10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
15 @setchapternewpage odd
19 \documentclass[twoside,a4paper,openright,11pt]{book}
20 \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}
21 \usepackage{pagestyle}
24 \input{gnusconfig.tex}
26 \ifx\pdfoutput\undefined
28 \usepackage[pdftex,bookmarks,colorlinks=true]{hyperref}
36 \newcommand{\gnusversionname}{Gnus v5.10.3}
37 \newcommand{\gnuschaptername}{}
38 \newcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
40 \newcommand{\gnusbackslash}{/}
42 \newcommand{\gnusref}[1]{``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
43 \ifx\pdfoutput\undefined
44 \newcommand{\gnusuref}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
46 \newcommand{\gnusuref}[1]{\href{#1}{\gnustt{#1}}}
48 \newcommand{\gnusxref}[1]{See ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
49 \newcommand{\gnuspxref}[1]{see ``#1'' on page \pageref{#1}}
51 \newcommand{\gnuskindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
52 \newcommand{\gnusindex}[1]{\index{#1}}
54 \newcommand{\gnustt}[1]{{\gnusselectttfont{}#1}}
55 \newcommand{\gnuscode}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
56 \newcommand{\gnusasis}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
57 \newcommand{\gnusurl}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
58 \newcommand{\gnuscommand}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
59 \newcommand{\gnusenv}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
60 \newcommand{\gnussamp}[1]{``{\fontencoding{OT1}\gnusselectttfont{}#1}''}
61 \newcommand{\gnuslisp}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
62 \newcommand{\gnuskbd}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
63 \newcommand{\gnuskey}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
64 \newcommand{\gnusfile}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
65 \newcommand{\gnusdfn}[1]{\textit{#1}}
66 \newcommand{\gnusi}[1]{\textit{#1}}
67 \newcommand{\gnusr}[1]{\textrm{#1}}
68 \newcommand{\gnusstrong}[1]{\textbf{#1}}
69 \newcommand{\gnusemph}[1]{\textit{#1}}
70 \newcommand{\gnusvar}[1]{{\fontsize{10pt}{10}\selectfont\textsl{\textsf{#1}}}}
71 \newcommand{\gnussc}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
72 \newcommand{\gnustitle}[1]{{\huge\textbf{#1}}}
73 \newcommand{\gnusversion}[1]{{\small\textit{#1}}}
74 \newcommand{\gnusauthor}[1]{{\large\textbf{#1}}}
75 \newcommand{\gnusresult}[1]{\gnustt{=> #1}}
76 \newcommand{\gnusacronym}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
77 \newcommand{\gnusemail}[1]{\textit{#1}}
79 \newcommand{\gnusbullet}{{${\bullet}$}}
80 \newcommand{\gnusdollar}{\$}
81 \newcommand{\gnusampersand}{\&}
82 \newcommand{\gnuspercent}{\%}
83 \newcommand{\gnushash}{\#}
84 \newcommand{\gnushat}{\symbol{"5E}}
85 \newcommand{\gnusunderline}{\symbol{"5F}}
86 \newcommand{\gnusnot}{$\neg$}
87 \newcommand{\gnustilde}{\symbol{"7E}}
88 \newcommand{\gnusless}{{$<$}}
89 \newcommand{\gnusgreater}{{$>$}}
90 \newcommand{\gnusbraceleft}{{$>$}}
91 \newcommand{\gnusbraceright}{{$>$}}
93 \newcommand{\gnushead}{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-head,height=1cm}}}
94 \newcommand{\gnusinteresting}{
95 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\gnushead]{\gnushead}
98 \newcommand{\gnuscleardoublepage}{\ifodd\count0\mbox{}\clearpage\thispagestyle{empty}\mbox{}\clearpage\else\clearpage\fi}
100 \newcommand{\gnuspagechapter}[1]{
104 \newdimen{\gnusdimen}
107 \newcommand{\gnuschapter}[2]{
109 \ifdim \gnusdimen = 0pt\setcounter{page}{1}\pagestyle{gnus}\pagenumbering{arabic} \gnusdimen 1pt\fi
111 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
112 \renewcommand{\gnuschaptername}{#2}
113 \thispagestyle{empty}
115 \begin{picture}(500,500)(0,0)
116 \put(480,350){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{#1}}
117 \put(40,300){\makebox(500,50)[bl]{{\Huge\bf{#2}}}}
122 \newcommand{\gnusfigure}[3]{
124 \mbox{}\ifodd\count0\hspace*{-0.8cm}\else\hspace*{-3cm}\fi\begin{picture}(440,#2)
131 \newcommand{\gnusicon}[1]{
132 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\raisebox{-1.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/#1-up,height=1.5cm}}]{\raisebox{-1cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/#1-up,height=1cm}}}
135 \newcommand{\gnuspicon}[1]{
136 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=2cm}}
139 \newcommand{\gnusxface}[2]{
140 \margindex{\epsfig{figure=#1,width=1cm}\epsfig{figure=#2,width=1cm}}
143 \newcommand{\gnussmiley}[2]{
144 \margindex{\makebox[2cm]{\hfill\epsfig{figure=#1,width=0.5cm}\hfill\epsfig{figure=#2,width=0.5cm}\hfill}}
147 \newcommand{\gnusitemx}[1]{\mbox{}\vspace*{-\itemsep}\vspace*{-\parsep}\item#1}
149 \newcommand{\gnussection}[1]{
150 \renewcommand{\gnussectionname}{#1}
154 \newenvironment{codelist}%
159 \newenvironment{asislist}%
164 \newenvironment{kbdlist}%
170 \newenvironment{dfnlist}%
175 \newenvironment{stronglist}%
180 \newenvironment{samplist}%
185 \newenvironment{varlist}%
190 \newenvironment{emphlist}%
195 \newlength\gnusheadtextwidth
196 \setlength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{\headtextwidth}
197 \addtolength{\gnusheadtextwidth}{1cm}
199 \newpagestyle{gnuspreamble}%
204 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\mbox{}}\textbf{\hfill\roman{page}}}
208 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\roman{page}\hfill\mbox{}}}
217 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
219 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
224 \newpagestyle{gnusindex}%
229 \hspace*{-0.23cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\gnuschaptername\hfill\arabic{page}}}}
233 \hspace*{-3.25cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}
241 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
243 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
253 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{3.1cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{chapter}.\arabic{section}} \textbf{\gnussectionname\hfill\arabic{page}}}}}
257 \makebox[12cm]{\hspace*{-2.95cm}\underline{\makebox[\gnusheadtextwidth]{\textbf{\arabic{page}\hfill\gnuschaptername}}}}
265 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
267 \raisebox{-0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=1cm}}
272 \pagenumbering{roman}
273 \pagestyle{gnuspreamble}
283 %\addtolength{\oddsidemargin}{-5cm}
284 %\addtolength{\evensidemargin}{-5cm}
286 \addtolength{\textheight}{2cm}
288 \gnustitle{\gnustitlename}\hfill\gnusversion{\gnusversionname}\\
291 \hspace*{0cm}\epsfig{figure=ps/gnus-big-logo,height=15cm}
294 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
301 \thispagestyle{empty}
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
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 v5.10.3.
