249 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13250 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13251 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13252 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13253 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13254 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13255 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13256 month's rent money.
13260 @subsection Mail Sources
13262 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13263 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13264 maildir, for instance.
13267 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13268 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13269 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13273 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13274 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13276 @cindex mail server
13279 @cindex mail source
13281 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13282 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13287 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13290 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13291 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13292 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13295 The following mail source types are available:
13299 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13305 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13306 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13307 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13311 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13314 An example file mail source:
13317 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13320 Or using the default file name:
13326 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13327 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13328 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13329 mail spool while moving the mail.
13331 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13335 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13338 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13342 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13345 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13347 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13350 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13354 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13355 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13356 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13357 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13358 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13359 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13360 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13361 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13362 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13363 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13365 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13366 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13367 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13368 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13374 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13378 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13382 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13383 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13384 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13385 predicate are considered.
13389 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13393 An example directory mail source:
13396 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13401 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13407 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13408 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13411 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13412 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13413 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13414 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13415 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13418 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13422 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13423 the user is prompted.
13426 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13427 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13430 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13433 The valid format specifier characters are:
13437 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13438 included in this string.
13441 The name of the server.
13444 The port number of the server.
13447 The user name to use.
13450 The password to use.
13453 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13454 corresponding keywords.
13457 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13458 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13461 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13462 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13465 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13466 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13467 mail should be moved to.
13469 @item :authentication
13470 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13471 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13476 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13477 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13479 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13480 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13486 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13489 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13490 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13493 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13496 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13500 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13501 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13502 contains exactly one mail.
13508 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13509 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13512 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13513 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13515 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13516 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13517 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13520 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13521 from locking problems).
13525 Two example maildir mail sources:
13528 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13529 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13533 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13538 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13539 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13540 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13541 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13542 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13544 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13545 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13551 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13552 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13555 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13556 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13559 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13563 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13567 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13568 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13569 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13570 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13572 @item :authentication
13573 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13574 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13575 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13576 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13579 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13580 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13581 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13587 The valid format specifier characters are:
13591 The name of the server.
13594 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13597 The port number of the server.
13600 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13601 corresponding keywords.
13604 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13605 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13608 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13609 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13610 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13611 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13612 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13613 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13616 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13617 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13618 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13619 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13622 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13623 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13627 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13630 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13632 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13636 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
13637 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
13638 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
13640 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13641 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13643 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13649 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13650 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13653 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13657 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13661 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13662 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13666 An example webmail source:
13669 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13671 :password "secret")
13676 @item Common Keywords
13677 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13683 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13684 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
13689 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13694 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13695 useful when you use local mail and news.
13700 @subsubsection Function Interface
13702 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13703 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13704 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13705 consider the following mail-source setting:
13708 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13709 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13712 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13713 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13714 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13715 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13716 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13718 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13721 @node Mail Source Customization
13722 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13724 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13725 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13729 @item mail-source-crash-box
13730 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13731 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
13732 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13734 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13735 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13736 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13737 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13738 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13739 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
13740 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13741 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13743 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13744 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13745 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13746 files. This variable only applies when
13747 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13749 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13750 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13751 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13753 @item mail-source-directory
13754 @vindex mail-source-directory
13755 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13756 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13757 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13760 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13761 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13762 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13763 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13764 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13765 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13767 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13768 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13769 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13771 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13772 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13773 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
13774 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13779 @node Fetching Mail
13780 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13782 @vindex mail-sources
13783 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13784 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13785 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13786 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13788 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13789 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13792 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
13793 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
13798 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13799 :password "secret")))
13802 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13806 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13807 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13810 :password "secret")))
13814 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13815 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13816 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13817 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13818 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13819 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13823 @node Mail Back End Variables
13824 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13826 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13830 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13831 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13832 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13833 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13835 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13836 @item nnmail-split-hook
13837 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13838 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
13839 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
13840 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13841 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13842 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13843 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13844 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13845 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13848 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13849 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13850 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13851 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13852 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13853 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13854 starting to handle the new mail) and
13855 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13856 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13857 default file modes the new mail files get:
13860 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13861 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13863 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13864 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13867 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13868 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13869 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13870 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13871 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13872 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13873 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13875 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13876 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13877 @findex delete-file
13878 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13880 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13881 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13882 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13883 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13884 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13886 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13887 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13888 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13889 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13890 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13892 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13893 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13894 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13899 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13900 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13901 @cindex mail splitting
13902 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13904 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13905 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13906 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13907 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13908 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13909 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13911 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13914 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
13915 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
13916 ;; @r{from real errors.}
13917 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13919 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
13920 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
13921 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
13922 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13923 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13924 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
13925 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13926 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13927 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
13928 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
13929 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
13930 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
13931 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13932 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13933 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
13934 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13935 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
13939 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
13940 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
13941 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
13946 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
13947 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
13949 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split})
13950 If the split is a list, the first element of which is a string, then
13951 store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field}
13952 (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict}
13953 (yet another regexp) matches some string after @var{field} and before
13954 the end of the matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If
13955 none of the @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13957 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
13958 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
13959 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
13960 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
13961 stored in one or more groups.
13963 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
13964 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
13965 process all @var{split}s in the list.
13968 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
13969 this message. Use with extreme caution.
13971 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
13972 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
13973 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
13974 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
13977 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13978 body of the messages:
13981 (defun split-on-body ()
13985 (goto-char (point-min))
13986 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13990 The buffer is narrowed to the message in question when @var{function}
13991 is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called after
13992 @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
13993 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
13994 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
13995 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to t to do that (@pxref{Splitting in
13998 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
13999 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
14000 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
14001 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
14002 should return a split.
14005 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
14009 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
14010 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
14011 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
14012 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
14013 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
14015 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
14016 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
14017 they are expanded as specified by the variable
14018 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
14019 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
14020 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
14021 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
14025 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
14027 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
14028 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
14030 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
14033 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
14034 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
14035 when all this splitting is performed.
14037 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
14038 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
14039 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
14042 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
14045 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
14046 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
14048 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
14049 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
14050 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
14051 groupings 1 through 9.
14053 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
14054 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} controls whether partial
14055 words are matched during fancy splitting.
14057 Normally, regular expressions given in @code{nnmail-split-fancy} are
14058 implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers, which are word
14059 delimiters. If this variable is true, they are not implicitly
14060 surrounded by anything.
14063 (any "joe" "joemail")
14066 In this example, messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will
14067 normally not be filed in @samp{joemail}. With
14068 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} set to t, however, the
14069 match will happen. In effect, the requirement of a word boundary is
14070 removed and instead the match becomes more like a grep.
14072 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
14073 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
14074 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
14075 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
14076 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
14077 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
14078 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
14079 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
14080 it once per thread.
14082 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
14083 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
14084 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
14085 using the colon feature, like so:
14087 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
14088 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
14090 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
14091 ;; @r{other splits go here}
14095 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
14096 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
14097 in the file specified by the variable
14098 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
14099 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
14100 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
14101 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
14102 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
14103 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
14104 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
14105 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
14106 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
14107 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
14108 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
14109 300 kBytes in size.)
14110 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14111 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
14112 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
14113 messages goes into the new group.
14115 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
14116 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
14117 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14118 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14119 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14120 ``outgoing'' group.
14123 @node Group Mail Splitting
14124 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14125 @cindex mail splitting
14126 @cindex group mail splitting
14128 @findex gnus-group-split
14129 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14130 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14131 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
14132 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14133 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14134 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14135 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
14136 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14138 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14139 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
14140 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14141 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
14143 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14144 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14145 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14146 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
14147 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14148 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14149 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14151 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14152 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14153 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14154 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14155 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
14156 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14157 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14159 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14160 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14161 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14162 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14163 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14164 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14165 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14166 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14167 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14168 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14169 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14170 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14171 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14173 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14178 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14179 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14181 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14182 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14183 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14184 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14186 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14189 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14190 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14191 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14194 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14195 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14196 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14200 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14201 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14202 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14206 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14209 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14210 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14211 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14212 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14213 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14214 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
14215 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14216 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14217 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14219 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14220 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14221 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14222 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14223 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14224 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14225 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14226 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14227 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14229 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14230 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14231 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14232 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14233 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14234 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14237 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14240 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14241 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14242 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14243 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14244 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14247 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14248 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14249 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14250 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14252 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14253 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14254 @cindex incorporating old mail
14255 @cindex import old mail
14257 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14258 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14259 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14262 Doing so can be quite easy.
14264 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14265 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14266 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14267 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14268 your @code{nnml} groups.
14274 Go to the group buffer.
14277 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14278 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14281 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14284 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14285 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14288 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14289 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14292 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14293 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14294 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14295 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14296 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14298 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14299 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14300 using the new mail back end.
14303 @node Expiring Mail
14304 @subsection Expiring Mail
14305 @cindex article expiry
14307 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14308 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14309 different approach to mail reading.
14311 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14312 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14313 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14314 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14315 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14316 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14319 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14320 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14321 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14322 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14323 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14324 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14325 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14326 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14327 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14329 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14330 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14331 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14332 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14333 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14334 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14335 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14338 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14339 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14340 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14341 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14342 into its own group.)
14344 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14345 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14346 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14347 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14348 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14349 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14350 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14351 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14354 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14355 Groups that match the regular expression
14356 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14357 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14358 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14360 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14361 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14362 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14363 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14364 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14366 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14368 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14369 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14370 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14373 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14374 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14375 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14376 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14377 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14379 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14380 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14383 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14384 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14387 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14388 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14390 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14391 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14392 don't really mix very well.
14394 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14395 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14396 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14397 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14400 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14401 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14402 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14403 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14406 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14408 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14410 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14412 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14414 ((string= group "important")
14420 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14421 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14423 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14424 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14425 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14428 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14429 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14431 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14432 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14433 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14434 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14435 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14436 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14437 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14438 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14439 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14440 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14441 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14442 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14443 name or @code{delete}.
14445 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14447 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14450 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14451 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14452 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14453 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14454 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14457 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14458 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14459 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14460 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14461 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14464 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14465 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14466 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14467 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14468 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14469 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14471 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14472 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14473 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14474 easier for procmail users.
14476 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14477 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14478 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14479 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14480 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14481 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14482 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14483 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14484 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14485 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14486 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14487 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14488 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14491 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14493 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14494 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14495 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14496 auto-expire turned on.
14500 @subsection Washing Mail
14501 @cindex mail washing
14502 @cindex list server brain damage
14503 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14505 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14506 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14507 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14508 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14509 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14510 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14512 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14513 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14514 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14517 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14518 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14519 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14520 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14523 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14524 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14525 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14526 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14527 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14530 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14531 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14532 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14533 Emacs running on MS machines.
14537 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14538 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14539 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14540 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14543 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14544 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14545 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14546 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14548 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14549 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14550 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14551 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14552 into a feature by documenting it.)
14554 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14555 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14556 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14557 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14558 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14559 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14560 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14563 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14564 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14567 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14568 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14571 This can also be done non-destructively with
14572 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14574 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14575 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14576 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14578 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14579 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14581 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14582 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14583 @code{References} headers.
14587 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14588 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14589 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14593 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14594 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14595 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14602 @subsection Duplicates
14604 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14605 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14606 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14607 @cindex duplicate mails
14608 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14609 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14610 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14611 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14612 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14613 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14614 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14615 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14616 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14617 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14618 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14619 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14620 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14622 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14623 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14624 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14625 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14627 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14630 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14631 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14635 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14636 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14637 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14638 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14639 (any mail "mail.misc")
14640 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14646 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14647 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14648 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14652 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14653 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14654 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14655 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14656 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14659 @node Not Reading Mail
14660 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14662 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14663 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14664 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14666 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14667 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14668 mail, which should help.
14670 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14671 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14672 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14673 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14674 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14675 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14676 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14677 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14678 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14679 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14680 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14682 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14683 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14687 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14688 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14690 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14691 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14692 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14694 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14695 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14696 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14700 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14701 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
14702 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14703 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14704 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14705 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14706 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14710 @node Unix Mail Box
14711 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14713 @cindex unix mail box
14715 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14716 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14717 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14718 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14719 which group it belongs in.
14721 Virtual server settings:
14724 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14725 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14726 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14729 @item nnmbox-active-file
14730 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14731 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14732 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14734 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14735 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14736 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14737 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14742 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14746 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14747 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14748 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
14749 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14750 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14752 Virtual server settings:
14755 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14756 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14757 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14759 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14760 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14761 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14762 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14764 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14765 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14766 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14772 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14774 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
14776 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14777 format. It should be used with some caution.
14779 @vindex nnml-directory
14780 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14781 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14782 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14783 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14785 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14788 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14789 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14790 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14791 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14792 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14793 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14794 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14795 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14797 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14798 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14799 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14800 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14802 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14804 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14805 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14806 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14807 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14808 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14809 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14810 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14811 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14814 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14815 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14816 them next time it starts.
14818 Virtual server settings:
14821 @item nnml-directory
14822 @vindex nnml-directory
14823 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14824 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14827 @item nnml-active-file
14828 @vindex nnml-active-file
14829 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14830 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14832 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14833 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14834 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14835 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14837 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14838 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14839 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14842 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14843 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14844 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
14845 default is @code{nil}.
14847 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14848 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14849 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14851 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14852 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14853 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14855 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14856 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14857 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14858 default is @code{nil}.
14860 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14861 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14862 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14864 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14865 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14866 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14871 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14872 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
14873 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14874 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14875 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14876 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14877 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14882 @subsubsection MH Spool
14884 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14886 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14887 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
14888 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
14889 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
14892 Virtual server settings:
14895 @item nnmh-directory
14896 @vindex nnmh-directory
14897 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14898 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14901 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14902 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14903 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14907 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14908 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14909 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
14910 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14911 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14912 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
14913 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14918 @subsubsection Maildir
14922 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14923 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14924 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14925 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
14926 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
14929 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14930 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
14931 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14932 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14933 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
14934 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
14935 that appear as group in Gnus.
14937 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
14938 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
14939 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
14941 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
14942 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
14943 another, and you will keep your marks.
14945 Virtual server settings:
14949 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
14950 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
14951 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
14952 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
14953 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
14954 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
14955 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
14956 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
14957 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
14958 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
14960 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14961 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14962 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14963 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14964 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14965 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14966 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
14967 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
14968 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
14969 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
14972 @item target-prefix
14973 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14974 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
14975 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
14978 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
14979 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
14980 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
14981 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
14982 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
14983 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
14984 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
14985 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
14986 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
14988 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
14989 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
14990 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
14991 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
14992 symlinks pointing to them will be).
14994 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
14995 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
14996 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
14997 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
14998 @code{force} argument.
15000 @item directory-files
15001 This should be a function with the same interface as
15002 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
15003 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
15004 parameter is optional; the default is
15005 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
15006 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
15007 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
15008 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
15009 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
15010 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
15013 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
15014 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
15015 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
15016 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
15017 value is @code{nil}.
15019 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
15020 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
15021 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
15022 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
15023 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
15026 @subsubsection Group parameters
15028 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
15029 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
15030 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
15031 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
15032 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
15033 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
15036 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
15037 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
15038 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
15039 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
15040 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
15041 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
15042 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
15043 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
15044 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
15048 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
15049 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
15050 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
15051 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
15052 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overrideable by
15053 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
15054 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
15055 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
15056 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
15057 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
15058 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
15059 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
15062 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
15064 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
15066 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
15067 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
15068 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
15069 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
15070 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
15071 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
15072 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
15073 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
15074 article. So that form can refer to
15075 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
15076 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir} does
15077 not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
15078 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
15081 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
15082 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
15083 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
15084 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
15085 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
15086 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
15087 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
15088 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
15089 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
15090 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
15091 contain extra copies of the articles.
15093 @item directory-files
15094 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
15095 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
15096 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
15097 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
15099 @item distrust-Lines:
15100 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
15101 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
15102 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
15105 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
15106 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15107 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
15108 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
15109 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
15110 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15113 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
15114 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15115 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
15116 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
15117 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
15118 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15119 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15121 @item nov-cache-size
15122 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
15123 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
15124 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
15125 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
15126 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
15127 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
15128 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
15129 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
15130 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
15131 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
15132 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15135 @subsubsection Article identification
15136 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15137 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15138 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
15139 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15140 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15141 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15142 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15143 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15144 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15145 request the article in the summary buffer.
15147 @subsubsection NOV data
15148 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
15149 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15150 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15151 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15152 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
15153 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
15154 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
15155 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
15156 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
15157 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
15158 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15160 @subsubsection Article marks
15161 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15162 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15163 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15164 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
15165 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15166 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
15167 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
15168 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15170 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15171 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15172 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15173 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15174 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
15175 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
15176 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
15177 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
15178 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
15182 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15184 @cindex mbox folders
15185 @cindex mail folders
15187 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
15188 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
15189 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
15190 numbers and arrival dates.
15192 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15194 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15195 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15196 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15197 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15198 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15199 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15200 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
15201 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
15202 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
15203 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
15205 Virtual server settings:
15208 @item nnfolder-directory
15209 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15210 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
15211 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
15212 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
15214 @item nnfolder-active-file
15215 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15216 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15218 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15219 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15220 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15221 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15223 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15224 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15225 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
15226 default is @code{t}
15228 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15229 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15230 @cindex backup files
15231 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15232 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
15233 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
15234 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
15237 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15238 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15240 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15243 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15244 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15245 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15246 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15247 extract some information from it before removing it.
15249 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15250 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15251 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15252 default is @code{nil}.
15254 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15255 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15256 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15258 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15259 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15260 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15261 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15263 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15264 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15265 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15266 default is @code{nil}.