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.
453 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
457 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
458 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
459 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
460 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
461 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
462 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
463 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
464 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
465 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
466 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
467 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
471 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
472 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
473 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
477 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
478 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
479 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
480 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
481 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
482 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
483 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
484 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
485 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
486 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
487 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
488 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
489 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
490 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
491 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
492 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
493 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
497 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
498 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
499 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
503 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
504 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
505 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
506 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
507 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
511 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
512 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
513 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
514 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
515 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
519 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
520 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
521 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
522 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
523 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
524 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
525 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
526 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
527 * Threading:: How threads are made.
528 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
529 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
530 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
531 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
532 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
533 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
534 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
535 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
536 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
537 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
538 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
539 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
540 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
541 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
542 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
543 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
544 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
545 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
546 or reselecting the current group.
547 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
548 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
549 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
550 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
552 Summary Buffer Format
554 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
555 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
556 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
557 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
561 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
562 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
564 Reply, Followup and Post
566 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
567 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
568 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
569 * Canceling and Superseding::
573 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
574 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
575 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
576 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
577 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
578 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
582 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
583 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
585 Customizing Threading
587 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
588 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
589 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
590 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
594 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
595 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
596 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
597 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
598 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
599 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
603 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
604 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
605 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
609 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
610 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
611 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
612 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
613 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
614 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
615 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
616 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
617 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
618 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
619 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
621 Alternative Approaches
623 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
624 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
626 Various Summary Stuff
628 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
629 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
630 * Summary Generation Commands::
631 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
635 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
636 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
637 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
638 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
639 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
643 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
644 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
645 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
646 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
647 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
648 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
649 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
650 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
654 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
655 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
656 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
657 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
658 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
659 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
660 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
661 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
665 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
666 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
667 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
668 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
669 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
670 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
671 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
675 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
676 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
680 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
681 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
682 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
686 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
687 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
688 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
689 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
690 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
691 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
692 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
693 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
694 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
695 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
696 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
697 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
698 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
702 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
703 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
704 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
706 Choosing a Mail Back End
708 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
709 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
710 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
711 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
712 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
713 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
714 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
719 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
720 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
721 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
722 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
723 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
724 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
728 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
729 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
730 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
731 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
732 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
733 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
737 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
738 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
739 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
740 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
741 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
745 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
749 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
750 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
751 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
755 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
756 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
760 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
761 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
762 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
763 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
764 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
765 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
766 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
767 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
768 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
769 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
770 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
771 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
772 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
776 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
777 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
778 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
782 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
783 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
784 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
788 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
789 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
790 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
791 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
792 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
793 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
794 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
795 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
796 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
797 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
798 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
799 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
800 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
801 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
802 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
803 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
804 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
808 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
809 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
810 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
811 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
815 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
816 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
817 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
821 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
822 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
823 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
824 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
825 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
826 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
827 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
828 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
829 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
830 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
831 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
832 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
833 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
834 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
835 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
836 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
837 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
838 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
839 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
843 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
844 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
845 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
846 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
847 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
848 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
849 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
850 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
854 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
855 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
856 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
857 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
858 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
862 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
863 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
864 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
865 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
866 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
867 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
869 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
871 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
873 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
874 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
876 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
878 * ifile spam filtering::
879 * spam-stat spam filtering::
881 * Extending the spam elisp package::
883 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
885 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
886 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
887 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
891 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
892 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
893 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
894 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
895 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
896 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
897 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
898 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
899 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ.
903 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
904 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
905 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
906 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
907 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
908 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
909 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
910 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
911 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
915 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
916 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
917 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
918 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
919 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
920 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
924 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
925 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
926 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
927 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
931 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
932 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
933 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
934 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
935 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
936 * Group Info:: The group info format.
937 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
938 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
939 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
943 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
944 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
945 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
946 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
947 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
948 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
952 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
953 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
957 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
958 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
964 @chapter Starting Gnus
969 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
970 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
973 @findex gnus-other-frame
974 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
975 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
976 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
978 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
979 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
980 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
982 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
983 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
986 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
987 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
988 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
989 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
990 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
991 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
992 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
993 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
994 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
995 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
996 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
1000 @node Finding the News
1001 @section Finding the News
1002 @cindex finding news
1004 @vindex gnus-select-method
1006 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1007 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1008 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1009 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1012 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1013 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1016 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1019 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1022 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1025 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1026 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1027 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1029 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1031 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1032 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1033 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1034 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1035 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1036 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1037 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1039 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1040 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1041 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1042 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1044 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1045 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1046 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1047 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1048 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1049 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1050 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1051 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1052 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1055 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1057 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1058 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1059 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1060 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1061 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1062 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1064 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1066 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1067 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1068 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1069 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1070 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1071 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1074 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1075 you would typically set this variable to
1078 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1082 @node The First Time
1083 @section The First Time
1084 @cindex first time usage
1086 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1087 be subscribed by default.
1089 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1090 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1091 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1092 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1095 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1096 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1097 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1099 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1100 help you with most common problems.
1102 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1103 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1107 @node The Server is Down
1108 @section The Server is Down
1109 @cindex server errors
1111 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1112 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1113 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1115 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1116 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1117 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1118 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1119 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1120 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1121 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1123 @findex gnus-no-server
1124 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1126 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1127 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1128 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1129 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1130 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1131 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1132 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1136 @section Slave Gnusae
1139 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1140 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1141 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1142 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1144 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1145 @file{.newsrc} file.
1147 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1148 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1149 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1150 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1151 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1152 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1153 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1156 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1157 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1158 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1159 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1160 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1161 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1162 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1163 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1165 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1166 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1168 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1169 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1170 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1171 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1172 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1174 @node Fetching a Group
1175 @section Fetching a Group
1176 @cindex fetching a group
1178 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1179 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1180 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1181 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1182 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1183 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1189 @cindex subscription
1191 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1192 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1193 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1194 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1195 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1196 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1197 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1198 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1199 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1202 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1203 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1204 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1208 @node Checking New Groups
1209 @subsection Checking New Groups
1211 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1212 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1213 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1214 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1215 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1216 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1217 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1218 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1219 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1220 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1222 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1223 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1224 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1225 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1226 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1227 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1228 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1229 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1230 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1231 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1232 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1234 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1235 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1236 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1237 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1238 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1239 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1242 @node Subscription Methods
1243 @subsection Subscription Methods
1245 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1246 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1247 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1249 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1250 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1252 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1256 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1257 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1258 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1259 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1260 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1262 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1263 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1264 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1265 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1267 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1268 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1269 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1271 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1272 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1273 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1274 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1275 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1276 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1277 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1278 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1279 up. Or something like that.
1281 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1282 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1283 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1284 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1285 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1287 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1288 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1289 Kill all new groups.
1291 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1292 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1293 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1294 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1295 topic parameter that looks like
1301 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1304 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1309 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1310 A closely related variable is
1311 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1312 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1313 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1314 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1317 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1318 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1319 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1320 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1323 @node Filtering New Groups
1324 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1326 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1327 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1328 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1331 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1334 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1335 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1336 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1337 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1338 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1339 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1340 subscribing these groups.
1341 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1342 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1344 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1345 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1346 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1347 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1348 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1349 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1350 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1351 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1353 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1354 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1355 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1356 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1357 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1358 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1359 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1360 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1361 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1362 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1365 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1366 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1369 @node Changing Servers
1370 @section Changing Servers
1371 @cindex changing servers
1373 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1374 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1375 very flaky and you want to use another.
1377 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1378 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1382 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1383 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1384 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1385 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1388 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1389 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1390 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1391 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1393 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1394 @findex gnus-change-server
1395 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1396 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1397 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1398 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1399 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1401 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1402 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1403 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1404 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1405 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1407 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1408 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1409 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1410 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1411 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1412 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1414 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1415 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1416 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1417 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1419 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1420 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1421 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1422 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1423 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1424 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1425 cache for all groups).
1429 @section Startup Files
1430 @cindex startup files
1435 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1436 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1438 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1439 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1440 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1441 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1442 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1443 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1444 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1446 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1447 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1448 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1449 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1450 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1451 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1453 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1454 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1455 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1456 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1457 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1458 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1459 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1460 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1461 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1462 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1464 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1465 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1466 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1467 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1468 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1469 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1470 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1471 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1472 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1473 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1474 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1475 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1477 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1478 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1479 @vindex version-control
1480 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1481 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1482 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1483 If you want version control for this file, set
1484 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1485 @code{version-control} variable.
1487 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1488 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1489 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1490 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1491 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1492 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1493 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1494 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1495 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1496 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1499 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1500 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1502 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1503 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1506 @vindex gnus-init-file
1507 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1508 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1509 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1510 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1511 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1512 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1513 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1514 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1515 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1516 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1522 @cindex dribble file
1525 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1526 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1527 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1528 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1529 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1532 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1533 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1536 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1537 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1538 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1540 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1541 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1542 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1543 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1544 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1545 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1547 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1548 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1549 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1552 @node The Active File
1553 @section The Active File
1555 @cindex ignored groups
1557 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1558 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1559 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1561 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1562 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1563 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1564 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1565 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1566 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1567 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1570 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1571 @c if you set it to anything else.
1573 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1575 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1576 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1577 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1579 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1580 you actually subscribe to.
1582 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1583 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1584 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1585 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1587 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1588 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1589 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1590 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1591 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1592 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1594 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1595 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1596 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1599 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1600 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1601 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1602 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1603 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1604 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1606 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1607 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1609 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1610 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1612 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1613 secondary select methods.
1616 @node Startup Variables
1617 @section Startup Variables
1621 @item gnus-load-hook
1622 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1623 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1624 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1625 times you start Gnus.
1627 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1628 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1629 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1631 @item gnus-startup-hook
1632 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1633 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1635 @item gnus-started-hook
1636 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1637 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1640 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1641 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1642 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1643 generating the group buffer.
1645 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1646 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1647 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1648 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1649 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1650 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1651 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1652 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1654 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1655 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1656 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1657 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1658 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1659 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1661 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1662 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1663 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1665 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1666 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1667 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1669 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1670 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1671 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1672 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1678 @chapter Group Buffer
1679 @cindex group buffer
1681 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1683 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1684 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1685 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1686 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1687 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1688 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1689 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1690 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1691 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1692 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1693 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1694 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1695 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1696 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1697 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1698 @c human rights at 9...
1701 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1702 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1703 long as Gnus is active.