15268 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15269 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15270 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15272 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15273 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15274 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15275 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15280 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15281 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15282 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15283 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15284 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15285 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15288 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15289 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15291 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15292 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15293 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15294 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15295 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15297 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15298 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15299 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15300 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15301 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15302 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15303 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15304 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15307 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15308 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15309 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15310 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15315 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15316 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15317 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15318 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15319 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15320 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15321 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15322 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15323 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15324 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15325 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15326 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15327 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15332 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15333 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15334 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15335 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15336 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15337 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15338 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15339 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15340 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15341 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15342 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15343 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15344 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15345 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15347 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15348 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15353 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15354 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15355 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15356 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15357 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15358 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15359 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15360 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15361 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15362 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15363 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15364 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15365 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15366 provided by the active file and overviews.
15368 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15369 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15370 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15371 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15372 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15375 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15376 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15381 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15382 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15383 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15384 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15385 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15386 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15387 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15391 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15392 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15393 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15394 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15395 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15396 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15397 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15398 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15399 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15401 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15402 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15403 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15404 friendly mail back end all over.
15408 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15409 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15412 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15413 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15414 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15415 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15416 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15417 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15418 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15419 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15422 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15423 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15424 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15425 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15426 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15427 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15428 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15429 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15430 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15431 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15432 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15434 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15435 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15436 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15437 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15438 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15441 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15442 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15443 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15444 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15445 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15446 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15447 removed in the future.
15449 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15450 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15451 on your file system.
15453 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15454 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15459 @node Browsing the Web
15460 @section Browsing the Web
15462 @cindex browsing the web
15466 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15467 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15468 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15469 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15470 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15471 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15472 even know what a news group is.
15474 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15475 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15476 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15477 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15478 you mad in the end.
15480 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15483 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15484 interfaces to these sources.
15488 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15489 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15490 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15491 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15492 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15493 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15496 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15498 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15499 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15500 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15501 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15502 though, you should be ok.
15504 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15505 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15506 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15507 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15508 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15510 @node Archiving Mail
15511 @subsection Archiving Mail
15512 @cindex archiving mail
15513 @cindex backup of mail
15515 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15516 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15517 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15518 marks is fairly simple.
15520 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15521 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15524 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15525 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15526 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15527 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15528 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15529 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15530 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15531 before you restore the data.
15533 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15534 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15535 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15536 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15537 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15538 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15539 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15540 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15541 is unnecessary in that case.
15544 @subsection Web Searches
15549 @cindex Usenet searches
15550 @cindex searching the Usenet
15552 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15553 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15554 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15555 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15556 searches without having to use a browser.
15558 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15559 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15560 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15561 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15562 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15564 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15565 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15566 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15567 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15568 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15569 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15570 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15571 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15572 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15573 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15576 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15577 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15578 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15579 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15580 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15581 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15583 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15584 to use @code{nnweb}.
15586 Virtual server variables:
15591 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15592 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15593 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15596 @vindex nnweb-search
15597 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15599 @item nnweb-max-hits
15600 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15601 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15604 @item nnweb-type-definition
15605 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15606 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15607 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15612 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15616 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15619 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15622 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15626 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15633 @subsection Slashdot
15637 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15638 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15639 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15641 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15642 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15645 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15646 '((nnslashdot "")))
15649 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15650 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15651 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15652 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15653 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15656 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15657 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15659 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15660 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15661 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15662 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
15663 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15664 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15665 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15667 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15670 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15671 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15672 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15673 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15674 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15675 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15676 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15678 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15679 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15680 The login name to use when posting.
15682 @item nnslashdot-password
15683 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15684 The password to use when posting.
15686 @item nnslashdot-directory
15687 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15688 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15689 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15691 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15692 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15693 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
15694 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
15695 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15697 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15698 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15699 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
15701 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15702 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15703 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
15704 article. The default is
15705 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15707 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15708 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15709 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15711 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15712 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15713 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15714 updated. The default is 0.
15721 @subsection Ultimate
15723 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15725 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
15726 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15727 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15728 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15730 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15731 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15732 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
15733 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15734 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15735 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15736 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15738 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15741 @item nnultimate-directory
15742 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15743 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
15744 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15749 @subsection Web Archive
15751 @cindex Web Archive
15753 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15754 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15755 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15756 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15759 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15760 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15761 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15762 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
15763 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
15764 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15765 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15766 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15768 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15771 @item nnwarchive-directory
15772 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15773 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
15774 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15776 @item nnwarchive-login
15777 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15778 The account name on the web server.
15780 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15781 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15782 The password for your account on the web server.
15790 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
15791 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
15792 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
15793 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
15794 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
15796 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
15797 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15799 @kindex G R (Summary)
15800 Use @kbd{G R} from the summary buffer to subscribe to a feed---you
15801 will be prompted for the location of the feed.
15803 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
15804 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET y}, then
15805 subscribe to groups.
15807 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15810 @item nnrss-directory
15811 @vindex nnrss-directory
15812 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15813 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15815 @item nnrss-use-local
15816 @vindex nnrss-use-local
15817 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
15818 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
15819 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
15820 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
15821 download script using @command{wget}.
15824 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15825 the summary buffer.
15828 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15829 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15831 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15833 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15834 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15837 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15840 (require 'browse-url)
15842 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15844 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15847 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15848 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15851 (browse-url (cdr url))
15852 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15853 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15855 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15856 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15857 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15858 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15861 @node Customizing w3
15862 @subsection Customizing w3
15868 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15869 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15870 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15872 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15873 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15874 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15877 (eval-after-load "w3"
15879 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15880 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15881 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15882 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15884 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15887 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15888 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15895 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
15897 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15898 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
15899 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15900 specify the network address of the server.
15902 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
15903 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
15904 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
15905 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
15906 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
15907 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15909 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
15910 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
15911 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
15912 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
15914 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15915 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15916 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
15917 usage explained in this section.
15919 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
15920 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
15921 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
15925 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15926 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
15927 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
15929 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15930 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15931 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
15933 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15934 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15935 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15936 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
15937 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15938 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15939 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15940 (nnimap-stream network))
15941 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
15943 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15944 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15945 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15948 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15949 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15950 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15951 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15953 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15958 @item nnimap-address
15959 @vindex nnimap-address
15961 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
15962 server name if not specified.
15964 @item nnimap-server-port
15965 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15966 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
15968 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15971 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15972 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15975 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15976 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15977 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15978 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15979 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
15980 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15981 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15983 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15984 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15985 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15988 Example server specification:
15991 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15992 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15993 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15996 @item nnimap-stream
15997 @vindex nnimap-stream
15998 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15999 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
16000 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
16001 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
16002 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
16004 Example server specification:
16007 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16008 (nnimap-stream ssl))
16011 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
16015 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
16016 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
16018 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
16020 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
16021 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
16024 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
16025 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
16027 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
16028 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
16030 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
16032 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
16035 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
16036 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
16037 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
16038 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
16039 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
16040 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
16041 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
16042 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
16043 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
16046 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
16047 needed. It is available from
16048 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
16050 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
16051 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
16052 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
16053 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
16054 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
16055 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
16056 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
16059 @vindex imap-ssl-program
16060 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
16061 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
16062 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
16063 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
16064 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
16065 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
16068 @vindex imap-shell-program
16069 @vindex imap-shell-host
16070 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
16071 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
16073 @item nnimap-authenticator
16074 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
16076 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
16077 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
16079 Example server specification:
16082 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16083 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
16086 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
16090 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
16091 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
16093 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
16096 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
16097 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
16099 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
16101 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
16103 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
16106 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
16108 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
16109 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
16110 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
16111 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
16112 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
16113 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
16116 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
16117 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
16118 running in circles yet?
16120 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
16121 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
16124 The possible options are:
16129 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
16132 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
16133 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
16134 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16135 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16137 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16142 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16143 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16145 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16146 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16147 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16148 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16149 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16152 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16153 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16156 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16157 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16158 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16159 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16162 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16163 as ticked for other users.
16165 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16167 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16169 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16170 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16171 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16172 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16174 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16175 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16176 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16177 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16179 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16180 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16182 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16183 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16184 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16187 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16188 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16190 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16191 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16197 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16198 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16199 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16200 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16201 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16202 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
16207 @node Splitting in IMAP
16208 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16209 @cindex splitting imap mail
16211 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
16212 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16213 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
16214 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
16215 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16219 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
16220 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
16221 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
16223 Here are the variables of interest:
16227 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16228 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16230 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16232 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16233 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16234 found will be used.
16236 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16238 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16239 @cindex splitting, inbox
16241 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16243 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16244 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16245 splitting is disabled!
16248 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16249 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16252 No nnmail equivalent.
16254 @item nnimap-split-rule
16255 @cindex splitting, rules
16256 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16258 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16261 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16262 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16263 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16264 Neither did I, we need examples.
16267 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16269 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16270 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16271 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16274 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16275 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16276 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16278 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16279 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16283 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16286 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16287 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16289 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16290 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16291 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16292 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16294 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16295 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16296 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16297 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16298 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16299 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16301 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16302 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16303 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16305 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16306 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16307 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16309 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16311 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16312 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16313 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16316 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16317 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16318 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16319 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16320 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16321 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16324 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16325 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16326 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16327 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16328 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16329 group/function elements.
16331 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16333 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16335 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16337 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16338 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16340 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16341 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16342 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16345 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16346 @cindex splitting, fancy
16347 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16348 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16350 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16351 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16352 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16354 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16355 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16356 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16357 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16362 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16363 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16366 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16368 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16369 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16370 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16372 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16373 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16374 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16375 splitting function that analyses the body to split the article.
16379 @node Expiring in IMAP
16380 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16381 @cindex expiring imap mail
16383 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16384 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16385 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16386 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16387 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16388 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16391 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16392 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16393 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16394 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16395 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16396 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16397 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16398 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16402 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16403 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16405 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16406 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16408 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16410 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16411 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16412 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16413 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16417 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16418 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16419 @cindex editing imap acls
16420 @cindex Access Control Lists
16421 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16422 @kindex G l (Group)
16423 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16425 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16426 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16427 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16430 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16431 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16432 editing window with detailed instructions.
16434 Some possible uses:
16438 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16439 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16440 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16442 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16443 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16444 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16448 @node Expunging mailboxes
16449 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16453 @cindex manual expunging
16454 @kindex G x (Group)
16455 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16457 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16458 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16459 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16461 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16464 @node A note on namespaces
16465 @subsection A note on namespaces
16466 @cindex IMAP namespace
16469 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16470 by the following text in the RFC:
16473 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16475 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16476 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16477 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16478 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16480 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16481 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16482 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16483 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16484 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16485 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16488 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16489 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16490 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16492 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16493 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16494 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16495 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16496 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16497 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16498 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16499 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16502 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16503 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16504 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16506 @node Debugging IMAP
16507 @subsection Debugging IMAP
16508 @cindex IMAP debugging
16509 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
16511 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
16512 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
16513 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behaviour, chances
16514 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
16516 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
16517 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
16518 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
16519 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
16520 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
16521 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
16522 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
16526 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
16527 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
16534 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
16535 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
16536 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
16537 @code{BAD} - but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
16540 @node Other Sources
16541 @section Other Sources
16543 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16544 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16548 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16549 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16550 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16551 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16552 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16556 @node Directory Groups
16557 @subsection Directory Groups
16559 @cindex directory groups
16561 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16562 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16565 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16566 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16567 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16568 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16570 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16571 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16572 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16573 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16574 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16576 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16578 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16579 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16580 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16581 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16584 @node Anything Groups
16585 @subsection Anything Groups
16588 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16589 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16590 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16593 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16594 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16595 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16596 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16597 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16598 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16599 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16600 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16601 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16602 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16605 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16606 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16607 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16608 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16610 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16611 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16612 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16613 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16615 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16616 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16617 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16618 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16619 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16620 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16621 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16622 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16627 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16628 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16629 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16630 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16632 @item nneething-exclude-files
16633 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16634 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16635 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16637 @item nneething-include-files
16638 @vindex nneething-include-files
16639 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16640 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16642 @item nneething-map-file
16643 @vindex nneething-map-file
16644 Name of the map files.
16648 @node Document Groups
16649 @subsection Document Groups
16651 @cindex documentation group
16654 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16655 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16662 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
16667 The standard Unix mbox file.
16669 @cindex MMDF mail box
16671 The MMDF mail box format.
16674 Several news articles appended into a file.
16677 @cindex rnews batch files
16678 The rnews batch transport format.
16679 @cindex forwarded messages
16682 Forwarded articles.
16685 Netscape mail boxes.
16688 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
16690 @item standard-digest
16691 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16694 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
16696 @item lanl-gov-announce
16697 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16699 @item rfc822-forward
16700 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16703 The Outlook mail box.
16706 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16709 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16712 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16715 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16721 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16724 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16730 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16731 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16732 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16735 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16736 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16737 group. And that's it.
16739 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16740 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16741 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16742 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16743 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16744 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16745 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16746 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16747 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16748 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16750 Virtual server variables:
16753 @item nndoc-article-type
16754 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16755 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16756 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16757 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16758 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16759 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16761 @item nndoc-post-type
16762 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16763 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16764 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16769 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16773 @node Document Server Internals
16774 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16776 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16777 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16778 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16779 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16781 First, here's an example document type definition:
16785 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16786 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16789 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16790 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16791 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16792 types can be defined with very few settings:
16795 @item first-article
16796 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16797 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16800 @item article-begin
16801 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16802 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16804 @item head-begin-function
16805 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16808 @item nndoc-head-begin
16809 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16812 @item nndoc-head-end
16813 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16814 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16816 @item body-begin-function
16817 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16821 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16824 @item body-end-function
16825 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16829 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16832 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16833 regexp will be totally ignored.
16837 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16838 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16839 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16840 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16841 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16844 @item prepare-body-function
16845 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16846 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16847 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16849 @item article-transform-function
16850 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16851 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16852 body of the article.
16854 @item generate-head-function
16855 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16856 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16857 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16858 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16862 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16867 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16868 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16869 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16870 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16871 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16872 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16873 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16874 (subtype digest guess))
16877 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16878 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16879 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16880 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16881 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16883 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16884 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16885 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16886 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16887 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
16888 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
16889 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
16890 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
16891 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
16892 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
16893 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
16894 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16902 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16903 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16904 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16906 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16907 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16908 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16911 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16912 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16913 that interested in doing things properly.
16915 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16916 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16919 First some terminology:
16924 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16925 get news and/or mail from.
16928 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16929 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16932 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16936 @item message packets
16937 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16938 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16939 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16941 @item response packets
16942 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16943 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16944 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16954 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16955 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16956 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16957 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16960 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16963 You put the packet in your home directory.
16966 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16967 the native or secondary server.
16970 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16971 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16974 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16978 You transfer this packet to the server.
16981 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16984 You then repeat until you die.
16988 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16989 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16992 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16993 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16994 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16998 @node SOUP Commands
16999 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
17001 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
17005 @kindex G s b (Group)
17006 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
17007 Pack all unread articles in the current group
17008 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
17009 process/prefix convention.
17012 @kindex G s w (Group)
17013 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
17014 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
17017 @kindex G s s (Group)
17018 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
17019 Send all replies from the replies packet
17020 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
17023 @kindex G s p (Group)
17024 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
17025 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
17028 @kindex G s r (Group)
17029 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
17030 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
17033 @kindex O s (Summary)
17034 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
17035 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
17036 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
17037 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17042 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
17047 @item gnus-soup-directory
17048 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
17049 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
17050 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
17052 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
17053 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
17054 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
17055 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
17057 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
17058 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
17059 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
17060 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
17062 @item gnus-soup-packer
17063 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
17064 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17065 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
17067 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
17068 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
17069 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17070 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17072 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
17073 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
17074 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
17076 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17077 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17078 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
17079 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
17085 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
17088 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
17089 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
17090 you can read them at leisure.
17092 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
17096 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
17097 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
17098 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
17099 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
17101 @item nnsoup-directory
17102 @vindex nnsoup-directory
17103 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
17104 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
17106 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
17107 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
17108 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
17109 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
17111 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
17112 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
17113 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
17114 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
17115 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
17117 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
17118 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
17119 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
17120 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
17122 @item nnsoup-active-file
17123 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
17124 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
17125 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
17126 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
17127 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
17129 @item nnsoup-packer
17130 @vindex nnsoup-packer
17131 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
17132 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
17134 @item nnsoup-unpacker
17135 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
17136 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
17137 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17139 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
17140 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
17141 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
17144 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
17145 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
17146 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
17149 @item nnsoup-always-save
17150 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
17151 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
17157 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
17159 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
17160 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
17161 more for that to happen.
17163 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
17164 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
17165 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
17168 In specific, this is what it does:
17171 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
17172 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17175 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17176 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17177 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17180 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17181 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17182 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17185 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17186 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17187 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17189 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17195 @item nngateway-address
17196 @vindex nngateway-address
17197 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17199 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17200 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17201 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17202 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17203 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17204 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17205 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17208 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17209 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17210 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17213 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17216 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17219 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17222 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17224 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17227 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17228 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17229 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17231 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17233 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17234 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17235 @code{nngateway-address}.
17243 (setq gnus-post-method
17245 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17246 (nngateway-header-transformation
17247 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17250 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17253 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17258 @node Combined Groups
17259 @section Combined Groups
17261 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17265 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17266 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17270 @node Virtual Groups
17271 @subsection Virtual Groups
17273 @cindex virtual groups
17274 @cindex merging groups
17276 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17279 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17280 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17281 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17283 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17284 regexp to match component groups.
17286 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17287 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17288 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17289 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17290 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17291 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17292 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17293 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17295 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17296 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17299 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17302 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17303 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17305 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17306 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17307 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17308 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17311 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17314 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17315 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17316 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17318 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17319 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17320 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17321 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17322 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17324 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17325 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17326 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17328 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17329 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17330 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17331 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17332 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17333 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17334 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17335 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17336 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17337 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17338 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17340 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17341 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17342 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17343 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17344 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17345 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17346 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17348 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17349 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17351 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17352 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17356 @node Kibozed Groups
17357 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17361 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
17362 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
17363 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
17364 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17366 @kindex G k (Group)
17367 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17370 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17371 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17372 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17373 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17375 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17376 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17377 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17379 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17380 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17381 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17382 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17383 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17384 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17385 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17386 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17388 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17389 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17390 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17391 Stranger things have happened.