1707 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1708 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1709 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1710 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1711 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1712 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1713 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1714 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1720 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1721 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1722 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1723 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1724 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1725 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1726 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1727 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1728 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1729 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1730 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1731 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1732 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1733 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1734 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1735 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1736 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1740 @node Group Buffer Format
1741 @section Group Buffer Format
1744 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1745 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1746 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1750 @node Group Line Specification
1751 @subsection Group Line Specification
1752 @cindex group buffer format
1754 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1755 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1757 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1760 25: news.announce.newusers
1761 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1766 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1767 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1768 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1769 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1771 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1772 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1773 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1774 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1775 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1776 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1778 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1780 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1781 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1782 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1783 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1784 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1786 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1787 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1788 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1790 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1795 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1798 Whether the group is subscribed.
1801 Level of subscribedness.
1804 Number of unread articles.
1807 Number of dormant articles.
1810 Number of ticked articles.
1813 Number of read articles.
1816 Number of unseen articles.
1819 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1820 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1822 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1823 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1824 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1825 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1826 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1827 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1828 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1829 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1832 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1835 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1844 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1845 comment element in the group parameters.
1848 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1849 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1850 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1854 @samp{m} if moderated.
1857 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1863 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1869 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1873 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1876 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1877 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1878 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1879 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1880 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1883 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1885 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1889 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1892 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1896 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1897 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1898 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1899 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1900 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1901 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1906 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1907 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1908 group, or a bogus native group.
1911 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1912 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1913 @cindex group mode line
1915 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1916 The mode line can be changed by setting
1917 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1918 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1922 The native news server.
1924 The native select method.
1928 @node Group Highlighting
1929 @subsection Group Highlighting
1930 @cindex highlighting
1931 @cindex group highlighting
1933 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1934 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1935 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1936 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1937 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1939 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1943 (cond (window-system
1944 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1945 (defface my-group-face-1
1946 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1947 (defface my-group-face-2
1948 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1949 "Second group face")
1950 (defface my-group-face-3
1951 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1952 (defface my-group-face-4
1953 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1954 (defface my-group-face-5
1955 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1957 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1958 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1959 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1960 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1961 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1962 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1965 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1967 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1974 The number of unread articles in the group.
1978 Whether the group is a mail group.
1980 The level of the group.
1982 The score of the group.
1984 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1986 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1987 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1989 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1990 topic being inserted.
1993 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1994 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1995 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1997 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1998 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1999 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2000 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2001 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2004 @node Group Maneuvering
2005 @section Group Maneuvering
2006 @cindex group movement
2008 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2009 expected, hopefully.
2015 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2016 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2017 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2023 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2024 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2025 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2029 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2030 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2034 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2035 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2039 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2040 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2041 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2045 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2046 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2047 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2050 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2056 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2057 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2058 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2063 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2064 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2065 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2069 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2070 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2071 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2074 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2075 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2076 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2077 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2081 @node Selecting a Group
2082 @section Selecting a Group
2083 @cindex group selection
2088 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2089 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2090 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2091 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2092 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2093 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2094 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2095 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2096 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2097 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2099 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2100 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2101 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2103 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2104 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2109 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2110 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2111 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2112 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2113 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2117 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2118 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2119 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2120 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2121 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2122 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2123 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2124 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2125 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2126 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2129 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2130 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2131 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2132 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2133 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2136 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2137 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2138 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2139 doing any processing of its contents
2140 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2141 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2142 manner will have no permanent effects.
2146 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2147 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2148 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2149 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2150 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2151 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2152 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2153 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2154 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2155 most recently will be fetched.
2157 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2158 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2159 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2162 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2163 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2164 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2165 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2166 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2167 Which article this is is controlled by the
2168 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2174 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2177 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2180 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2182 @item unseen-or-unread
2183 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2184 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2188 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2192 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2193 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2195 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2196 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2197 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2198 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2202 @node Subscription Commands
2203 @section Subscription Commands
2204 @cindex subscription
2212 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2213 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2214 Toggle subscription to the current group
2215 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2221 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2222 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2223 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2224 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2230 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2231 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2232 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2238 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2239 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2242 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2243 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2244 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2245 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2246 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2252 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2253 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2257 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2258 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2261 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2262 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2263 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2264 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2265 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2266 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2267 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2268 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2269 @file{.newsrc} file.
2273 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2283 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2284 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2285 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2286 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2287 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2288 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2293 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2294 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2295 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2299 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2300 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2301 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2303 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2304 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2305 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2306 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2307 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2308 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2315 @section Group Levels
2319 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2320 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2321 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2322 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2323 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2325 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2331 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2332 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2333 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2334 prompted for a level.
2337 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2338 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2339 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2340 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2341 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2342 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2343 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2344 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2345 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2346 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2347 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2348 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2349 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2350 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2351 reasons of efficiency.
2353 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2354 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2356 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2357 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2358 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2359 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2360 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2361 groups are hidden, in a way.
2363 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2364 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2365 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2366 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2367 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2368 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2370 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2371 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2372 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2373 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2374 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2375 list of killed groups.)
2377 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2378 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2379 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2381 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2382 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2383 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2384 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2385 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2386 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2387 relevant valid ranges.
2389 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2390 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2391 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2392 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2393 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2394 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2397 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2398 one with the best level.
2400 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2401 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2402 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2405 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2406 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2407 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2408 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2411 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2412 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2413 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2414 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2416 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2417 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2418 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2419 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2420 to 5. The default is 6.
2424 @section Group Score
2429 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2430 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2431 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2434 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2435 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2436 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2437 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2438 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2439 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2440 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2441 least significant part.))
2443 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2444 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2445 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2446 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2447 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2448 action after each summary exit, you can add
2449 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2450 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2451 slow things down somewhat.
2454 @node Marking Groups
2455 @section Marking Groups
2456 @cindex marking groups
2458 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2459 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2460 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2461 bidding on those groups.
2463 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2464 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2465 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2473 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2474 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2480 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2481 Remove the mark from the current group
2482 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2486 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2487 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2491 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2492 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2496 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2497 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2501 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2502 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2503 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2506 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2508 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2509 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2510 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2511 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2512 the command to be executed.