17393 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17394 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17396 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17397 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17398 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
17399 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
17400 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
17401 information on what groups have been searched through to find
17402 component articles.
17404 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17405 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17408 @node Gnus Unplugged
17409 @section Gnus Unplugged
17414 @cindex Gnus unplugged
17416 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
17417 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
17418 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
17419 read news. Believe it or not.
17421 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
17422 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
17423 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
17424 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
17425 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
17427 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
17428 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
17429 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
17430 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
17431 reading news on a machine.
17433 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
17434 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
17436 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
17439 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
17440 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
17441 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
17442 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
17443 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
17444 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
17445 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
17446 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
17447 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
17448 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
17449 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
17450 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
17451 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
17456 @subsection Agent Basics
17458 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17460 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17461 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17462 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17463 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17465 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17466 connected to the net continuously.
17468 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17469 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17471 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
17472 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
17473 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
17474 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
17475 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
17477 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
17478 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
17479 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
17480 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
17481 they're kinda like plugged always).
17483 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
17484 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
17485 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
17488 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
17489 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
17490 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
17491 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
17492 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
17494 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17499 @findex gnus-unplugged
17500 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17501 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17502 already fetched while in this mode.
17505 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17506 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17507 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17508 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
17509 Source Specifiers}).
17512 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
17513 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
17514 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
17515 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
17516 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
17519 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17520 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17521 then you read the news offline.
17524 And then you go to step 2.
17527 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17533 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17534 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17535 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17536 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17537 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17538 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17539 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17540 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17543 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17544 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17545 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17546 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
17548 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17549 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17550 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17551 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17552 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17553 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17557 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17561 @node Agent Categories
17562 @subsection Agent Categories
17564 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17565 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17566 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17567 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17568 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17569 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17570 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17572 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17573 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17574 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17575 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17576 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17578 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17579 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17580 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17581 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17582 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17585 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17586 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17587 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17588 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17589 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17590 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17594 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17595 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17596 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17600 @node Category Syntax
17601 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17603 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17604 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17605 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17608 @cindex Agent Parameters
17610 @item gnus-agent-cat-name
17611 The name of the category.
17613 @item gnus-agent-cat-groups
17614 The list of groups that are in this category.
17616 @item gnus-agent-cat-predicate
17617 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17618 are eligible for downloading; and
17620 @item gnus-agent-cat-score-file
17621 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17622 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17623 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17625 @item gnus-agent-cat-enable-expiration
17626 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17627 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17628 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17629 only groups that should not be expired.
17631 @item gnus-agent-cat-days-until-old
17632 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17633 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17635 @item gnus-agent-cat-low-score
17636 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17638 @item gnus-agent-cat-high-score
17639 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17641 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-short
17642 an integer that overrides the value of
17643 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17645 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-long
17646 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17648 @c @item gnus-agent-cat-disable-undownloaded-faces
17649 @c a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should @emph{not} display
17650 @c undownloaded articles using the gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face
17651 @c faces. The symbol nil will enable the use of undownloaded faces while
17652 @c all other symbols disable them.
17654 @item gnus-agent-cat-enable-undownloaded-faces
17655 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
17656 undownloaded articles using the gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face
17657 faces. The symbol nil will disable the use of undownloaded faces while
17658 all other symbols enable them.
17661 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17664 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17665 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17666 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17669 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17670 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17671 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17672 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17674 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17675 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17676 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17678 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17679 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17680 operators sprinkled in between.
17682 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17684 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17685 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17691 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17692 short (for some value of ``short'').
17694 Here's a more complex predicate:
17703 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17704 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17707 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17708 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17709 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17711 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17712 you want to do, you can write your own.
17714 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17715 bound to the value determined by calling
17716 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17717 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17718 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17719 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17720 predicate to individual groups.
17724 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17725 lines; default 100.
17728 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17729 lines; default 200.
17732 True iff the article has a download score less than
17733 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17736 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17737 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17740 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17741 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17742 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17751 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17752 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17753 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17756 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17757 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17758 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17759 something along the lines of the following:
17762 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17763 "Say whether an article is old."
17764 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17765 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17768 with the predicate then defined as:
17771 (not my-article-old-p)
17774 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17775 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17779 (require 'gnus-agent)
17780 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17781 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17782 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17785 and simply specify your predicate as:
17791 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17792 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17793 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17794 just don't give a damn.
17796 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17797 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17798 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17799 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
17800 parameters like so:
17803 (agent-predicate . short)
17806 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17807 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17808 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17810 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17813 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17816 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17817 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17818 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17821 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17822 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17823 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17824 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17825 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17826 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17828 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17829 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17830 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17831 if it's to be specific to that group.
17833 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17840 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
17841 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17847 Category specification
17851 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17857 Group/Topic Parameter specification
17860 (agent-score ("from"
17861 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17866 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17872 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17873 keywords stated above.
17879 Category specification
17882 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17888 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17892 Group Parameter specification
17895 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17898 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17903 Use @code{normal} score files
17905 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17906 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17907 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17908 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17910 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17911 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17912 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17913 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17917 Category Specification
17924 Group Parameter specification
17927 (agent-score . file)
17932 @node Category Buffer
17933 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17935 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17936 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17937 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17939 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17943 @kindex q (Category)
17944 @findex gnus-category-exit
17945 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17948 @kindex e (Category)
17949 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
17950 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
17951 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
17954 @kindex k (Category)
17955 @findex gnus-category-kill
17956 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17959 @kindex c (Category)
17960 @findex gnus-category-copy
17961 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17964 @kindex a (Category)
17965 @findex gnus-category-add
17966 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17969 @kindex p (Category)
17970 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17971 Edit the predicate of the current category
17972 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17975 @kindex g (Category)
17976 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17977 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17978 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17981 @kindex s (Category)
17982 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17983 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17984 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17987 @kindex l (Category)
17988 @findex gnus-category-list
17989 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17993 @node Category Variables
17994 @subsubsection Category Variables
17997 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17998 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17999 Hook run in category buffers.
18001 @item gnus-category-line-format
18002 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
18003 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
18004 Variables}). Valid elements are:
18008 The name of the category.
18011 The number of groups in the category.
18014 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
18015 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
18016 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
18018 @item gnus-agent-short-article
18019 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
18020 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
18022 @item gnus-agent-long-article
18023 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
18024 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
18026 @item gnus-agent-low-score
18027 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
18028 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
18031 @item gnus-agent-high-score
18032 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
18033 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18036 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18037 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18038 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18039 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18040 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18041 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18042 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18043 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18047 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18048 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18049 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18050 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18051 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18052 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18053 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18058 @node Agent Commands
18059 @subsection Agent Commands
18060 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18061 @kindex J j (Agent)
18063 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18064 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18065 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18069 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18070 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18071 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18077 @node Group Agent Commands
18078 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18082 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18083 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18084 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18085 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18088 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18089 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18090 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18093 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18094 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18095 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18096 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18099 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18100 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18101 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18102 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18105 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18106 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18107 Add the current group to an Agent category
18108 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18109 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18112 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18113 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18114 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18115 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18116 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18119 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18120 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18121 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18127 @node Summary Agent Commands
18128 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18132 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18133 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18134 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18137 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18138 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18139 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18140 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18144 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18145 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18146 Toggle whether to download the article
18147 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18151 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18152 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18153 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18156 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18157 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18158 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18159 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18162 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18163 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
18164 Download all processable articles in this group.
18165 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
18168 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18169 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18170 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18171 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18176 @node Server Agent Commands
18177 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18181 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18182 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18183 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18184 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18187 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18188 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18189 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18190 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18195 @node Agent Visuals
18196 @subsection Agent Visuals
18198 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18199 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18200 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18201 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18202 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18203 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18204 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18205 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18206 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18207 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18209 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18210 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18211 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18212 way, "If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18213 less than satisfying unplugged session". For this reason, the Agent
18214 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18215 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18216 articles will be available when unplugged.
18218 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18219 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18220 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18221 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18222 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18223 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18224 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18225 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18227 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18228 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18229 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18230 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18231 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18232 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18233 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18234 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18235 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18237 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18238 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18239 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18240 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18241 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear.
18243 For occasional Agent users, the undownloaded faces may appear to be an
18244 absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since most of their
18245 articles have not been fetched into the Agent, most of the normal
18246 faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces. If this is your
18247 situation, you have two choices available. First, you can completely
18248 disable the undownload faces by customizing
18249 @code{gnus-summary-highlight} to delete the three cons-cells that
18250 refer to the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face} faces. Second, if
18251 you prefer to take a more fine-grained approach, you may set the
18252 @code{agent-disable-undownloaded-faces} group parameter to t. This
18253 parameter, like all other agent parameters, may be set on an Agent
18254 Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}), a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic
18255 Parameters}), or an individual group (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18257 @node Agent as Cache
18258 @subsection Agent as Cache
18260 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18261 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18262 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18263 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18264 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18265 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18266 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18267 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18268 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18270 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18271 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18272 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18273 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18274 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
18277 @subsection Agent Expiry
18279 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18280 @findex gnus-agent-expire
18281 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
18282 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
18283 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
18284 @cindex agent expiry
18285 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
18288 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
18289 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
18290 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
18291 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
18292 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
18293 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
18294 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
18295 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
18297 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
18298 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
18299 synchronized with the group.
18301 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
18302 prevent expiration in selected groups.
18304 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
18305 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
18306 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
18307 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
18308 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
18309 be kept indefinitely.
18311 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
18312 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
18313 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
18314 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
18316 @node Agent Regeneration
18317 @subsection Agent Regeneration
18319 @cindex agent regeneration
18320 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
18321 @cindex regeneration
18323 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
18324 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
18325 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
18326 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
18327 internal inconsistencies.
18329 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
18330 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
18331 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
18332 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
18333 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
18334 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
18336 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
18337 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
18338 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
18339 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
18340 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
18341 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
18343 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18344 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18345 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
18346 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
18347 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
18348 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
18351 @node Agent and IMAP
18352 @subsection Agent and IMAP
18354 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
18355 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
18356 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
18357 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
18359 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
18360 are kept on the @acronym{IMAP} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
18361 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
18362 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
18364 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
18365 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
18366 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
18367 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
18369 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18370 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
18371 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
18372 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
18373 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
18374 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
18376 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
18377 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
18378 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
18379 in the group buffer.
18381 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
18382 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
18387 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
18390 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
18394 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
18395 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
18396 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
18397 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group and
18398 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
18399 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
18400 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
18401 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
18404 @node Outgoing Messages
18405 @subsection Outgoing Messages
18407 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
18408 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
18409 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
18411 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
18412 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
18413 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
18414 messages in the draft group.
18418 @node Agent Variables
18419 @subsection Agent Variables
18422 @item gnus-agent-directory
18423 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
18424 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
18425 @file{~/News/agent/}.
18427 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
18428 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
18429 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
18430 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
18431 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
18434 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18435 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18436 Hook run when connecting to the network.
18438 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18439 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18440 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
18442 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18443 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18444 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
18446 @item gnus-agent-cache
18447 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
18448 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
18449 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
18450 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
18452 @item gnus-agent-go-online
18453 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
18454 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
18455 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
18456 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
18457 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
18458 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
18461 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18462 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18463 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
18464 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
18465 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
18466 read. The default is t.
18468 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18469 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18470 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
18471 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
18472 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
18473 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
18474 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
18475 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
18476 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
18477 over and over again.
18479 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18480 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18481 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
18482 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
18483 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
18484 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
18485 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
18486 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
18487 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
18488 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
18489 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
18490 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
18493 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
18494 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
18495 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
18496 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
18497 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
18498 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
18499 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
18500 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
18501 is only valid if the Agent is used.
18503 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18504 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18505 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
18506 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
18507 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
18508 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
18510 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
18511 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
18512 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
18513 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
18514 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
18516 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18517 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18518 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
18519 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
18520 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
18521 which backends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
18522 to agentize remote backends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
18523 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
18524 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
18525 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
18526 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
18531 @node Example Setup
18532 @subsection Example Setup
18534 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
18535 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
18536 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
18539 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
18540 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
18541 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
18543 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
18544 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
18545 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
18547 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
18548 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
18550 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
18551 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
18552 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
18555 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
18556 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
18559 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
18560 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
18561 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
18562 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
18563 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
18566 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
18567 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
18568 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
18569 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
18570 back all the killed groups.)
18572 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18573 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18574 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18577 @node Batching Agents
18578 @subsection Batching Agents
18579 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18581 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18582 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18583 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18585 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18586 following incantation:
18590 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18594 @node Agent Caveats
18595 @subsection Agent Caveats
18597 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18598 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18602 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18604 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18605 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18606 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18608 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18609 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18611 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18615 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18616 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18617 locally stored articles.
18624 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18625 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18626 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18629 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18630 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18631 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18632 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18633 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18635 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18636 before generating the summary buffer.
18638 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18639 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18640 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18642 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18643 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18644 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18645 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18648 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18649 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18650 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18651 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18652 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18653 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18654 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18655 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18656 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18657 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18658 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18659 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18660 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18661 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18662 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
18663 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18664 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18668 @node Summary Score Commands
18669 @section Summary Score Commands
18670 @cindex score commands
18672 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18673 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18674 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18675 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18676 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18678 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18679 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18680 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18681 score file the current one.
18683 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18688 @kindex V s (Summary)
18689 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18690 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18693 @kindex V S (Summary)
18694 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18695 Display the score of the current article
18696 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18699 @kindex V t (Summary)
18700 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18701 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18702 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
18703 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
18704 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
18705 score file and edit it.
18708 @kindex V w (Summary)
18709 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18710 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18713 @kindex V R (Summary)
18714 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18715 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18716 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18717 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18718 effect you're having.
18721 @kindex V c (Summary)
18722 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18723 Make a different score file the current
18724 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18727 @kindex V e (Summary)
18728 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18729 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18730 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18734 @kindex V f (Summary)
18735 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18736 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18737 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18740 @kindex V F (Summary)
18741 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18742 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18743 after editing score files.
18746 @kindex V C (Summary)
18747 @findex gnus-score-customize
18748 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18749 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18753 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18758 @kindex V m (Summary)
18759 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18760 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18761 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18764 @kindex V x (Summary)
18765 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18766 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18767 expunge all articles below this score
18768 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18771 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18772 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18775 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18776 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18780 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18781 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18783 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18784 keys are available:
18788 Score on the author name.
18791 Score on the subject line.
18794 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18797 Score on the @code{References} line.
18803 Score on the number of lines.
18806 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18809 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18810 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18813 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18814 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18815 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18824 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18830 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18831 what headers you are scoring on.
18843 Substring matching.
18846 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18875 Greater than number.
18880 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18881 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18882 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18887 Temporary score entry.
18890 Permanent score entry.
18893 Immediately scoring.
18897 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18898 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18899 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18903 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18904 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18905 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18906 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18908 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18909 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18910 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18911 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18912 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18914 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18915 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18916 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18917 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18918 current score file.
18920 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18921 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18922 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18925 @node Group Score Commands
18926 @section Group Score Commands
18927 @cindex group score commands
18929 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18934 @kindex W e (Group)
18935 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
18936 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
18937 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
18940 @kindex W f (Group)
18941 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18942 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18943 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18944 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18948 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18950 @findex gnus-batch-score
18951 @cindex batch scoring
18953 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18957 @node Score Variables
18958 @section Score Variables
18959 @cindex score variables
18963 @item gnus-use-scoring
18964 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18965 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18966 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18968 @item gnus-kill-killed
18969 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18970 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18971 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18972 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18973 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
18974 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
18975 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
18977 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
18978 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
18979 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
18980 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
18981 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
18983 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
18984 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
18985 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
18986 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
18988 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18989 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18990 @cindex score cache
18991 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
18992 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
18993 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
18994 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
18995 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
18996 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
18997 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
19000 @item gnus-save-score
19001 @vindex gnus-save-score
19002 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
19003 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
19004 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19006 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
19007 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
19008 across group visits.
19010 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19011 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19012 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
19013 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
19014 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
19015 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
19016 manually entered data.
19018 @item gnus-summary-default-score
19019 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
19020 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
19022 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
19023 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
19024 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
19025 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
19026 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
19027 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
19029 @item gnus-score-over-mark
19030 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
19031 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
19032 default. Default is @samp{+}.
19034 @item gnus-score-below-mark
19035 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
19036 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
19037 default. Default is @samp{-}.
19039 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19040 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19041 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19042 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19044 Predefined functions available are:
19047 @item gnus-score-find-single
19048 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19049 Only apply the group's own score file.
19051 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19052 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19053 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19054 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19055 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19056 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19057 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19058 then a regexp match is done.
19060 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19061 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19063 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19064 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19065 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19066 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19068 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19069 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19070 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19071 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19072 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19076 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19077 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19078 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19079 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19080 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19081 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19082 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19085 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19086 overall score file, you could use the value
19088 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19089 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19092 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19093 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19094 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19095 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19096 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19098 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19099 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19100 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19101 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19102 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19103 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19104 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19105 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19107 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19108 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19109 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19111 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19112 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19113 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19114 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19115 threading---according to the current value of
19116 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19117 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19118 simplified in this manner.
19123 @node Score File Format
19124 @section Score File Format
19125 @cindex score file format
19127 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19128 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19129 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19131 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19135 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19137 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19139 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19141 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19146 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19150 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19151 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19152 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19153 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19157 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19158 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19160 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19161 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19162 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19164 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19169 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19170 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19171 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19172 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19173 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19174 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19175 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19176 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19177 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19178 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19179 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19180 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19181 to articles that matches these score entries.
19183 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19184 score entry has one to four elements.
19188 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19189 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19193 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19194 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19195 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19196 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19197 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19198 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19201 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19202 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19203 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19204 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19205 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19208 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19209 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19210 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19211 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19214 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19215 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19216 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19217 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19218 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19219 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19220 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19221 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19222 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19223 instead, if you feel like.
19226 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19227 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19228 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19229 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19230 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
19231 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
19235 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
19236 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
19240 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
19241 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
19243 These predicates are true if
19246 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
19249 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
19250 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
19257 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
19258 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
19259 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
19260 it's not. I think.)
19262 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
19263 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
19264 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
19265 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
19268 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
19269 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
19270 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
19271 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
19272 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
19273 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
19274 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
19278 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
19279 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
19280 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
19281 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
19282 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
19283 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
19284 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
19285 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
19288 @item Head, Body, All
19289 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
19293 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
19294 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
19295 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
19296 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
19297 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
19298 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
19299 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
19303 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
19304 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
19305 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
19306 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
19307 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
19308 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
19309 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
19310 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
19311 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
19312 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
19313 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
19317 @cindex score file atoms
19319 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19320 lower than this number will be marked as read.
19323 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19324 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
19326 @item mark-and-expunge
19327 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19328 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
19331 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
19332 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
19333 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
19334 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
19335 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
19338 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
19339 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
19342 @item exclude-files
19343 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
19344 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
19348 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
19349 ignored when handling global score files.
19352 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
19353 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
19354 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
19355 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
19358 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
19359 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
19360 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
19361 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
19363 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
19367 (mark-and-expunge -100)
19370 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
19371 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
19372 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
19373 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
19374 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
19376 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
19377 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
19378 scoring rules exist.
19381 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
19382 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
19383 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
19384 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
19385 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
19386 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
19387 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19388 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
19389 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
19390 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
19391 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
19395 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
19396 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
19397 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
19398 file for a number of groups.
19401 @cindex local variables
19402 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
19403 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
19404 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
19405 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
19406 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
19411 @node Score File Editing
19412 @section Score File Editing
19414 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
19415 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
19416 with a mode for that.
19418 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
19419 additional commands:
19424 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
19425 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
19426 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
19427 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
19430 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
19431 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
19432 Insert the current date in numerical format
19433 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
19434 you were wondering.
19437 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
19438 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
19439 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
19440 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
19441 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
19446 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
19448 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
19449 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
19451 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
19452 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
19455 @node Adaptive Scoring
19456 @section Adaptive Scoring
19457 @cindex adaptive scoring
19459 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
19460 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
19461 stupidity, to be precise.
19463 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
19464 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
19465 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
19466 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
19467 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19468 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
19469 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
19470 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
19471 variable to @code{(word line)}.
19473 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19474 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
19475 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
19476 might look something like this:
19479 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19480 '((gnus-unread-mark)
19481 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
19482 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
19483 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
19484 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
19485 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
19486 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
19487 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
19488 (gnus-ancient-mark)
19489 (gnus-low-score-mark)
19490 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
19493 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
19494 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
19495 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
19496 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
19497 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
19498 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
19501 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
19502 will be applied to each article.
19504 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
19505 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
19506 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
19507 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
19509 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
19510 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
19511 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
19512 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
19514 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
19515 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
19516 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
19517 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
19519 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
19520 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
19521 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
19522 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
19523 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
19524 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
19526 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
19527 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
19528 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
19530 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
19531 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
19532 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
19534 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
19535 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
19536 let you use different rules in different groups.
19538 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
19539 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
19540 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
19543 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
19544 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
19545 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
19546 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
19547 the length of the match is less than
19548 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
19549 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
19552 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19553 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
19554 headers. If you adapt on words, the
19555 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
19556 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
19559 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19560 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
19561 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
19562 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
19563 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
19566 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
19567 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
19568 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
19569 score with 30 points.
19571 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
19572 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
19573 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
19574 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
19575 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
19577 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
19578 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
19579 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
19580 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
19581 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19583 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19584 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19585 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19586 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19588 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19589 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19590 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19591 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19593 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19594 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19595 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19596 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19597 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19599 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19600 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19601 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19603 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19604 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19605 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19606 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19609 @node Home Score File
19610 @section Home Score File
19612 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19613 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19614 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19615 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19617 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19618 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19619 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19621 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19622 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19627 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19631 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19632 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19636 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19640 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19641 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19644 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
19645 be used as the home score file.
19648 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19651 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19656 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19659 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19660 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19663 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19664 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19666 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19668 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19669 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19672 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19673 Other functions include
19676 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19677 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19678 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19679 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19683 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19684 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19685 their own home score files:
19688 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19689 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
19690 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19691 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
19692 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19695 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19696 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19697 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19698 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19699 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19701 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19702 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19703 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19704 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19705 precedence over this variable.
19708 @node Followups To Yourself
19709 @section Followups To Yourself
19711 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19712 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19713 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19714 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19715 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19716 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19720 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19721 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19722 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19725 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19726 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19727 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19731 @vindex message-sent-hook
19732 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19733 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19735 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19739 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19740 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19744 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19745 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19748 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19749 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19754 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19758 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19759 is system-dependent.
19762 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19763 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19764 @cindex scoring on other headers
19766 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19767 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19768 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19769 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19770 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19772 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19773 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
19774 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
19775 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
19776 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19778 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
19781 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19782 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19785 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19786 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19787 time if you have much mail.
19789 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19790 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19796 @section Scoring Tips
19797 @cindex scoring tips
19803 @cindex scoring crossposts
19804 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19805 the @code{Xref} header.
19807 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19810 @item Multiple crossposts
19811 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19812 more than, say, 3 groups:
19815 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19819 @item Matching on the body
19820 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19821 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19822 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19823 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19824 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19825 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19826 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19829 @item Marking as read
19830 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19831 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19832 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19836 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19838 @item Negated character classes
19839 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19840 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19841 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19845 @node Reverse Scoring
19846 @section Reverse Scoring
19847 @cindex reverse scoring
19849 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19850 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19851 like this in your score file:
19855 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19860 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19861 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19864 @node Global Score Files
19865 @section Global Score Files
19866 @cindex global score files
19868 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19869 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19870 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19872 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19873 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19874 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19876 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19877 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19878 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19879 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19880 files are applicable to which group.
19882 To use the score file
19883 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19884 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19888 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19889 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19890 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19893 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19895 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19896 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19897 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19898 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19900 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19901 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19903 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19904 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19905 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19906 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19907 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19908 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19910 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19916 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19918 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19920 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19922 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19923 lowered out of existence.
19925 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19926 articles completely.
19929 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19930 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19931 old articles for a long time.
19934 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19935 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19936 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19937 holding our breath yet?
19941 @section Kill Files
19944 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19945 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19946 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19948 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19949 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19950 files into score files.
19952 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19953 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19954 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19955 that isn't a very good idea.
19957 Normal kill files look like this:
19960 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19961 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19965 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19966 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19968 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19969 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19972 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
19977 @kindex M-k (Summary)
19978 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
19979 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
19982 @kindex M-K (Summary)
19983 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
19984 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
19987 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
19992 @kindex M-k (Group)
19993 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
19994 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
19997 @kindex M-K (Group)
19998 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
19999 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
20002 Kill file variables:
20005 @item gnus-kill-file-name
20006 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
20007 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
20008 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
20009 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
20010 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
20011 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
20013 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20014 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20015 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
20016 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
20019 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
20020 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
20021 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
20022 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
20023 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
20024 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
20025 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
20026 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
20027 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
20029 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20030 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20031 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
20036 @node Converting Kill Files
20037 @section Converting Kill Files
20039 @cindex converting kill files
20041 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20042 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20043 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20046 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
20047 You can fetch it from
20048 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20050 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20051 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20052 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20060 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
20061 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
20063 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/, GroupLens} is a
20064 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
20065 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
20066 news articles generated every day.
20068 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
20069 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
20070 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
20071 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
20072 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
20073 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
20074 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
20075 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
20079 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
20080 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
20081 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
20082 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
20086 @node Using GroupLens
20087 @subsection Using GroupLens
20089 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local
20090 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html, Better Bit
20091 Bureau (BBB)} is the only better bit in town at the moment.
20093 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
20097 @item gnus-use-grouplens
20098 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
20099 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
20100 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
20102 @item grouplens-pseudonym
20103 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
20104 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
20105 with the Better Bit Bureau.
20107 @item grouplens-newsgroups
20108 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
20109 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
20113 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
20114 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
20115 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
20116 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
20117 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
20118 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
20121 @node Rating Articles
20122 @subsection Rating Articles
20124 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
20125 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
20126 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
20127 yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
20130 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
20135 @kindex r (GroupLens)
20136 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
20137 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
20140 @kindex k (GroupLens)
20141 @findex grouplens-score-thread
20142 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
20143 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
20144 threads in rec.humor.
20148 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
20149 the score of the article you're reading.
20154 @kindex n (GroupLens)
20155 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
20156 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
20159 @kindex , (GroupLens)
20160 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
20161 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
20165 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
20166 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
20169 @node Displaying Predictions
20170 @subsection Displaying Predictions
20172 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
20173 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
20174 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
20175 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
20176 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
20178 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
20179 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
20180 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
20181 regular Gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
20182 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
20183 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
20184 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
20185 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
20186 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
20187 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
20188 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
20189 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
20190 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
20192 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
20193 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
20194 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
20195 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
20197 The following are valid values for that variable.
20200 @item prediction-spot
20201 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
20204 @item confidence-interval
20205 A numeric confidence interval.
20207 @item prediction-bar
20208 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
20210 @item confidence-bar
20211 Numerical confidence.
20213 @item confidence-spot
20214 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
20216 @item prediction-num
20217 Plain-old numeric value.
20219 @item confidence-plus-minus
20220 Prediction +/- confidence.
20225 @node GroupLens Variables
20226 @subsection GroupLens Variables
20230 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
20231 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
20232 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
20233 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
20236 @item grouplens-bbb-host
20237 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
20240 @item grouplens-bbb-port
20241 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
20243 @item grouplens-score-offset
20244 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
20245 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
20248 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
20249 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
20250 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
20255 @node Advanced Scoring
20256 @section Advanced Scoring
20258 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20259 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20260 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20261 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20262 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20264 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20268 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20269 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20270 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20274 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20275 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20277 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20278 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20279 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20280 non-@code{nil} value.
20282 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20283 operator, and various match operators.
20290 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20291 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20292 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20297 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20298 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20299 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20304 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20305 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20309 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20310 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20311 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20312 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20313 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20314 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20315 the ancestry you want to go.
20317 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20318 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20319 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20320 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20321 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20324 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20325 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20327 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20328 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20331 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20332 when he's talking about Gnus:
20337 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20338 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20345 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20349 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20356 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20357 really don't want to read what he's written:
20361 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20362 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
20366 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20367 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20368 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20375 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20376 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20377 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20378 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20382 The possibilities are endless.
20385 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20386 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20388 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20389 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20390 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20391 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20392 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20393 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20394 @samp{subject}) first.
20396 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20397 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20408 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20409 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20415 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20422 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20423 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20428 @section Score Decays
20429 @cindex score decays
20432 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20433 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20434 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20435 use them in any sensible way.
20437 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20438 @findex gnus-decay-score
20439 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20440 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20441 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20442 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20443 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20444 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
20445 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
20446 definition of that function:
20449 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20450 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20451 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20453 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
20455 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20457 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20458 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
20459 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
20460 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
20461 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
20463 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
20467 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20468 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20469 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20470 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20474 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20477 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20480 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20484 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20485 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20486 the new score, which should be an integer.
20488 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20489 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20494 @include message.texi
20495 @chapter Emacs MIME
20496 @include emacs-mime.texi
20498 @include sieve.texi
20510 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
20511 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
20512 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
20513 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
20514 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
20515 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
20516 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
20517 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
20518 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
20519 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
20520 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
20521 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
20522 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
20523 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
20524 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
20525 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
20526 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
20527 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
20528 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
20529 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
20533 @node Process/Prefix
20534 @section Process/Prefix
20535 @cindex process/prefix convention
20537 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
20538 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
20540 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
20541 command to be performed on.
20545 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
20546 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
20547 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
20548 with the current one.
20550 @vindex transient-mark-mode
20551 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
20552 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
20554 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
20555 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
20558 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
20559 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
20561 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
20564 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
20565 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
20566 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
20567 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20569 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
20570 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
20571 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
20572 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
20573 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
20574 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
20575 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
20576 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
20578 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
20579 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
20580 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
20581 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
20582 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
20586 @section Interactive
20587 @cindex interaction
20591 @item gnus-novice-user
20592 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20593 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20594 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20595 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20596 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20599 @item gnus-expert-user
20600 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20601 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20602 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20603 matter how strange.
20605 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20606 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20607 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20608 is @code{t} by default.
20610 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20611 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20612 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20617 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20618 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20619 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20621 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20622 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20623 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20624 rule of 900 to the current article.
20626 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20627 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20628 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20629 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20630 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20631 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20632 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20634 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20635 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20636 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20637 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20638 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20639 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20640 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20641 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20642 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20644 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20645 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20646 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20648 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20652 @node Formatting Variables
20653 @section Formatting Variables
20654 @cindex formatting variables
20656 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20657 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20658 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20659 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20660 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20663 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20664 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20665 lots of percentages everywhere.
20668 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20669 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20670 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20671 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20672 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20673 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20674 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20675 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20678 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20679 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20680 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20681 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20682 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20683 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20684 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20685 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20687 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20688 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20690 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20691 @findex gnus-update-format
20692 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20693 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20694 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20695 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20699 @node Formatting Basics
20700 @subsection Formatting Basics
20702 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20703 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20704 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20706 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20707 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20708 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20709 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20710 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20713 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20714 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20715 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20716 less than 4 characters wide.
20718 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20719 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20722 @node Mode Line Formatting
20723 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20725 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20726 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20727 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20728 with the following two differences:
20733 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20736 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20737 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20738 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20739 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20740 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20741 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20742 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20747 @node Advanced Formatting
20748 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20750 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20751 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20752 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20753 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20755 These are the valid modifiers:
20760 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20764 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20769 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20772 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20777 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20780 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20783 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20786 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20792 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20797 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20798 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20799 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20800 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20801 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20802 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20803 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20805 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20806 last operation, padding.
20808 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
20809 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
20810 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
20811 @xref{Compilation}.
20814 @node User-Defined Specs
20815 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20817 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20818 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20819 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20820 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20821 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20822 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20823 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20824 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20825 should protect against that.
20827 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20828 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20830 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20831 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20832 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20833 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20837 @node Formatting Fonts
20838 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20840 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20841 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20842 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20843 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20846 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20847 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20848 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20849 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20850 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20851 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20853 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20854 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20855 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20856 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20857 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20858 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20859 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20860 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20861 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20862 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20863 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20866 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20869 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
20870 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20871 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20873 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
20874 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
20875 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
20876 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20877 ;; @r{Set the color.}
20878 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20879 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20881 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
20882 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20883 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20886 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20887 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20889 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20890 mode-line variables.
20892 @node Positioning Point
20893 @subsection Positioning Point
20895 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20896 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20897 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20899 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20901 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20902 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20903 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20905 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20906 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20907 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20912 @subsection Tabulation
20914 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20915 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20916 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20917 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20919 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
20920 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20922 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20923 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20924 This is the soft tabulator.
20926 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20927 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20928 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20931 @node Wide Characters
20932 @subsection Wide Characters
20934 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20935 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20936 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20938 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20939 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20940 these countries, that's not true.
20942 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20943 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20944 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20945 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20949 @node Window Layout
20950 @section Window Layout
20951 @cindex window layout
20953 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20955 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20956 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20957 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20958 @code{t} by default.
20960 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20961 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20963 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20964 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20965 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20968 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20969 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20970 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20974 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20975 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20976 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20977 possible names is listed below.
20979 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20980 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20983 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20987 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20988 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20989 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20990 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20991 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20992 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20993 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20994 size spec per split.
20996 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20997 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20998 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20999 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
21000 present) gets focus.
21002 Here's a more complicated example:
21005 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
21006 (summary 0.25 point)
21007 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
21011 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
21012 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
21013 occupy, not a percentage.
21015 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
21016 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
21017 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
21018 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
21019 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
21022 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
21025 (article (horizontal 1.0
21030 (summary 0.25 point)
21035 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
21036 @code{horizontal} thingie?
21038 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
21039 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
21040 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
21041 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
21042 the screen is to be given to this strip.
21044 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
21045 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
21046 lines from the splits.
21048 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
21053 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
21054 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
21055 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
21056 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
21057 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
21058 size = number | frame-params
21059 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
21063 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
21064 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
21065 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
21066 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
21068 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
21069 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
21070 @cindex window height
21071 @cindex window width
21072 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
21073 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
21074 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
21075 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
21076 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
21077 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
21079 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
21080 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
21081 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
21082 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
21084 @findex gnus-configure-frame
21085 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
21086 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
21087 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
21088 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
21089 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
21090 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
21091 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
21092 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
21093 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
21094 configuration list.
21097 (gnus-configure-frame
21101 (article 0.3 point))
21109 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
21110 @code{frame} split:
21113 (gnus-configure-frame
21116 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
21118 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
21119 (user-position . t)
21120 (left . -1) (top . 1))
21125 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
21126 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
21127 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
21128 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
21129 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
21130 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
21131 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
21132 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
21134 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
21135 be found in its default value.