2515 @node Foreign Groups
2516 @section Foreign Groups
2517 @cindex foreign groups
2519 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2520 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2521 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2522 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2529 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2530 @cindex making groups
2531 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2532 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2533 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2537 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2538 @cindex renaming groups
2539 Rename the current group to something else
2540 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2541 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2547 @findex gnus-group-customize
2548 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2552 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2553 @cindex renaming groups
2554 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2555 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2559 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2560 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2561 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2565 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2566 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2567 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2571 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2573 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2574 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2579 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2580 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2584 @cindex (ding) archive
2585 @cindex archive group
2586 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2587 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2588 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2589 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2590 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2591 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2592 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2596 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2598 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2599 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2600 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2601 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2605 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2607 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2608 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2609 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2613 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2614 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2616 Make a group based on some file or other
2617 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2618 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2619 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2620 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2621 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2622 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2623 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2624 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2625 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2629 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2630 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2631 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2632 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2636 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2640 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2641 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2642 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2643 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2644 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2645 @xref{Web Searches}.
2647 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2648 to a particular group by using a match string like
2649 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2653 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2654 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2655 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2659 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2660 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2661 This function will delete the current group
2662 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2663 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2664 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2665 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2666 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2670 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2671 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2672 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2676 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2677 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2678 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2681 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2684 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2685 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2686 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2687 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2688 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2689 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2693 @node Group Parameters
2694 @section Group Parameters
2695 @cindex group parameters
2697 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2698 Here's an example group parameter list:
2701 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2705 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2706 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2707 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2708 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2710 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2711 is an alist of regexps and values.
2713 The following group parameters can be used:
2718 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2721 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2724 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2725 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2726 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2727 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2728 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2730 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2731 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2732 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2733 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2734 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2735 list address instead.
2737 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2741 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2744 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2747 It is totally ignored
2748 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2749 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2751 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2752 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2753 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2754 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2755 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2757 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2758 @cindex mail list groups
2759 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2760 entering summary buffer.
2762 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2767 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2768 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2769 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2770 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2771 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2772 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2773 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2774 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2777 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2778 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2781 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2782 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2786 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2787 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2788 of whether it has any unread articles.
2790 @item broken-reply-to
2791 @cindex broken-reply-to
2792 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2793 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2794 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2795 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2796 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2797 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2801 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2802 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2806 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2807 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2808 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2813 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2814 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2815 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2816 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2817 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2818 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2819 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2821 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2822 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2823 doesn't accept articles.
2827 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2828 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2829 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2831 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2834 @cindex total-expire
2835 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2836 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2837 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2838 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2841 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2845 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2846 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2847 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2848 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2849 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2850 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2851 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2854 @cindex expiry-target
2855 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2856 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2859 @cindex score file group parameter
2860 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2861 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2862 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2865 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2866 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2867 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2868 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2871 @cindex admin-address
2872 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2873 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2874 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2875 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2879 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2880 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2884 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2887 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2888 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2891 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2895 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2897 Here are some examples:
2901 Display only unread articles.
2904 Display everything except expirable articles.
2906 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2907 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2911 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2912 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2913 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2914 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2915 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2919 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2920 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2921 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2925 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2926 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2927 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2931 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2932 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2933 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2935 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2937 @item ignored-charsets
2938 @cindex ignored-charset
2939 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2940 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2941 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2943 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2946 @cindex posting-style
2947 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2948 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2949 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2950 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2951 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2953 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2954 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2955 like this in the group parameters:
2960 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2961 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2966 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2967 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2971 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2972 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2973 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2974 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2975 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2979 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2980 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2981 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2982 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2984 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
2985 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2986 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2987 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2990 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2991 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2995 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
2996 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
2998 @item (agent parameters)
2999 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3000 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3001 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3002 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3003 minimize the configuration effort.
3005 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3006 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3007 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3008 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3009 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3010 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3011 @code{eval}ed there.
3013 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
3014 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3015 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3016 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3017 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3018 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3019 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3020 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3023 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3026 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3027 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3028 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3031 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3034 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3035 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3036 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3037 into the group parameters for the group.
3039 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
3040 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
3041 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
3042 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
3043 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
3047 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3048 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3049 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3050 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3051 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3053 @vindex gnus-parameters
3054 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3055 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3059 (setq gnus-parameters
3061 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3062 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3063 (gnus-summary-line-format
3064 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3068 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3072 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3076 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3079 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3080 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3083 @node Listing Groups
3084 @section Listing Groups
3085 @cindex group listing
3087 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3095 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3096 List all groups that have unread articles
3097 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3098 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3099 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3100 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3107 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3108 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3109 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3110 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3111 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3112 unsubscribed groups).
3116 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3117 List all unread groups on a specific level
3118 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3119 with no unread articles.
3123 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3124 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3125 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3126 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3131 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3132 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3136 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3137 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3138 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3142 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3143 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3147 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3148 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3149 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3150 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3151 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3152 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3153 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3154 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3158 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3159 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3160 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3164 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3165 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3166 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3170 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3171 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3175 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3176 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3180 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3181 List groups limited within the current selection
3182 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3186 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3187 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3191 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3192 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3196 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3197 @cindex visible group parameter
3198 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3199 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3200 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3201 get the same effect.
3203 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3204 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3205 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3206 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3207 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3210 @node Sorting Groups
3211 @section Sorting Groups
3212 @cindex sorting groups
3214 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3215 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3216 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3217 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3218 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3219 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3224 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3225 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3226 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3228 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3229 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3230 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3232 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3233 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3234 Sort by group level.
3236 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3237 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3238 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3240 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3241 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3242 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3243 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3245 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3246 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3247 Sort by number of unread articles.
3249 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3250 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3251 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3253 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3254 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3255 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3260 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3261 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3265 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3266 some sorting criteria:
3270 @kindex G S a (Group)
3271 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3272 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3273 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3276 @kindex G S u (Group)
3277 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3278 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3279 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3282 @kindex G S l (Group)
3283 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3284 Sort the group buffer by group level
3285 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3288 @kindex G S v (Group)
3289 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3290 Sort the group buffer by group score
3291 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3294 @kindex G S r (Group)
3295 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3296 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3297 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3300 @kindex G S m (Group)
3301 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3302 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3303 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3306 @kindex G S n (Group)
3307 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3308 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3309 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3313 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3314 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3316 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3317 commands will sort in reverse order.
3319 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3323 @kindex G P a (Group)
3324 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3325 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3326 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3329 @kindex G P u (Group)
3330 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3331 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3332 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3335 @kindex G P l (Group)
3336 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3337 Sort the groups by group level
3338 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3341 @kindex G P v (Group)
3342 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3343 Sort the groups by group score
3344 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3347 @kindex G P r (Group)
3348 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3349 Sort the groups by group rank
3350 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3353 @kindex G P m (Group)
3354 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3355 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3356 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3359 @kindex G P n (Group)
3360 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3361 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3362 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3365 @kindex G P s (Group)
3366 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3367 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3371 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3375 @node Group Maintenance
3376 @section Group Maintenance
3377 @cindex bogus groups
3382 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3383 Find bogus groups and delete them
3384 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3388 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3389 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3390 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3391 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3392 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3396 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3397 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3398 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3399 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3400 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3401 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3404 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3405 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3406 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3407 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3412 @node Browse Foreign Server
3413 @section Browse Foreign Server
3414 @cindex foreign servers
3415 @cindex browsing servers
3420 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3421 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3422 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3423 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3426 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3427 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3428 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3429 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3431 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3436 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3437 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3441 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3442 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3445 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3446 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3447 Enter the current group and display the first article
3448 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3451 @kindex RET (Browse)
3452 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3453 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3457 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3458 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3459 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3465 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3466 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3470 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3471 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3475 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3476 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3477 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3482 @section Exiting Gnus
3483 @cindex exiting Gnus
3485 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3490 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3491 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3492 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3493 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3497 @findex gnus-group-exit
3498 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3499 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3503 @findex gnus-group-quit
3504 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3505 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3508 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3509 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3510 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3511 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3512 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3513 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3519 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3520 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3521 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3527 @section Group Topics
3530 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3531 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3532 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3533 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3534 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3535 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3539 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3540 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3551 2: alt.religion.emacs
3554 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3556 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3557 13: comp.sources.unix
3560 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3562 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3563 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3564 is a toggling command.)
3566 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3567 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3568 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3569 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3572 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3573 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3574 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3577 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3581 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3582 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3583 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3584 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3585 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3589 @node Topic Commands
3590 @subsection Topic Commands
3591 @cindex topic commands
3593 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3594 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3595 definitions slightly.
3597 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3598 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3599 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3600 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3601 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3602 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3604 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3611 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3612 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3613 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3617 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3619 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3620 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3621 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3622 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3625 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3626 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3627 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3628 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3632 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3633 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3634 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3635 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3641 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3642 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3643 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3647 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3648 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3649 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3652 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3653 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3654 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3655 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3656 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3658 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3659 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3663 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3664 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3671 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3673 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3674 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3675 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3676 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3677 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3678 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3682 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3688 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3689 Move the current group to some other topic
3690 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3691 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3695 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3696 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3700 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3701 Copy the current group to some other topic
3702 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3703 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3707 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3708 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3709 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3713 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3714 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3715 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3719 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3720 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3721 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3722 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3723 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3724 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3725 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3728 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3729 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3733 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3734 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3735 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3739 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3740 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3741 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3745 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3746 Toggle hiding empty topics
3747 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3751 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3752 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3753 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3754 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3757 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3758 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3759 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3760 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3761 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3764 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3765 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3766 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3767 expiry process (if any)
3768 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3772 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3773 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3776 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3777 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3778 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3782 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3783 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3784 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3787 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3788 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3789 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3792 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3793 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3794 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3798 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3799 @cindex group parameters
3800 @cindex topic parameters
3802 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3803 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3808 @node Topic Variables
3809 @subsection Topic Variables
3810 @cindex topic variables
3812 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3813 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3815 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3816 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3817 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3830 Number of groups in the topic.
3832 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3834 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3837 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3838 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3839 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3842 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3843 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3845 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3846 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3847 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3851 @subsection Topic Sorting
3852 @cindex topic sorting
3854 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3860 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3861 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3862 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3863 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3866 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3867 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3868 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3869 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3872 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3873 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3874 Sort the current topic by group level
3875 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3878 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3879 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3880 Sort the current topic by group score
3881 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3884 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3885 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3886 Sort the current topic by group rank
3887 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3890 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3891 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3892 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3893 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3896 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3897 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3898 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3899 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3902 @kindex T S s (Topic)
3903 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3904 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3905 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3906 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3910 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3911 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3915 @node Topic Topology
3916 @subsection Topic Topology
3917 @cindex topic topology
3920 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3927 2: alt.religion.emacs
3930 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3932 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3933 13: comp.sources.unix
3937 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3938 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3939 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3944 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3945 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3949 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3950 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3951 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3952 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3953 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3954 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3956 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3957 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3958 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3961 @node Topic Parameters
3962 @subsection Topic Parameters
3963 @cindex topic parameters
3965 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
3966 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
3967 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
3968 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
3969 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
3971 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3976 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3977 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3978 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3981 @item subscribe-level
3982 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3983 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3984 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3988 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3989 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3990 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3991 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3998 2: alt.religion.emacs
4002 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4004 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4005 13: comp.sources.unix
4010 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4011 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4012 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4013 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4014 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4015 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4017 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4018 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4019 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4020 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4021 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4023 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4024 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4025 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4026 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4027 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4028 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4029 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4030 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4033 @node Misc Group Stuff
4034 @section Misc Group Stuff
4037 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4038 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4039 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4040 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4041 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4048 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4049 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4050 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4054 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4055 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4056 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4057 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4058 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4059 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4060 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4064 @findex gnus-group-mail
4065 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4066 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4067 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4068 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4072 @findex gnus-group-news
4073 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4074 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4075 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4077 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4078 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4079 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4080 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4081 for this to work though.