21137 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
21138 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
21139 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
21143 (message (horizontal 1.0
21144 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
21146 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
21151 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
21152 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
21153 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
21158 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
21159 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
21160 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
21161 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
21162 (name . "Message"))
21163 (message 1.0 point))))
21166 @findex gnus-add-configuration
21167 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
21168 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
21169 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
21170 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
21173 (gnus-add-configuration
21174 '(article (vertical 1.0
21176 (summary .25 point)
21180 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
21181 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
21182 Gnus has been loaded.
21184 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
21185 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
21186 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
21187 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
21188 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
21190 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
21191 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
21192 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
21195 @subsection Example Window Configurations
21199 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
21200 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
21215 (gnus-add-configuration
21218 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21220 (summary 0.16 point)
21223 (gnus-add-configuration
21226 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21227 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21233 @node Faces and Fonts
21234 @section Faces and Fonts
21239 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21240 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21241 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21246 @section Compilation
21247 @cindex compilation
21248 @cindex byte-compilation
21250 @findex gnus-compile
21252 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21253 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21254 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
21255 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21256 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21257 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21260 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21261 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21262 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21263 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
21264 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
21265 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
21266 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
21270 @section Mode Lines
21273 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21274 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21275 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21276 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21277 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21278 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21279 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21282 @cindex display-time
21284 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21285 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21286 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21287 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21288 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21289 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21290 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21291 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21294 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21296 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21297 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21299 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21300 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21301 (length display-time-string)))))
21304 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21305 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21306 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21307 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21308 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21311 @node Highlighting and Menus
21312 @section Highlighting and Menus
21314 @cindex highlighting
21317 @vindex gnus-visual
21318 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
21319 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
21320 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
21323 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
21324 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
21327 @item group-highlight
21328 Do highlights in the group buffer.
21329 @item summary-highlight
21330 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
21331 @item article-highlight
21332 Do highlights in the article buffer.
21334 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
21336 Create menus in the group buffer.
21338 Create menus in the summary buffers.
21340 Create menus in the article buffer.
21342 Create menus in the browse buffer.
21344 Create menus in the server buffer.
21346 Create menus in the score buffers.
21348 Create menus in all buffers.
21351 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
21352 buffers, you could say something like:
21355 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
21358 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
21361 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
21364 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
21365 in all Gnus buffers.
21367 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
21370 @item gnus-mouse-face
21371 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
21372 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
21373 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
21377 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
21381 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
21382 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
21383 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
21385 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
21386 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
21387 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
21389 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
21390 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
21391 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
21393 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
21394 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
21395 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
21397 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
21398 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
21399 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
21401 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
21402 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
21403 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
21414 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
21415 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
21416 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
21417 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
21418 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
21422 @vindex gnus-carpal
21423 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
21424 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
21425 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
21430 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21431 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21432 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
21434 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
21435 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
21436 Face used on buttons.
21438 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
21439 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
21440 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
21442 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21443 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21444 Buttons in the group buffer.
21446 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21447 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21448 Buttons in the summary buffer.
21450 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21451 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21452 Buttons in the server buffer.
21454 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21455 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21456 Buttons in the browse buffer.
21459 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
21460 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
21461 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
21469 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
21470 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
21471 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
21472 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
21473 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
21475 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
21476 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
21477 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
21479 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
21480 been idle for thirty minutes:
21483 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
21486 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
21490 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
21493 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
21494 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
21495 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21497 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
21498 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
21499 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
21500 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21502 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
21503 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
21504 @var{idle} minutes.
21506 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
21507 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
21510 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
21511 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
21512 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
21514 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
21515 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
21516 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
21517 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
21519 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
21520 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21522 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
21524 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
21527 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
21528 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
21529 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
21530 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
21531 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
21532 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
21533 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
21534 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
21535 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
21536 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
21537 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
21539 @findex gnus-demon-init
21540 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
21541 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
21542 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
21543 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
21544 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
21546 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
21547 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
21548 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
21557 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
21558 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
21560 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
21561 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
21562 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
21563 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
21566 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
21567 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
21568 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
21569 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
21571 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
21572 this will make spam disappear.
21574 There are some variables to customize, of course:
21577 @item gnus-use-nocem
21578 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
21579 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
21582 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21583 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21584 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21587 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21588 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
21591 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21592 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21593 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21594 people you want to listen to. The default is
21596 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
21597 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
21599 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21601 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
21602 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21604 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21605 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21606 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21607 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21608 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21609 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21610 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21611 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21612 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21613 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21615 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21616 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21619 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21622 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21623 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21626 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21629 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21632 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21633 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21635 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21636 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21637 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21638 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21640 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21641 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21644 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21646 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21654 This might be dangerous, though.
21656 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21657 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21658 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
21659 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21661 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21662 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21663 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21664 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21665 might then see old spam.
21667 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21668 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21669 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21670 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21671 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21674 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21675 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21676 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21677 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21681 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21682 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21683 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21684 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21691 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21692 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21693 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21695 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21696 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21697 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21698 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21699 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21700 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21701 @code{undo} function.
21703 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21704 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21705 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21706 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21707 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21708 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21709 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21710 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21711 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21712 never be totally undoable.
21714 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21715 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21717 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21718 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21719 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21720 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21724 @node Predicate Specifiers
21725 @section Predicate Specifiers
21726 @cindex predicate specifiers
21728 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21729 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21730 to type all that much.
21732 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21737 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21738 gnus-article-unread-p)
21741 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21742 functions all take one parameter.
21744 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21745 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21746 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21747 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21752 @section Moderation
21755 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21756 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21757 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21760 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21764 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21767 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21769 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21774 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21775 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21776 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21779 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21780 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21783 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21784 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21788 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21791 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21792 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21796 @node Image Enhancements
21797 @section Image Enhancements
21799 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
21800 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
21801 taken advantage of that.
21804 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21805 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
21806 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21807 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21808 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21816 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21817 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21818 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21822 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21823 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21824 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21832 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21833 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21834 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21835 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21837 The variable that controls this is the
21838 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21839 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21840 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21841 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21842 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21844 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21845 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21846 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21847 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21850 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21851 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21852 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21853 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21854 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21855 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21856 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21857 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21859 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21862 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21863 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21865 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21866 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21867 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21868 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21869 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21870 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21871 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21872 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21873 header data as a string.
21875 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21876 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21877 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21878 randomly generated data.
21880 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21881 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21882 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21883 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21884 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21886 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21887 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21890 (setq message-required-news-headers
21891 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21892 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21895 Using the last function would be something like this:
21898 (setq message-required-news-headers
21899 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21900 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21901 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21902 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21910 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
21912 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
21913 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
21914 represent the author of the message.
21917 @findex gnus-article-display-face
21918 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
21919 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
21922 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21923 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
21925 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
21926 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
21927 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
21929 @findex gnus-face-from-file
21930 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
21931 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
21932 converts the file to Face format by using the
21933 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
21935 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
21936 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21939 (setq message-required-news-headers
21940 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21941 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
21942 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
21947 @subsection Smileys
21952 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21957 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21958 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21960 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21961 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21964 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21967 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21968 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21969 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21970 text and maps that to file names.
21972 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21973 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21974 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21975 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21976 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21979 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21984 @item smiley-data-directory
21985 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21986 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21988 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21989 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21990 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
22004 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
22005 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
22006 over your shoulder as you read news.
22008 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
22017 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
22018 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
22019 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
22020 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
22021 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
22022 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
22023 @code{GIF} formats.
22026 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
22027 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
22028 point your Web browser at
22029 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
22031 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
22032 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
22034 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
22035 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
22038 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
22042 @item gnus-picon-databases
22043 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
22044 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
22045 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
22046 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
22047 "/usr/local/faces")}.
22049 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
22050 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
22051 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22052 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
22054 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
22055 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
22056 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
22057 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
22059 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
22060 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
22061 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22062 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
22063 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
22065 @item gnus-picon-file-types
22066 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
22067 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
22068 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
22074 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
22077 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22078 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22079 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
22080 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
22081 unusual directory structure.
22083 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
22084 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
22085 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
22086 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
22088 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
22089 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
22090 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
22091 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
22092 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
22093 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
22095 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22096 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22097 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
22102 @subsubsection Toolbar
22106 @item gnus-use-toolbar
22107 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
22108 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
22109 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
22110 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
22112 @item gnus-group-toolbar
22113 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
22114 The toolbar in the group buffer.
22116 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
22117 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
22118 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
22120 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22121 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22122 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
22133 @node Fuzzy Matching
22134 @section Fuzzy Matching
22135 @cindex fuzzy matching
22137 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
22138 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
22140 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
22141 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
22142 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
22144 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
22145 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
22146 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
22147 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
22148 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
22151 @node Thwarting Email Spam
22152 @section Thwarting Email Spam
22156 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22158 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
22159 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
22160 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
22161 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
22162 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
22163 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
22164 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
22165 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
22168 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
22169 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
22170 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
22171 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
22172 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
22173 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
22175 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
22178 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
22179 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
22180 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
22181 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
22182 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
22183 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
22186 @node The problem of spam
22187 @subsection The problem of spam
22189 @cindex spam filtering approaches
22190 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
22192 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22194 First, some background on spam.
22196 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
22197 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
22198 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
22199 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
22200 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
22201 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
22202 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
22203 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
22204 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
22206 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
22207 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
22208 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
22209 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
22210 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
22211 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
22212 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
22213 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
22214 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
22217 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
22218 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
22219 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
22220 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
22221 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
22222 lots of spam from China, for example, you try to filter all mail from
22225 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. For
22226 instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has been
22227 blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
22228 words that were common in spam messages. The risks of blocking a
22229 whole country from contacting you should also be obvious, so don't do
22230 it if you have the choice. Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with
22231 great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
22233 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22234 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22235 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22236 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22237 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
22238 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
22239 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
22240 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
22241 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22243 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22244 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22245 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22246 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22247 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22248 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
22249 down for some time because of the incident.
22251 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22252 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22253 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22254 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22255 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22256 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22257 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22258 to store the database of spam analyses. Statistical analysis on the
22259 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
22260 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
22261 the server that it has misclassified mail.
22263 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
22264 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
22265 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
22266 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
22267 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
22268 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
22269 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
22272 @node Anti-Spam Basics
22273 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
22277 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22279 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
22280 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
22282 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
22283 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
22284 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
22285 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
22286 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
22287 part of the mail address.)
22290 (setq message-default-news-headers
22291 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
22294 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22295 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22299 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
22300 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
22301 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
22306 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
22307 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
22308 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
22309 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
22311 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
22312 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
22313 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
22314 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
22315 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
22316 your fancy split rule in this way:
22321 (to "larsi" "misc")
22325 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
22326 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
22327 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
22328 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
22329 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
22331 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
22332 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
22333 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
22334 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
22336 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
22340 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
22341 @cindex SpamAssassin
22342 @cindex Vipul's Razor
22345 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
22346 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
22347 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
22348 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
22349 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
22350 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
22351 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
22353 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
22354 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
22355 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
22358 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
22359 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
22360 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
22361 Specifiers}) follow.
22365 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
22369 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
22372 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
22373 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
22374 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
22377 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
22381 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22384 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
22385 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
22389 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
22390 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
22391 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
22392 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
22395 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
22397 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
22401 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
22402 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
22406 Note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will not be
22407 downloaded by default. You need to set
22408 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to t to do that (@pxref{Splitting in
22411 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
22412 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
22413 spam. And here is the nifty function:
22416 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
22417 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
22419 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
22420 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
22421 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
22425 @subsection Hashcash
22428 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
22429 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
22430 you cannot rely on everyone in the world using this technique,
22431 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
22432 in smaller communities.
22434 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
22435 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
22436 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
22437 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
22438 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
22439 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
22440 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
22441 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
22442 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
22443 one of them separately.
22446 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
22447 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
22448 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
22449 header. For more details, and for the external application
22450 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
22451 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
22452 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
22454 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
22458 (require 'hashcash)
22459 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
22462 The @file{hashcash.el} library can be found in the Gnus development
22463 contrib directory or at
22464 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}.
22466 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
22470 @item hashcash-default-payment
22471 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
22472 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
22473 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
22474 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
22476 @item hashcash-payment-alist
22477 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
22478 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
22479 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
22480 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
22481 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
22482 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
22483 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
22484 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
22488 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
22492 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
22493 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
22494 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
22495 a useful contribution, however.
22497 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22498 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22499 @cindex spam filtering
22502 The idea behind @file{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
22503 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @file{spam.el} does two things: it
22504 filters new mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
22505 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @file{spam.el} to indicate
22508 First of all, you @strong{must} run the function
22509 @code{spam-initialize} to autoload @code{spam.el} and to install the
22510 @code{spam.el} hooks. There is one exception: if you use the
22511 @code{spam-use-stat} (@pxref{spam-stat spam filtering}) setting, you
22512 should turn it on before @code{spam-initialize}:
22515 (setq spam-use-stat t) ;; if needed
22519 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
22521 First, some hooks will get installed by @code{spam-initialize}. There
22522 are some hooks for @code{spam-stat} so it can save its databases, and
22523 there are hooks so interesting things will happen when you enter and
22524 leave a group. More on the sequence of events later (@pxref{Spam
22525 ELisp Package Sequence of Events}).
22527 You get the following keyboard commands:
22537 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
22538 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
22540 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
22541 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
22542 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
22543 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
22549 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
22550 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
22552 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
22558 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
22559 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
22563 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
22564 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
22565 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
22566 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
22567 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22568 * BBDB Whitelists::
22569 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
22570 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
22572 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22574 * ifile spam filtering::
22575 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22577 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
22580 @node Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
22581 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
22582 @cindex spam filtering
22583 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
22586 You must read this section to understand how @code{spam.el} works.
22587 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
22589 There are two @emph{contact points}, if you will, between
22590 @code{spam.el} and the rest of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and
22593 Getting new mail is done in one of two ways. You can either split
22594 your incoming mail or you can classify new articles as ham or spam
22595 when you enter the group.
22597 Splitting incoming mail is better suited to mail backends such as
22598 @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap} where new mail appears in a single file
22599 called a @dfn{Spool File}. See @xref{Spam ELisp Package Filtering of
22602 For backends such as @code{nntp} there is no incoming mail spool, so
22603 an alternate mechanism must be used. This may also happen for
22604 backends where the server is in charge of splitting incoming mail, and
22605 Gnus does not do further splitting. The @code{spam-autodetect} and
22606 @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameters (accessible with
22607 @kbd{G c} and @kbd{G p} as usual), and the corresponding variables
22608 @code{gnus-spam-autodetect-methods} and
22609 @code{gnus-spam-autodetect-methods} (accessible with @kbd{M-x
22610 customize-variable} as usual).
22612 When @code{spam-autodetect} is used, it hooks into the process of
22613 entering a group. Thus, entering a group with unseen or unread
22614 articles becomes the substitute for checking incoming mail. Whether
22615 only unseen articles or all unread articles will be processed is
22616 determined by the @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages}. When set
22617 to t, unread messages will be rechecked.
22619 @code{spam-autodetect} grants the user at once more and less control
22620 of spam filtering. The user will have more control over each group's
22621 spam methods, so for instance the @samp{ding} group may have
22622 @code{spam-use-BBDB} as the autodetection method, while the
22623 @samp{suspect} group may have the @code{spam-use-blacklist} and
22624 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods enabled. Every article detected to
22625 be spam will be marked with the spam mark @samp{$} and processed on
22626 exit from the group as normal spam. The user has less control over
22627 the @emph{sequence} of checks, as he might with @code{spam-split}.
22629 When the newly split mail goes into groups, or messages are
22630 autodetected to be ham or spam, those groups must be exited (after
22631 entering, if needed) for further spam processing to happen. It
22632 matters whether the group is considered a ham group, a spam group, or
22633 is unclassified, based on its @code{spam-content} parameter
22634 (@pxref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). Spam groups have the
22635 additional characteristic that, when entered, any unseen or unread
22636 articles (depending on the @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam}
22637 variable) will be marked as spam. Thus, mail split into a spam group
22638 gets automatically marked as spam when you enter the group.
22640 So, when you exit a group, the @code{spam-processors} are applied, if
22641 any are set, and the processed mail is moved to the
22642 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination}
22643 depending on the article's classification. If the
22644 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination},
22645 whichever is appropriate, are nil, the article is left in the current
22648 If a spam is found in any group (this can be changed to only non-spam
22649 groups with @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only}), it is
22650 processed by the active @code{spam-processors} (@pxref{Spam ELisp
22651 Package Global Variables}) when the group is exited. Furthermore, the
22652 spam is moved to the @code{spam-process-destination} (@pxref{Spam
22653 ELisp Package Global Variables}) for further training or deletion.
22654 You have to load the @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
22655 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want spam to be processed
22656 no more than once. Thus, spam is detected and processed everywhere,
22657 which is what most people want. If the
22658 @code{spam-process-destination} is nil, the spam is marked as
22659 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
22661 If spam can not be moved - because of a read-only backend such as NNTP,
22662 for example, it will be copied.
22664 If a ham mail is found in a ham group, as determined by the
22665 @code{ham-marks} parameter, it is processed as ham by the active ham
22666 @code{spam-processor} when the group is exited. With the variables
22667 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
22668 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} the behavior can be further
22669 altered so ham found anywhere can be processed. You have to load the
22670 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
22671 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want ham to be processed
22672 no more than once. Thus, ham is detected and processed only when
22673 necessary, which is what most people want. More on this in
22674 @xref{Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples}.
22676 If ham can not be moved - because of a read-only backend such as NNTP,
22677 for example, it will be copied.
22679 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
22680 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface... err, sorry, that's
22681 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
22683 @node Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
22684 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
22685 @cindex spam filtering
22686 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
22689 To use the @file{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
22690 must add the following to your fancy split list
22691 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
22697 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
22698 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
22699 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
22701 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
22702 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
22703 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
22704 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}. Make sure the contents
22705 of @code{spam-split-group} are an @emph{unqualified} group name, for
22706 instance in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server} the value
22707 @samp{spam} will turn out to be @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The
22708 value @samp{nnimap+server:spam}, therefore, is wrong and will
22709 actually give you the group
22710 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam} which may or may not
22711 work depending on your server's tolerance for strange group names.
22713 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
22714 e.g. @samp{'spam-use-regex-headers} or @samp{"maybe-spam"}. Why is
22717 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
22718 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
22721 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22722 (any "ding" "ding")
22728 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
22729 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
22730 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
22731 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
22732 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
22733 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
22735 You can let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, but all other
22736 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
22737 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
22740 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22741 ;;; all spam detected by spam-use-regex-headers goes to "regex-spam"
22742 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22743 (any "ding" "ding")
22744 ;;; all other spam detected by spam-split goes to spam-split-group
22750 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
22751 your particular needs, and to target the results of those checks to a
22752 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
22753 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
22754 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
22755 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
22756 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
22758 You should still have specific checks such as
22759 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you
22760 specifically invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is
22761 that when loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done
22762 depending on what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. This
22763 is usually not critical, though.
22765 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
22767 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22768 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22769 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
22770 message headers. If you use @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
22771 @code{spam-check-ifile}, or @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that
22772 can benefit from the full message body), you should set this variable.
22773 It is not set by default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and
22774 that is not an appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user.
22776 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22778 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
22779 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
22782 @node Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
22783 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
22784 @cindex spam filtering
22785 @cindex spam filtering variables
22786 @cindex spam variables
22789 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
22790 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
22791 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
22792 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
22793 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
22794 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
22795 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
22796 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
22797 will be detected later.
22799 The format of the spam or ham processor entry used to be a symbol,
22800 but now it is a cons cell. See the individual spam processor entries
22801 for more information.
22803 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22804 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
22805 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
22806 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
22807 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
22808 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
22809 by customizing the corresponding variable
22810 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
22811 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
22812 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
22813 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
22814 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
22815 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
22816 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
22819 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
22821 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
22822 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
22823 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
22824 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
22825 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
22826 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
22827 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
22828 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
22829 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
22830 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
22831 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
22832 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
22833 processor which will study them as spam samples.
22835 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
22836 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
22837 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
22838 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
22839 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
22840 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
22841 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
22842 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
22845 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22846 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
22847 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
22848 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
22849 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
22850 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
22851 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
22856 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22857 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
22858 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
22859 you really want to.
22862 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
22863 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
22864 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
22865 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
22866 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
22867 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
22870 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
22871 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
22872 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
22873 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
22874 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
22875 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
22876 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
22877 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
22878 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
22879 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
22880 newsgroup specification has the format (REGEXP PROCESSOR) in a
22881 standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually.
22882 The ultimate location is a group name or names. If the
22883 @code{ham-process-destination} parameter is not set, ham articles are
22884 left in place. If the
22885 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
22886 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
22888 If ham can not be moved - because of a read-only backend such as NNTP,
22889 for example, it will be copied.
22891 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
22892 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
22893 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
22895 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
22896 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
22898 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
22899 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
22900 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
22901 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
22902 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
22904 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
22905 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
22906 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
22907 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
22908 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
22911 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
22912 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
22913 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
22914 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
22915 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
22916 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
22917 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
22918 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each newsgroup specification has
22919 the repeated format (REGEXP GROUP) and they are all in a standard Lisp
22920 list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. The ultimate
22921 location is a group name or names. If the
22922 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
22923 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
22924 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
22925 group buffer then you need it here as well.
22927 If spam can not be moved - because of a read-only backend such as NNTP,
22928 for example, it will be copied.
22930 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
22931 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
22934 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
22935 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
22936 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
22937 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
22938 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
22939 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
22940 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
22942 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
22943 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
22944 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to nil,
22945 unread articles will also be marked as spam.
22947 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
22948 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
22949 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
22950 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham - the article will be placed
22951 in your ham-process-destination, unmarked as if it came fresh from
22954 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
22955 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
22956 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
22957 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
22959 @node Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
22960 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
22961 @cindex spam filtering
22962 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
22963 @cindex spam configuration examples
22966 @subsubheading Ted's setup
22968 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
22971 ;; for gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent and spam autodetection
22972 ;; see gnus-registry.el for more information
22973 (gnus-registry-initialize)
22976 ;; I like control-S for marking spam
22977 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map "\C-s" 'gnus-summary-mark-as-spam)
22980 spam-log-to-registry t ;; for spam autodetection
22982 spam-use-regex-headers t ; catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)
22983 ;; all groups with "spam" in the name contain spam
22984 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
22985 ;; see documentation for these
22986 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
22987 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
22988 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
22989 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
22990 ;; understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!
22991 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22992 ;; trace references to parents and put in their group
22993 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
22994 ;; this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags
22995 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22996 (any "ding" "ding")
22997 ;; note that spam by default will go to "spam"
23002 ;; my parameters, set with `G p'
23004 ;; all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except
23005 ;; "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train" and
23006 ;; "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam": any spam goes to nnimap training,
23007 ;; because it must have been detected manually
23009 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
23012 ;; autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB
23013 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
23014 ;; send all spam to the training group
23015 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
23017 ;; only some NNTP groups, where I want to autodetect spam
23018 ((spam-autodetect . t))
23020 ;; my nnimap "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam" group
23022 ;; this is a spam group
23023 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
23025 ;; any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,
23026 ;; because of the gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents setting above), goes to
23027 ;; "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train" unless I mark it as ham
23029 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
23031 ;; any ham goes to my "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail" folder, but
23032 ;; also to my "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham" folder for training
23034 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
23035 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
23036 ;; in this group, only '!' marks are ham
23038 (gnus-ticked-mark))
23039 ;; remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out - this is
23040 ;; definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better
23041 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
23043 ;; Later, on the IMAP server I use the "train" group for training
23044 ;; SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the "trainham" group for
23045 ;; recognizing ham - but Gnus has nothing to do with it.
23049 @subsubheading Using @file{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
23051 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
23053 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
23054 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
23055 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
23056 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
23057 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
23058 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
23059 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
23060 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
23061 @samp{training.spam} folders.
23063 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
23064 does most of the job for me:
23067 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
23068 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
23069 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
23070 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
23071 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
23072 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
23073 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
23078 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
23080 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
23081 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
23082 bogofilter or DCC).
23084 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
23085 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
23086 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark (@code{ham-marks},
23087 @ref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). On group exit, those
23088 messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (were I want to have
23089 the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter) and
23090 deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
23092 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
23093 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
23094 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
23095 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
23096 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
23097 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
23099 @item @b{Ham folders:}
23101 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
23102 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
23103 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
23104 @samp{training.ham}.
23107 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
23109 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
23111 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
23112 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
23113 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
23117 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
23120 Additionally, I use `(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)'
23121 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
23122 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
23123 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
23124 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
23126 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
23127 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
23128 @cindex spam filtering
23129 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
23130 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
23133 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
23135 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
23136 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
23137 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
23138 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
23143 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
23145 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
23146 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
23147 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23148 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
23149 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23153 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
23155 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
23156 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23157 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
23161 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
23163 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23164 customizing the group parameters or the
23165 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23166 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23167 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
23171 Instead of the obsolete
23172 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
23173 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
23174 the same way, we promise.
23178 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
23180 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23181 customizing the group parameters or the
23182 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23183 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23184 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23185 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
23186 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23190 Instead of the obsolete
23191 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
23192 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
23193 the same way, we promise.
23197 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
23198 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
23199 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
23200 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
23201 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
23203 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
23204 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
23205 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
23206 Emacs regular expression syntax.
23208 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
23209 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
23210 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
23211 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
23212 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
23213 @file{blacklist} respectively.
23215 @node BBDB Whitelists
23216 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
23217 @cindex spam filtering
23218 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
23219 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
23222 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
23224 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
23225 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
23226 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
23227 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
23228 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23229 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
23230 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23234 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
23236 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
23237 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23238 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
23239 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
23240 classified as spammers.
23244 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
23246 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23247 customizing the group parameters or the
23248 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23249 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23250 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23251 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
23252 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23256 Instead of the obsolete
23257 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
23258 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
23259 the same way, we promise.
23263 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
23264 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
23265 @cindex spam reporting
23266 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
23267 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
23270 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
23272 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23273 customizing the group parameters or the
23274 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23275 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23276 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
23279 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
23283 Instead of the obsolete
23284 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
23285 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
23286 same way, we promise.
23290 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
23292 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
23293 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
23294 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
23295 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
23296 @code{spam-report.el} will use the @code{X-Report-Spam} header that
23301 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
23302 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
23303 @cindex spam filtering
23304 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
23307 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
23309 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
23310 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
23311 instead of the sender address. You must have the @code{hashcash.el}
23312 package loaded for @code{spam-use-hashcash} to work properly.
23313 Messages without a hashcash payment token will be sent to the next
23314 spam-split rule. This is an explicit filter, meaning that unless a
23315 hashcash token is found, the messages are not assumed to be spam or
23321 @subsubsection Blackholes
23322 @cindex spam filtering
23323 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
23326 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
23328 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
23329 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
23330 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
23331 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
23332 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
23333 contains outdated servers.
23335 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
23336 @file{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
23337 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
23338 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
23339 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
23340 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
23344 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
23346 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
23350 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
23352 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
23353 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
23357 @defvar spam-use-dig
23359 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
23360 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
23364 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
23365 ham processor for blackholes.
23367 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
23368 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
23369 @cindex spam filtering
23370 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
23373 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
23375 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
23376 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
23377 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
23378 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
23379 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
23380 message is spam or ham, respectively.
23384 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
23386 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
23387 the message, positively identify it as spam.
23391 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
23393 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
23394 the message, positively identify it as ham.
23398 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
23399 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
23402 @subsubsection Bogofilter
23403 @cindex spam filtering
23404 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
23407 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
23409 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
23412 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
23413 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
23414 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
23415 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
23416 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
23417 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
23419 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
23420 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
23423 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
23424 processing will be turned off.
23426 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
23430 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
23432 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
23433 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
23434 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
23435 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
23436 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
23437 installation documents for details.
23439 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
23443 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
23444 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23445 customizing the group parameters or the
23446 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23447 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
23448 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
23452 Instead of the obsolete
23453 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
23454 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
23455 the same way, we promise.
23458 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
23459 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23460 customizing the group parameters or the
23461 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23462 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23463 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
23464 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
23465 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23469 Instead of the obsolete
23470 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
23471 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
23472 the same way, we promise.
23475 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
23477 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
23478 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
23479 database directory.
23483 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
23484 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23485 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
23486 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
23487 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
23488 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
23490 @node ifile spam filtering
23491 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
23492 @cindex spam filtering
23493 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
23496 @defvar spam-use-ifile
23498 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
23499 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
23503 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
23505 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
23506 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
23507 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
23511 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
23513 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
23514 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
23515 the default value of @samp{spam}.
23518 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
23520 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
23521 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
23525 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
23526 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23527 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
23528 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
23531 @node spam-stat spam filtering
23532 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
23533 @cindex spam filtering
23534 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
23538 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
23540 @defvar spam-use-stat
23542 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
23543 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
23547 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
23548 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23549 customizing the group parameters or the
23550 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23551 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23552 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
23556 Instead of the obsolete
23557 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
23558 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
23559 the same way, we promise.
23562 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
23563 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23564 customizing the group parameters or the
23565 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23566 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23567 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
23568 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
23569 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23573 Instead of the obsolete
23574 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
23575 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
23576 the same way, we promise.
23579 This enables @file{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
23580 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
23581 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
23582 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
23583 @code{spam-split} are provided.
23586 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
23587 @cindex spam filtering
23591 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
23592 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
23593 installed separately.
23595 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
23596 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
23597 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
23598 mail as a spam mail or not.
23600 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
23601 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
23602 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
23604 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
23605 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
23607 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
23608 To enable SpamOracle usage by @file{spam.el}, set the variable
23609 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
23610 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
23611 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
23612 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
23613 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
23614 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
23618 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
23619 spam-split-group "Junk"
23620 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
23621 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23622 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
23625 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
23626 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
23630 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
23631 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
23632 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
23636 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
23637 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
23638 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
23639 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
23640 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
23641 database to live somewhere special, set
23642 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
23645 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
23646 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
23647 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
23648 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
23649 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
23650 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
23651 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @file{spam.el}'s
23652 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
23653 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
23654 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
23656 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
23657 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23658 customizing the group parameter or the
23659 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23660 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
23661 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
23665 Instead of the obsolete
23666 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
23667 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
23668 the same way, we promise.
23671 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
23672 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23673 customizing the group parameter or the
23674 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23675 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
23676 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
23677 messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam} or
23678 @emph{unclassified} groups.
23682 Instead of the obsolete
23683 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
23684 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
23685 the same way, we promise.
23688 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
23689 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
23692 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
23693 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
23694 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
23696 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
23697 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
23698 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
23699 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
23700 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
23701 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
23703 @node Extending the Spam ELisp package
23704 @subsubsection Extending the Spam ELisp package
23705 @cindex spam filtering
23706 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
23707 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
23709 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
23710 incoming mail, provide the following:
23718 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
23719 "True if blackbox should be used.")
23724 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
23726 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
23730 (gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox ham spam-use-blackbox)
23731 (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox spam spam-use-blackbox)
23733 to @code{spam-list-of-processors}.
23737 (spam-use-blackbox spam-blackbox-register-routine
23739 spam-blackbox-unregister-routine
23742 to @code{spam-registration-functions}. Write the register/unregister
23743 routines using the bogofilter register/unregister routines as a
23744 start, or other restister/unregister routines more appropriate to
23750 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
23751 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other
23752 conventions. See the existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for
23753 examples of what you can do, and stick to the template unless you
23754 fully understand the reasons why you aren't.
23756 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
23757 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
23758 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
23762 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
23769 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
23770 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
23772 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
23773 variables. Instead the form @code{'(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
23774 @code{'(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
23775 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
23778 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
23779 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
23780 Only applicable to spam groups.")
23782 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
23783 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
23784 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
23793 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
23794 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
23796 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
23797 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
23798 variable customization.
23802 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
23804 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
23810 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23811 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23812 @cindex Paul Graham
23813 @cindex Graham, Paul
23814 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
23815 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
23816 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
23818 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
23819 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
23820 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
23821 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
23822 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
23823 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
23824 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
23825 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
23826 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
23829 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
23830 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
23831 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
23832 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
23833 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
23834 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
23835 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
23836 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
23838 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
23839 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
23840 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
23841 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
23842 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
23845 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
23846 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
23847 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
23850 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23851 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23853 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
23854 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
23855 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
23856 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
23857 need several hundred emails in both collections.
23859 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
23860 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
23861 per mail. Use the following:
23863 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
23864 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
23865 is treated as one spam mail.
23868 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
23869 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
23870 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
23873 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
23874 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
23875 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
23876 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
23877 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
23878 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
23880 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
23881 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
23882 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
23883 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
23884 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
23887 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
23888 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
23889 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
23890 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
23893 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
23894 reset the dictionary.
23896 @defun spam-stat-reset
23897 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
23900 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
23901 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
23902 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
23903 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
23904 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
23905 only non-spam mails.
23907 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
23908 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
23909 to update the dictionary incrementally.
23912 @defun spam-stat-save
23913 Save the dictionary.
23916 @defvar spam-stat-file
23917 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
23918 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
23921 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
23922 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
23924 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
23925 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23928 (require 'spam-stat)
23932 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
23935 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
23936 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
23937 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
23938 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
23940 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
23941 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
23942 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
23943 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
23946 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23947 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23951 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
23952 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
23955 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
23956 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
23957 expression are considered potential spam.
23960 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23961 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23962 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23966 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
23967 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
23968 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
23969 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
23970 mails, when creating the dictionary!
23973 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23974 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23975 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23979 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
23980 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
23981 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
23982 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
23983 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
23987 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23988 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
23989 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23990 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23995 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23996 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23998 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
24000 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
24001 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
24002 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
24005 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
24006 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
24007 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
24010 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
24011 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
24012 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
24013 already been processed as non-spam.
24016 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
24017 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
24018 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
24019 been processed as spam.
24022 @defun spam-stat-save
24023 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
24024 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
24027 @defun spam-stat-load
24028 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
24029 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
24032 @defun spam-stat-score-word
24033 Return the spam score for a word.
24036 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
24037 Return the spam score for a buffer.
24040 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
24041 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
24042 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
24045 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
24046 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24049 (require 'spam-stat)
24053 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
24056 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
24057 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24058 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24059 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24060 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
24061 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
24062 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24063 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24064 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
24065 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24066 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
24067 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
24068 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24069 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24072 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
24075 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
24076 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24077 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24078 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
24079 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
24080 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24084 @section Interaction with other modes
24089 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provided some useful functions for dired
24090 buffers. It is enabled with
24092 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
24097 @findex gnus-dired-attach
24098 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
24099 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
24102 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
24103 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
24104 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
24108 @findex gnus-dired-print
24109 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
24110 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
24113 @node Various Various
24114 @section Various Various
24120 @item gnus-home-directory
24121 @vindex gnus-home-directory
24122 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
24123 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
24125 @item gnus-directory
24126 @vindex gnus-directory
24127 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
24128 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
24129 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
24131 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
24132 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
24133 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
24134 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
24136 @item gnus-default-directory
24137 @vindex gnus-default-directory
24138 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
24139 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
24140 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
24141 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
24142 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
24143 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
24146 @vindex gnus-verbose
24147 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
24148 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
24149 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
24150 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
24151 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
24153 @item gnus-verbose-backends
24154 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
24155 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
24156 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
24158 @item nnheader-max-head-length
24159 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
24160 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
24161 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
24162 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
24163 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
24164 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
24165 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
24166 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
24167 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
24169 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
24170 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
24171 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
24172 read when doing the operation described above.