4085 Variables for the group buffer:
4089 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4090 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4091 is called after the group buffer has been
4094 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4095 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4096 is called after the group buffer is
4097 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4100 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4101 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4102 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4103 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4105 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4106 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4107 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4108 whether they are empty or not.
4110 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4111 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4112 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4113 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4117 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4118 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4121 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4122 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4123 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4124 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4125 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4126 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4127 default is @code{nil}.
4131 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4132 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4137 @node Scanning New Messages
4138 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4139 @cindex new messages
4140 @cindex scanning new news
4146 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4147 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4148 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4149 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4150 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4151 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4156 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4157 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4158 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4159 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4160 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4161 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4162 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4164 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4165 @cindex activating groups
4167 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4168 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4173 @findex gnus-group-restart
4174 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4175 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4176 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
4180 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4181 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4183 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4184 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4188 @node Group Information
4189 @subsection Group Information
4190 @cindex group information
4191 @cindex information on groups
4198 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4199 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4202 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4203 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4204 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4205 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4206 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4207 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4208 used for fetching the file.
4210 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4211 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4215 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4216 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4218 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4219 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4222 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4223 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4224 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4228 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4229 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4230 @cindex control message
4231 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4232 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4233 group if given a prefix argument.
4235 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4236 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4237 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4238 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4240 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4241 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4242 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4246 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4248 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4249 @cindex describing groups
4250 @cindex group description
4251 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4252 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4253 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4257 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4258 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4259 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4266 @findex gnus-version
4267 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4271 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4272 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4275 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4278 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4279 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4283 @node Group Timestamp
4284 @subsection Group Timestamp
4286 @cindex group timestamps
4288 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4289 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4290 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4293 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4296 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4298 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4299 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4302 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4303 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4306 This will result in lines looking like:
4309 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4310 0: custom 19961002T012713
4313 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4314 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4318 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4319 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4322 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4323 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4327 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4328 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4329 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4330 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4332 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4338 @subsection File Commands
4339 @cindex file commands
4345 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4346 @vindex gnus-init-file
4347 @cindex reading init file
4348 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4349 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4353 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4354 @cindex saving .newsrc
4355 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4356 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4357 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4360 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4361 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4362 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4367 @node Sieve Commands
4368 @subsection Sieve Commands
4369 @cindex group sieve commands
4371 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4372 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4373 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4374 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4375 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4377 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4378 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4379 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4380 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4381 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4382 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4383 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4384 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4385 regenerate the Sieve script.
4387 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4388 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4389 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4390 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4391 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4392 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4393 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4394 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4395 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4396 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4399 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4400 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4405 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4411 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4412 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4413 @cindex generating sieve script
4414 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4415 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4419 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4420 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4421 @cindex updating sieve script
4422 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4423 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4424 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4429 @node Summary Buffer
4430 @chapter Summary Buffer
4431 @cindex summary buffer
4433 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4434 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4436 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4437 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4439 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4442 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4443 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4444 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4445 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4446 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4447 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4448 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4449 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4450 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4451 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4452 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4453 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4454 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4455 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4456 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4457 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4458 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4459 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4460 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4461 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4462 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4463 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4464 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4465 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4466 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4467 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4468 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4469 or reselecting the current group.
4470 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4471 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4472 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4473 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4477 @node Summary Buffer Format
4478 @section Summary Buffer Format
4479 @cindex summary buffer format
4483 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4484 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4485 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4491 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4492 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4493 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4494 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4497 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4498 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4499 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4500 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4501 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4502 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4503 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4504 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4505 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4506 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4507 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4510 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4511 'mail-extract-address-components)
4514 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4515 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4516 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4517 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4520 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4521 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4523 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4524 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4525 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4526 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4527 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4529 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4530 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4531 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4532 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4533 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4534 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4536 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4538 The following format specification characters and extended format
4539 specification(s) are understood:
4545 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4546 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4548 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4549 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4550 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4552 Full @code{From} header.
4554 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4556 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4559 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4560 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4561 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4562 may be more thorough.
4564 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4567 Number of lines in the article.
4569 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4570 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4572 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4573 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4575 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4577 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4578 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4591 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4592 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4593 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4594 line-drawing glyphs.
4596 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4597 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4598 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4599 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4601 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4602 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4603 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4604 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4606 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4607 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4608 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4609 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4611 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4612 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4613 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4615 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4616 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4617 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4619 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4620 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4621 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4623 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4624 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4625 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4630 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4631 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4633 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4634 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4636 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4637 for adopted articles.
4639 One space for each thread level.
4641 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4643 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4646 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4647 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4648 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4651 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4653 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4654 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4655 default level. If the difference between
4656 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4657 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4665 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4667 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4673 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4674 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4676 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4677 article has any children.
4683 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4684 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4686 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4687 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4688 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4689 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4690 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4691 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4694 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4695 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4696 There can only be one such area.
4698 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4699 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4700 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4701 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4702 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4703 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4705 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4706 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4708 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4711 @node To From Newsgroups
4712 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4716 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4717 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4718 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4719 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4720 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4724 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4725 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4726 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4730 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4731 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4734 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4735 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4738 @findex gnus-extra-header
4739 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4740 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4741 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4744 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4748 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4749 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4750 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4751 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4752 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4753 headers are used instead.
4757 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4758 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4759 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4760 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4761 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4762 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4765 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4766 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4767 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4768 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4770 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4774 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4776 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4777 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4778 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4779 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4783 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4786 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4787 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4790 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4791 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4792 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4798 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4799 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4802 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4803 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4805 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4806 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4807 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4808 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4810 Here are the elements you can play with:
4816 Unprefixed group name.
4818 Current article number.
4820 Current article score.
4824 Number of unread articles in this group.
4826 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4829 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4830 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4831 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4832 and no unselected ones.