24174 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24175 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24177 @cindex invalid characters in file names
24178 @cindex characters in file names
24179 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
24180 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
24181 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
24185 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24190 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
24191 Windows (phooey) systems.
24193 @item gnus-hidden-properties
24194 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
24195 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
24196 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
24197 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
24199 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
24200 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
24201 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
24202 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
24203 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
24205 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
24206 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
24207 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
24209 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
24210 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
24212 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
24213 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
24214 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
24215 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
24218 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
24226 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
24227 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
24229 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
24231 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
24237 Not because of victories @*
24240 but for the common sunshine,@*
24242 the largess of the spring.
24246 but for the day's work done@*
24247 as well as I was able;@*
24248 not for a seat upon the dais@*
24249 but at the common table.@*
24254 @chapter Appendices
24257 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
24258 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
24259 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
24260 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
24261 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
24262 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
24263 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
24264 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
24265 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
24272 @cindex installing under XEmacs
24274 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
24275 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
24276 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
24277 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
24278 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{w3},
24279 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
24286 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
24287 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
24289 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
24290 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
24291 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
24292 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
24293 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
24295 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
24296 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
24297 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
24298 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
24299 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
24300 appropriate name, don't you think?)
24302 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
24303 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
24304 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
24305 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
24308 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
24309 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
24310 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
24311 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
24312 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
24313 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
24314 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
24315 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
24316 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
24320 @node Gnus Versions
24321 @subsection Gnus Versions
24323 @cindex September Gnus
24325 @cindex Quassia Gnus
24326 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
24329 @cindex Gnus versions
24331 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
24332 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
24333 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
24335 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
24336 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
24338 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
24339 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
24341 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
24342 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
24344 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
24345 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
24348 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
24350 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
24351 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
24352 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
24353 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
24354 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
24355 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
24358 @node Other Gnus Versions
24359 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
24362 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
24363 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
24364 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
24365 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
24367 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
24368 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
24369 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
24370 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
24377 What's the point of Gnus?
24379 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
24380 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
24381 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
24382 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
24383 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
24384 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
24385 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
24386 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
24387 keep track of millions of people who post?
24389 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
24390 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
24391 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
24392 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
24393 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
24394 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
24395 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
24396 every one of you to explore and invent.
24398 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
24399 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
24402 @node Compatibility
24403 @subsection Compatibility
24405 @cindex compatibility
24406 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
24407 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
24408 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
24413 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
24417 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
24420 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
24423 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
24424 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
24425 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
24426 important variables have their values copied into their global
24427 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
24428 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
24430 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
24431 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
24432 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
24433 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
24434 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
24438 @cindex highlighting
24439 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
24440 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
24441 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
24442 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
24443 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
24444 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
24447 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
24448 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
24449 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
24450 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
24452 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
24453 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
24454 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
24455 to stop doing it the old way.
24457 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
24459 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24461 @cindex reporting bugs
24463 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
24464 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
24465 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
24467 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
24468 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
24469 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
24470 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
24475 @subsection Conformity
24477 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
24478 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
24486 There are no known breaches of this standard.
24490 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
24492 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
24493 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
24494 We do have some breaches to this one.
24500 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
24501 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
24502 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
24503 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
24504 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
24509 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
24510 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
24511 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
24512 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
24514 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
24515 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
24516 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
24518 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
24519 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
24521 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
24524 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
24525 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
24526 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
24527 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
24528 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
24531 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
24532 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
24533 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
24534 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
24536 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
24537 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
24539 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
24540 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
24541 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
24542 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
24543 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
24544 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
24545 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
24546 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
24550 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
24551 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
24556 @subsection Emacsen
24562 Gnus should work on:
24570 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
24574 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
24575 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
24578 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
24579 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
24580 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
24584 @node Gnus Development
24585 @subsection Gnus Development
24587 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
24588 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
24589 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
24590 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
24591 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
24592 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
24593 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
24594 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
24596 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
24597 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
24598 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
24599 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
24600 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
24603 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
24604 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
24605 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
24606 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
24607 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
24609 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
24610 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
24611 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
24612 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
24613 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
24614 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
24615 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
24616 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
24617 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
24618 can't be assumed to do so.
24623 @subsection Contributors
24624 @cindex contributors
24626 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
24627 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
24628 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
24629 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
24630 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
24631 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
24632 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
24633 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
24634 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
24635 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
24637 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
24643 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
24646 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
24647 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
24648 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
24649 functionality and stuff.
24652 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
24653 well as numerous other things).
24656 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
24659 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
24662 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
24665 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
24668 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
24669 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
24672 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
24675 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
24676 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
24679 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
24682 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
24685 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
24688 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
24691 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
24692 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
24695 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
24698 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
24701 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
24704 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
24708 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
24711 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
24714 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
24717 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
24718 well as autoconf support.
24722 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
24723 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
24725 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
24740 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
24742 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
24746 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
24756 Alexei V. Barantsev,
24771 Massimo Campostrini,
24776 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
24777 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
24781 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
24784 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
24790 Michael Welsh Duggan,
24795 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
24799 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
24807 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
24809 Michelangelo Grigni,
24813 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
24815 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
24817 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
24824 François Felix Ingrand,
24825 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
24826 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
24828 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
24838 Peter Skov Knudsen,
24839 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
24841 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
24842 Thor Kristoffersen,
24845 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
24863 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
24864 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
24871 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
24876 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
24880 John McClary Prevost,
24886 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
24891 Christian von Roques,
24894 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
24901 Philippe Schnoebelen,
24903 Randal L. Schwartz,
24917 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
24922 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
24942 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
24943 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
24944 (550kB and counting).
24946 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
24949 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
24950 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
24954 @subsection New Features
24955 @cindex new features
24958 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
24959 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
24960 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
24961 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
24962 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
24963 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
24964 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
24967 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
24968 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
24969 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
24972 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
24974 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
24979 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
24980 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
24983 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
24984 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
24987 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
24990 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
24991 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
24992 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
24995 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
24996 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
24997 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
24998 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
25001 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
25002 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25005 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
25006 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
25007 (@pxref{The Active File}).
25010 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
25011 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
25014 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
25015 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
25016 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
25019 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
25020 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
25021 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
25024 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
25025 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
25028 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
25029 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
25032 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
25033 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
25036 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
25037 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25040 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
25041 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
25044 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
25045 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
25048 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
25051 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
25052 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
25055 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
25056 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
25059 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
25060 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
25063 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
25066 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
25067 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
25070 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
25074 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
25078 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
25079 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
25082 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
25088 @node September Gnus
25089 @subsubsection September Gnus
25093 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
25097 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
25102 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
25103 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
25107 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
25108 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
25112 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
25116 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
25117 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
25120 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
25124 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
25127 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
25130 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
25133 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
25137 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
25138 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
25141 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
25145 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
25149 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
25153 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
25157 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
25160 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
25161 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
25164 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
25168 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
25169 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
25172 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
25175 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
25176 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
25177 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
25180 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
25184 The Gnus cache is much faster.
25187 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
25191 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
25192 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
25195 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
25196 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
25199 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
25200 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
25203 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
25204 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
25205 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
25208 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
25209 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
25212 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
25215 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
25218 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
25221 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
25224 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
25225 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
25228 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
25232 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
25235 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
25240 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
25243 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
25247 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25250 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
25254 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
25257 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
25260 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
25261 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
25264 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
25265 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
25269 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
25270 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
25273 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
25277 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
25278 buffer to allow easier treatment.
25281 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
25284 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
25288 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
25292 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
25293 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
25296 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
25300 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
25301 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
25304 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
25305 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
25308 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
25312 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
25315 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
25318 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
25324 @subsubsection Red Gnus
25326 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
25330 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
25337 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
25340 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
25341 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
25344 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
25345 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
25349 Article washing status can be displayed in the
25350 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
25353 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
25356 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
25357 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
25360 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
25364 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
25365 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
25369 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
25370 Server Internals}).
25373 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
25377 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
25380 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
25381 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
25384 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
25385 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
25386 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
25389 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
25390 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
25393 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
25394 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
25397 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
25401 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
25402 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25405 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
25406 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
25409 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
25413 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
25416 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
25420 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
25421 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25424 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
25425 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
25428 A new command for reading collections of documents
25429 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
25430 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
25433 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
25437 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
25438 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
25441 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
25442 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
25443 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
25446 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
25447 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
25451 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
25455 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
25459 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
25464 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
25468 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
25472 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
25473 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
25476 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
25482 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
25484 New features in Gnus 5.6:
25489 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
25490 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
25491 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
25494 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
25495 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
25496 group, which is created automatically.
25499 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
25503 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
25506 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
25507 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
25510 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
25514 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
25517 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
25518 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
25521 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
25524 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
25528 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
25529 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
25532 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
25533 control over simplification.
25536 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
25539 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
25543 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
25546 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
25549 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
25550 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
25551 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
25554 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
25555 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
25558 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
25562 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
25563 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
25566 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
25567 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
25570 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
25574 A history of where mails have been split is available.
25577 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
25580 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
25581 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
25584 A new function for citing in Message has been
25585 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
25588 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
25591 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
25595 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
25596 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
25599 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
25600 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
25603 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
25606 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
25610 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
25611 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
25613 New features in Gnus 5.8:
25618 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
25619 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
25621 If you used procmail like in
25624 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
25625 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
25626 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
25627 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
25630 this now has changed to
25634 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
25638 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
25641 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
25642 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
25645 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
25646 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
25649 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
25650 called to position point.
25653 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
25654 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
25657 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
25658 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
25661 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
25662 subtly different manner.
25665 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
25666 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
25667 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
25670 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
25675 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
25678 New features in Gnus 5.10:
25683 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
25687 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
25688 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
25691 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
25692 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
25695 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
25697 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
25698 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
25699 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
25700 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
25701 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
25702 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
25703 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
25704 isn't save in general.
25709 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
25710 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
25711 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
25712 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
25717 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
25718 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
25719 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
25723 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
25726 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
25731 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
25732 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
25734 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
25735 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
25739 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
25740 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
25743 Retrieval of charters and control messages
25745 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
25746 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
25751 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
25752 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
25753 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
25756 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
25757 decompressed when activated.
25760 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
25761 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
25764 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
25767 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
25768 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
25771 Warn about email replies to news
25773 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
25774 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
25778 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
25779 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
25783 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
25784 opposed to old but unread messages).
25787 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
25788 Gcc articles as read.
25791 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
25794 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
25795 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
25798 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
25799 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
25802 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
25803 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
25806 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
25807 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
25810 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
25812 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
25813 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
25814 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
25815 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
25818 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
25820 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
25821 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
25822 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
25823 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
25824 the second parameter.
25826 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
25827 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
25828 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
25829 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
25830 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
25831 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
25832 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
25833 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
25834 cycle used under Unix systems.
25836 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
25840 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
25842 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
25843 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
25844 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
25845 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
25846 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
25850 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
25852 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
25853 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
25854 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
25855 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
25859 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
25861 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
25862 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
25863 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
25864 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
25866 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
25867 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
25868 message cited below.
25871 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
25874 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
25876 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
25877 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
25878 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
25879 variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
25880 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
25883 (setq gnus-parameters
25885 (gnus-show-threads nil)
25886 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
25887 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
25888 (to-group . "\\1"))))
25892 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
25894 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
25898 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
25900 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
25901 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
25902 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
25903 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
25904 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
25905 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
25906 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
25907 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
25908 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
25911 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
25913 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
25914 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
25915 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
25916 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
25917 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
25918 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
25921 References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
25922 composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
25926 Improved anti-spam features.
25928 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
25929 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
25930 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
25931 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
25932 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
25935 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
25938 Face headers handling.
25941 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
25942 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
25945 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
25948 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
25950 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
25951 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
25952 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
25953 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
25954 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
25955 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
25956 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
25957 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
25958 when getting new mail, remove the function.
25961 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
25963 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
25964 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
25965 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
25966 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
25967 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
25968 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
25969 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
25970 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
25971 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
25972 was inserted directly.
25975 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
25977 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
25978 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
25984 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
25985 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
25986 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
25987 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
25988 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
25989 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
25990 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
25991 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
25992 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
25993 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
25994 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
25995 behaviour of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
25996 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
25997 is not needed any more.
26000 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
26002 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
26003 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
26004 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
26005 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
26006 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
26010 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
26012 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
26013 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
26016 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
26018 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
26019 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
26020 lisp directory into load-path.
26022 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
26023 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
26026 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
26028 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
26031 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
26033 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
26034 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
26035 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
26036 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
26039 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
26041 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
26043 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
26044 'bbdb-complete-name)
26048 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
26050 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
26051 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
26052 local files as external parts.
26054 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
26055 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
26056 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
26057 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
26058 that support editing.
26061 @code{gnus-default-charset}
26063 The default value is determined from the
26064 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
26065 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
26066 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
26069 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
26071 Add a new format of match like
26073 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
26074 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
26076 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
26078 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
26079 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
26083 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
26085 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
26086 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
26087 need add those two headers too.
26090 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
26092 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
26093 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
26094 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
26097 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
26098 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
26099 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
26103 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
26105 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
26108 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
26110 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
26113 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
26115 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
26116 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
26117 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
26120 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
26122 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
26126 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
26128 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
26129 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
26130 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
26131 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
26132 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
26133 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
26134 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
26135 The behaviour can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
26138 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
26140 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
26141 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
26142 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
26143 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
26144 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
26147 Extended format specs.
26149 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
26150 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
26151 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
26152 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
26153 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
26154 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
26157 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
26159 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
26160 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
26161 out other articles.
26163 @item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
26165 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
26166 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
26167 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
26168 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
26171 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
26173 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
26174 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
26175 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
26178 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
26180 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
26181 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
26182 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
26183 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
26184 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
26185 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
26186 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
26187 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
26188 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
26189 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
26190 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
26193 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
26194 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
26197 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
26198 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
26199 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
26200 message, Message Manual}).
26203 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
26204 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
26206 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
26207 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
26208 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
26210 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
26214 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
26215 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
26217 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
26218 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
26219 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
26220 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
26223 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
26226 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
26229 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
26230 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
26233 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to symbol @code{best}.
26235 The behaviour for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
26236 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
26237 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
26238 invalidate the digital signature.
26242 @subsubsection No Gnus
26245 New features in No Gnus:
26246 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
26248 @include gnus-news.texi
26254 @section The Manual
26258 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
26259 either @code{texi2dvi}
26261 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
26262 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
26264 to get what you hold in your hands now.
26266 The following conventions have been used:
26271 This is a @samp{string}
26274 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
26277 This is a @file{file}
26280 This is a @code{symbol}
26284 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
26288 (setq flargnoze "yes")
26291 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
26294 (setq flumphel 'yes)
26297 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
26298 ever get them confused.
26302 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
26303 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
26304 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
26305 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
26306 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
26307 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
26308 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
26314 @node On Writing Manuals
26315 @section On Writing Manuals
26317 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
26318 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
26319 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
26320 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
26321 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
26322 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
26325 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
26326 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
26327 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
26330 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
26331 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
26336 @section Terminology
26338 @cindex terminology
26343 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
26344 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
26345 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
26346 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
26347 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
26351 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
26352 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
26353 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
26354 not posting, and replying is not following up.
26358 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
26362 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
26367 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
26368 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
26369 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
26370 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
26371 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
26372 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
26373 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
26374 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
26375 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
26378 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
26379 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
26380 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
26381 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
26382 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
26383 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
26385 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
26386 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
26387 access the articles.
26389 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
26390 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
26391 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
26396 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
26397 default, way of getting news.
26401 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
26402 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
26407 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
26408 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
26412 A message that has been posted as news.
26415 @cindex mail message
26416 A message that has been mailed.
26420 A mail message or news article
26424 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
26429 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
26434 A line from the head of an article.
26438 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
26439 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
26441 @item @acronym{NOV}
26442 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
26443 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
26444 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
26445 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
26446 normal @sc{head} format.
26450 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
26451 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
26452 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
26453 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
26454 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
26455 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
26457 @item killed groups
26458 @cindex killed groups
26459 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
26460 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
26462 @item zombie groups
26463 @cindex zombie groups
26464 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
26467 @cindex active file
26468 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
26469 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
26470 is rather large, as you might surmise.
26473 @cindex bogus groups
26474 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
26475 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
26476 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
26479 @cindex activating groups
26480 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
26481 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
26482 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
26486 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
26488 @item select method
26489 @cindex select method
26490 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
26493 @item virtual server
26494 @cindex virtual server
26495 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
26496 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
26497 whole is a virtual server.
26501 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
26502 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
26505 @item ephemeral groups
26506 @cindex ephemeral groups
26507 @cindex temporary groups
26508 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
26509 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
26510 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
26513 @cindex solid groups
26514 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
26515 group buffer are solid groups.
26517 @item sparse articles
26518 @cindex sparse articles
26519 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
26520 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
26524 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
26525 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
26529 @cindex thread root
26530 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
26531 articles in the thread.
26535 An article that has responses.
26539 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
26543 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
26544 specified by RFC 1153.
26547 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
26548 @cindex mail sorting
26549 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
26550 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
26551 incorrectly called mail filtering.
26557 @node Customization
26558 @section Customization
26559 @cindex general customization
26561 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
26562 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
26563 for some quite common situations.
26566 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
26567 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
26568 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
26569 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
26573 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
26574 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
26576 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
26577 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
26578 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
26582 @item gnus-read-active-file
26583 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
26584 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
26585 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26586 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
26587 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
26589 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
26590 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
26591 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
26592 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
26596 @node Slow Terminal Connection
26597 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
26599 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
26600 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
26601 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
26605 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
26606 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
26607 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
26608 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
26609 horizontal and vertical recentering.
26611 @item gnus-visible-headers
26612 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
26613 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
26614 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
26615 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
26617 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
26619 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
26620 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
26621 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
26624 @item gnus-use-full-window
26625 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
26626 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
26627 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
26628 want to read them anyway.
26630 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
26631 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
26635 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
26636 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
26637 lines, which might save some time.
26641 @node Little Disk Space
26642 @subsection Little Disk Space
26645 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
26646 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
26650 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
26651 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
26652 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26653 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26656 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
26657 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
26658 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26659 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26662 @item gnus-save-killed-list
26663 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
26664 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
26665 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
26666 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
26672 @subsection Slow Machine
26673 @cindex slow machine
26675 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
26676 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
26678 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26679 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
26681 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
26682 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
26683 summary buffer faster.
26687 @node Troubleshooting
26688 @section Troubleshooting
26689 @cindex troubleshooting
26691 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
26699 Make sure your computer is switched on.
26702 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
26703 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
26707 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
26708 like @samp{Gnus v5.10.6} you have the right files loaded. Otherwise
26709 you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
26712 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
26713 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
26716 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
26717 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
26718 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
26719 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
26720 something like that.
26723 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
26726 @cindex reporting bugs
26728 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26730 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
26731 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
26732 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
26733 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
26735 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
26736 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
26737 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
26738 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
26741 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
26742 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
26743 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
26744 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
26745 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
26746 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
26748 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
26749 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
26750 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
26754 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
26755 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
26758 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
26759 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
26760 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
26761 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
26762 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
26763 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
26764 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
26765 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
26766 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
26767 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
26768 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
26769 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
26770 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
26771 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
26776 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
26777 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
26778 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
26779 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
26780 helps isolating the real problem areas).
26782 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
26783 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
26784 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
26785 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
26786 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
26787 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
26788 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
26789 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
26790 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
26791 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
26792 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
26793 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
26794 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
26797 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
26798 @cindex ding mailing list
26799 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
26800 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
26801 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
26802 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
26806 @node Gnus Reference Guide
26807 @section Gnus Reference Guide
26809 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
26810 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
26811 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
26812 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
26815 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
26816 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
26817 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
26818 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
26819 and general methods of operation.
26822 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
26823 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
26824 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
26825 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
26826 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
26827 * Group Info:: The group info format.
26828 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
26829 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
26830 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
26834 @node Gnus Utility Functions
26835 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
26836 @cindex Gnus utility functions
26837 @cindex utility functions
26839 @cindex internal variables
26841 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
26842 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
26843 Below is a list of the most common ones.
26847 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
26848 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
26849 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
26851 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
26852 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
26853 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
26855 @item gnus-group-real-name
26856 @findex gnus-group-real-name
26857 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
26860 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
26861 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
26862 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
26863 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
26865 @item gnus-get-info
26866 @findex gnus-get-info
26867 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
26869 @item gnus-group-unread
26870 @findex gnus-group-unread
26871 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
26875 @findex gnus-active
26876 The active entry for @var{group}.
26878 @item gnus-set-active
26879 @findex gnus-set-active
26880 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
26882 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26883 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26884 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
26887 @item gnus-continuum-version
26888 @findex gnus-continuum-version
26889 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
26890 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
26893 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
26894 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
26895 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
26897 @item gnus-news-group-p
26898 @findex gnus-news-group-p
26899 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
26901 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26902 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26903 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
26905 @item gnus-server-to-method
26906 @findex gnus-server-to-method
26907 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
26909 @item gnus-server-equal
26910 @findex gnus-server-equal
26911 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
26913 @item gnus-group-native-p
26914 @findex gnus-group-native-p
26915 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
26917 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
26918 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
26919 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
26921 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
26922 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
26923 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
26925 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
26926 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
26927 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
26928 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
26930 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
26931 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
26932 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
26934 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
26935 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
26936 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
26938 @item gnus-check-backend-function
26939 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
26940 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
26941 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
26944 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
26948 @item gnus-read-method
26949 @findex gnus-read-method
26950 Prompts the user for a select method.
26955 @node Back End Interface
26956 @subsection Back End Interface
26958 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
26959 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
26960 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
26961 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
26962 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
26963 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
26965 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
26966 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
26967 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
26968 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
26969 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
26970 been opened, the function should fail.
26972 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
26973 name. Take this example:
26977 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
26978 (nntp-port-number 4324))
26981 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
26982 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
26984 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
26985 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
26986 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
26988 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
26989 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
26990 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
26992 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
26993 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
26994 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
26995 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
26996 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
26997 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
27000 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
27001 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
27002 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
27003 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
27006 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
27007 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
27008 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
27009 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
27010 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
27011 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
27012 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
27013 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
27014 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
27015 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
27017 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
27018 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
27019 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
27020 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
27021 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
27022 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
27023 of numbers as long as possible.
27025 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
27026 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
27027 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
27029 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
27032 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
27035 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
27036 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
27037 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
27038 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
27039 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
27040 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
27044 @node Required Back End Functions
27045 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
27049 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
27051 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
27052 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
27053 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
27054 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
27056 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
27057 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
27058 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
27059 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
27061 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
27062 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
27063 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
27064 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
27065 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
27066 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
27067 number, do maximum fetches.
27069 Here's an example HEAD:
27072 221 1056 Article retrieved.
27073 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
27074 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
27075 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
27076 Subject: Re: Something very droll
27077 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
27078 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
27080 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
27081 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
27082 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
27086 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
27087 these in the data buffer.
27089 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
27093 head = error / valid-head
27094 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
27095 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
27096 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
27097 header = <text> eol
27101 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
27103 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
27104 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
27108 nov-buffer = *nov-line
27109 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
27110 field = <text except TAB>
27113 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
27117 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
27119 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
27120 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
27122 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
27123 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
27124 server. In fact, it should do so.
27126 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
27127 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
27130 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
27132 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
27133 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
27136 There should be no data returned.
27139 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
27141 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
27142 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
27143 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
27144 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
27146 There should be no data returned.
27149 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
27151 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
27152 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
27153 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
27154 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
27156 There should be no data returned.
27159 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
27161 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
27163 There should be no data returned.
27166 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
27168 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
27169 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
27170 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
27171 it would be nice if that were possible.
27173 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
27174 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
27175 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
27176 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
27177 into its article buffer.
27179 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
27180 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
27181 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
27182 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
27183 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
27184 on successful article retrieval.
27187 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
27189 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
27190 making @var{group} the current group.
27192 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
27195 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
27198 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
27201 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
27202 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
27203 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
27204 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
27205 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
27206 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
27207 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
27208 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
27209 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
27213 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
27214 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
27215 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
27219 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
27221 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
27222 a no-op on most back ends.
27224 There should be no data returned.
27227 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
27229 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
27232 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
27235 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
27236 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
27239 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
27240 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
27241 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
27242 and the highest as 0.
27245 active-file = *active-line
27246 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
27248 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
27251 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
27252 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
27253 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
27256 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
27258 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
27259 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
27260 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
27261 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
27262 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
27263 clear if the posting could not be completed.
27265 There should be no result data from this function.
27270 @node Optional Back End Functions
27271 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
27275 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
27277 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
27278 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
27279 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
27281 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
27282 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
27283 former is in the same format as the data from
27284 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
27285 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
27288 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
27292 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
27294 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
27295 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
27296 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
27297 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
27298 should return a non-@code{nil} value.
27300 There should be no result data from this function.
27303 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
27305 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
27306 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
27307 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
27308 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
27309 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
27310 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
27311 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
27312 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
27314 There should be no result data from this function.
27317 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
27319 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
27320 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
27321 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
27322 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
27323 propagate the mark information to the server.
27325 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
27328 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
27331 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
27332 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
27333 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
27334 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
27335 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
27336 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
27337 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
27338 possible, not limit itself to these.
27340 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
27341 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
27342 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
27343 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
27345 An example action list:
27348 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
27349 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
27350 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
27353 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
27354 mark on (currently not used for anything).
27356 There should be no result data from this function.
27358 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
27360 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
27361 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
27362 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
27363 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
27364 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
27366 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
27367 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
27368 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
27371 There should be no result data from this function.
27374 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
27376 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
27377 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
27378 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
27379 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
27380 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
27381 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
27382 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
27383 local if that's practical.
27385 There should be no result data from this function.
27388 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
27390 The result data from this function should be a description of
27394 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
27396 description = <text>
27399 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
27401 The result data from this function should be the description of all
27402 groups available on the server.
27405 description-buffer = *description-line
27409 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
27411 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
27412 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
27413 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
27414 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
27415 in the active buffer format.
27417 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
27418 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
27419 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
27420 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
27421 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
27422 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
27423 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
27426 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
27428 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
27430 There should be no return data.
27433 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
27435 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
27436 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
27437 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
27438 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
27439 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
27442 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
27445 There should be no result data returned.
27448 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
27450 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
27451 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
27453 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
27454 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
27455 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
27456 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
27457 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
27458 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
27460 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
27461 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
27464 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
27465 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
27467 There should be no data returned.
27470 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
27472 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
27473 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
27474 this function in short order.
27476 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
27477 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
27479 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
27480 article for that group.
27482 There should be no data returned.
27485 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
27487 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
27488 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
27490 There should be no data returned.
27493 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
27495 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
27496 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
27497 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
27499 There should be no data returned.
27502 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
27504 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
27505 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
27507 There should be no data returned.
27512 @node Error Messaging
27513 @subsubsection Error Messaging
27515 @findex nnheader-report
27516 @findex nnheader-get-report
27517 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
27518 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
27519 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
27520 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
27521 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
27522 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
27525 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
27527 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
27530 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
27531 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
27532 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
27533 takes one argument---the server symbol.
27535 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
27536 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
27537 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
27540 @node Writing New Back Ends
27541 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
27543 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
27544 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
27545 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
27546 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
27547 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
27550 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
27551 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
27552 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
27554 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
27555 package called @code{nnoo}.
27557 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
27558 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
27564 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
27565 parameters. For instance:
27568 (nnoo-declare nndir
27572 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
27573 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
27576 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
27577 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
27578 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
27580 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
27581 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
27582 a function in those back ends.
27585 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27586 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27587 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27590 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
27591 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
27592 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
27594 @item nnoo-define-basics
27595 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
27599 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27603 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
27604 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
27605 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
27607 @item nnoo-map-functions
27608 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
27609 functions from the parent back ends.
27612 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27613 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27614 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
27617 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
27618 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
27619 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
27620 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
27623 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
27624 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
27625 haven't already been defined.
27631 nnmh-request-newgroups)
27635 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
27636 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
27637 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
27642 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
27645 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
27646 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
27650 (require 'nnheader)
27654 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
27656 (nnoo-declare nndir
27659 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27660 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27661 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27663 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
27664 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
27667 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
27669 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
27670 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
27671 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
27673 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
27674 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
27676 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
27678 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27680 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
27681 (setq nndir-directory
27682 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
27684 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
27685 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
27686 (push `(nndir-current-group
27687 ,(file-name-nondirectory
27688 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27690 (push `(nndir-top-directory
27691 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27693 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
27695 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27696 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27697 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27698 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
27699 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
27703 nnmh-status-message
27705 nnmh-request-newgroups))
27711 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27712 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27714 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
27715 @findex gnus-declare-backend
27716 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
27717 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
27718 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
27720 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
27721 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
27726 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
27729 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
27731 The abilities can be:
27735 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
27737 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
27739 This back end supports both mail and news.
27741 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
27744 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
27745 articles and groups.
27747 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
27748 true for almost all back ends.
27749 @item prompt-address
27750 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
27751 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
27752 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
27756 @node Mail-like Back Ends
27757 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
27759 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
27760 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
27761 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
27762 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
27765 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
27766 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
27767 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
27770 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
27771 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
27774 This function takes four parameters.
27778 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
27781 @item exit-function
27782 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
27784 @item temp-directory
27785 Where the temporary files should be stored.
27788 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
27789 performed for one group only.
27792 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
27793 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
27794 find the article number assigned to this article.
27796 The function also uses the following variables:
27797 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
27798 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
27799 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
27800 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
27804 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
27805 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
27809 @node Score File Syntax
27810 @subsection Score File Syntax
27812 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
27813 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
27814 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
27816 Here's a typical score file:
27820 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
27827 BNF definition of a score file:
27830 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
27831 element = rule / atom
27832 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
27833 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
27834 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
27835 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
27837 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
27838 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
27839 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
27840 date-header = "date"
27841 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27842 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27843 score = "nil" / <integer>
27844 date = "nil" / <natural number>
27845 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
27846 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
27847 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
27848 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
27849 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27850 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27851 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
27852 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27853 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
27854 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
27855 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
27856 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
27857 exclude-files / read-only / touched
27858 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
27859 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
27860 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
27861 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
27862 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
27863 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
27864 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
27865 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
27866 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
27867 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
27868 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
27869 eval = "eval" space <form>
27870 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
27873 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
27876 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
27877 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
27878 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
27879 one looong line, then that's ok.
27881 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
27882 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27886 @subsection Headers
27888 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
27889 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
27890 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
27891 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
27893 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
27894 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
27895 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
27896 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
27897 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
27898 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
27899 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
27901 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
27902 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
27903 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
27904 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
27905 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
27907 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
27908 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
27914 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
27915 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
27917 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
27918 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
27919 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
27920 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
27922 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
27926 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
27929 is transformed into
27932 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
27935 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
27936 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
27939 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
27942 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
27943 is slightly tricky:
27946 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
27952 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
27955 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
27961 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
27968 and is equal to the previous range.
27970 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
27971 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
27972 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
27976 range = simple-range / normal-range
27977 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
27978 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
27979 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
27980 number *[ " " contents ]
27983 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
27984 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
27985 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
27986 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
27987 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
27992 @subsection Group Info
27994 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
27995 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
27996 describes the group.
27998 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
27999 second is a more complex one:
28002 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
28004 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
28005 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
28007 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
28010 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
28011 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
28012 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
28013 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
28014 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
28015 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
28016 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
28017 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
28018 this section is about.
28020 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
28021 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
28022 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
28024 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
28027 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
28028 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
28029 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
28030 group = quote <string> quote
28031 ralevel = rank / level
28032 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
28033 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
28034 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
28036 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
28037 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
28038 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
28039 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
28042 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
28043 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
28046 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
28047 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
28050 @item gnus-info-group
28051 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
28052 @findex gnus-info-group
28053 @findex gnus-info-set-group
28054 Get/set the group name.
28056 @item gnus-info-rank
28057 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
28058 @findex gnus-info-rank
28059 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
28060 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
28062 @item gnus-info-level
28063 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
28064 @findex gnus-info-level
28065 @findex gnus-info-set-level
28066 Get/set the group level.
28068 @item gnus-info-score
28069 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
28070 @findex gnus-info-score
28071 @findex gnus-info-set-score
28072 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
28074 @item gnus-info-read
28075 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
28076 @findex gnus-info-read
28077 @findex gnus-info-set-read
28078 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
28080 @item gnus-info-marks
28081 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
28082 @findex gnus-info-marks
28083 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
28084 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
28086 @item gnus-info-method
28087 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
28088 @findex gnus-info-method
28089 @findex gnus-info-set-method
28090 Get/set the group select method.
28092 @item gnus-info-params
28093 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
28094 @findex gnus-info-params
28095 @findex gnus-info-set-params
28096 Get/set the group parameters.
28099 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
28100 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
28102 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
28103 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
28104 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
28105 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
28108 @node Extended Interactive
28109 @subsection Extended Interactive
28110 @cindex interactive
28111 @findex gnus-interactive
28113 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
28114 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
28115 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
28118 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
28119 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
28124 The best thing to do would have been to implement
28125 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
28126 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
28127 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
28128 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
28129 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
28130 @code{interactive}.
28132 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
28137 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
28138 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
28142 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
28143 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
28144 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
28147 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
28151 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
28155 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
28161 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
28162 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
28166 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
28167 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
28168 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
28170 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
28171 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
28172 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
28173 Gnus, that's very useful.
28175 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
28176 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
28177 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
28178 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
28179 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
28180 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
28181 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
28182 following function:
28185 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
28189 (,function ,@@args))
28193 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
28194 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
28195 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
28198 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
28199 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
28200 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
28202 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
28203 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
28204 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
28207 @node Various File Formats
28208 @subsection Various File Formats
28211 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
28212 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
28216 @node Active File Format
28217 @subsubsection Active File Format
28219 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
28220 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
28223 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
28226 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
28227 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
28228 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
28229 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
28230 no.general 1000 900 y
28233 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
28236 active = *group-line
28237 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
28238 group = <non-white-space string>
28240 high-number = <non-negative integer>
28241 low-number = <positive integer>
28242 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
28245 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
28246 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
28249 @node Newsgroups File Format
28250 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
28252 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
28253 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
28254 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
28257 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
28258 Here's the definition:
28262 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
28263 group = <non-white-space string>
28265 description = <string>
28270 @node Emacs for Heathens
28271 @section Emacs for Heathens
28273 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
28274 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
28275 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
28276 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
28277 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
28278 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
28279 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
28283 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
28284 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
28289 @subsection Keystrokes
28293 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
28296 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
28299 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
28300 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
28301 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
28302 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
28303 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
28304 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
28306 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
28307 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
28308 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
28309 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
28310 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
28311 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
28312 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
28314 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
28315 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
28316 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
28317 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
28318 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
28319 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
28320 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
28322 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
28323 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
28324 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
28325 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
28326 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
28332 @subsection Emacs Lisp
28334 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
28335 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
28336 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
28337 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
28339 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
28340 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
28341 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
28342 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
28343 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
28344 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
28345 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
28348 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
28349 write the following:
28352 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
28355 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
28356 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
28357 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
28360 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
28361 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
28362 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
28363 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
28364 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
28366 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
28367 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
28368 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
28372 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
28376 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
28379 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
28380 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
28383 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
28386 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
28387 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
28390 @include gnus-faq.texi
28410 @c Local Variables:
28412 @c coding: iso-8859-1