4834 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4835 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4837 Subject of the current article.
4839 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4841 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4843 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4845 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4847 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4849 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4853 @node Summary Highlighting
4854 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4858 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4859 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4860 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4861 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4862 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4864 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4865 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4866 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4867 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4869 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4870 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4871 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4872 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4874 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4875 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4876 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4877 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4878 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4879 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4882 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4883 ((> score default) . bold))
4885 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4886 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4890 @node Summary Maneuvering
4891 @section Summary Maneuvering
4892 @cindex summary movement
4894 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4895 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4897 None of these commands select articles.
4902 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4903 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4904 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4905 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4906 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4910 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4911 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4912 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4913 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4914 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4917 @kindex G g (Summary)
4918 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4919 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4920 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4923 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4924 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4925 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4926 to the group buffer.
4928 Variables related to summary movement:
4932 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4933 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4934 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4935 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4936 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4937 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4938 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4939 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4940 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4941 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4942 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4943 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4944 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4945 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4947 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4948 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4949 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4950 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4951 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4952 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4953 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4955 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4957 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4958 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4959 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4960 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4961 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4963 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4964 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4965 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4966 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4967 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4968 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4969 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4970 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4973 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4974 the given number of lines from the top.
4979 @node Choosing Articles
4980 @section Choosing Articles
4981 @cindex selecting articles
4984 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4985 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4989 @node Choosing Commands
4990 @subsection Choosing Commands
4992 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4993 and they all select and display an article.
4995 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4996 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
5000 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5001 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5002 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5003 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5005 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5006 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5007 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5012 @kindex G n (Summary)
5013 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5014 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5015 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5020 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5021 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5022 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5027 @kindex G N (Summary)
5028 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5029 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5034 @kindex G P (Summary)
5035 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5036 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5039 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5040 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5041 Go to the next article with the same subject
5042 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5045 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5046 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5047 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5048 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5052 @kindex G f (Summary)
5054 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5055 Go to the first unread article
5056 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5060 @kindex G b (Summary)
5062 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5063 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5064 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5065 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5070 @kindex G l (Summary)
5071 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5072 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5075 @kindex G o (Summary)
5076 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5078 @cindex article history
5079 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5080 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5081 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5082 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5083 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5084 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5089 @kindex G j (Summary)
5090 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5091 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5092 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5097 @node Choosing Variables
5098 @subsection Choosing Variables
5100 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5103 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5104 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5105 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5106 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5107 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5108 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5110 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5111 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5112 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5113 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5114 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5115 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5117 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5118 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5119 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5120 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5121 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5122 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5123 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5124 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5125 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5126 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5127 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5128 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5129 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5130 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5135 @node Paging the Article
5136 @section Scrolling the Article
5137 @cindex article scrolling
5142 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5143 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5144 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5145 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5146 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5148 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5149 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5150 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5151 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5152 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5153 what is considered uninteresting with
5154 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5155 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5158 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5159 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5160 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5163 @kindex RET (Summary)
5164 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5165 Scroll the current article one line forward
5166 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5169 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5170 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5171 Scroll the current article one line backward
5172 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5176 @kindex A g (Summary)
5178 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5179 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5180 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5181 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5182 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5183 the way it came from the server.
5185 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5186 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5187 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5190 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5195 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5200 @kindex A < (Summary)
5201 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5202 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5203 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5208 @kindex A > (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5210 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5214 @kindex A s (Summary)
5216 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5217 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5218 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5222 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5223 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5228 @node Reply Followup and Post
5229 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5232 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5233 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5234 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5235 * Canceling and Superseding::
5239 @node Summary Mail Commands
5240 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5242 @cindex composing mail
5244 Commands for composing a mail message:
5250 @kindex S r (Summary)
5252 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5253 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5254 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5255 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5256 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5261 @kindex S R (Summary)
5262 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5263 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5264 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5265 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5266 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5269 @kindex S w (Summary)
5270 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5271 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5272 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5273 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5274 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5275 present, that's used instead.
5278 @kindex S W (Summary)
5279 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5280 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5281 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5282 the process/prefix convention.
5285 @kindex S v (Summary)
5286 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5287 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5288 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5289 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5290 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5291 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5294 @kindex S V (Summary)
5295 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5296 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5297 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5298 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5301 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5302 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5303 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5304 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5305 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5306 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5307 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5308 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5311 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5312 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5313 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5314 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5315 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5319 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5320 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5321 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5322 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5323 Forward the current article to some other person
5324 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
5325 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
5326 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5327 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5328 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5329 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5330 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5331 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5332 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
5338 @kindex S m (Summary)
5339 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5340 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5341 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5342 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5343 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5348 @kindex S i (Summary)
5349 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5350 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5351 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5352 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5354 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5355 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5356 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5357 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5358 for this to work though.
5361 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5362 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5363 @cindex bouncing mail
5364 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5365 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5366 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5367 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5368 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5369 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5370 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5371 very well fail, though.
5374 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5375 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5376 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5377 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5378 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5379 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5380 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5381 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5382 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5383 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5385 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5386 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5387 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5388 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5389 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5391 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5392 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5395 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5396 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5397 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5398 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5399 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5402 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5403 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5404 @cindex crossposting
5405 @cindex excessive crossposting
5406 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5407 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5409 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5410 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5411 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5412 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5413 command understands the process/prefix convention
5414 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5418 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5419 Manual}, for more information.
5422 @node Summary Post Commands
5423 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5425 @cindex composing news
5427 Commands for posting a news article:
5433 @kindex S p (Summary)
5434 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5435 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5436 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5437 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5438 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5443 @kindex S f (Summary)
5444 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5445 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5446 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5450 @kindex S F (Summary)
5452 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5453 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5454 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5455 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5456 process/prefix convention.
5459 @kindex S n (Summary)
5460 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5461 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5462 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5465 @kindex S N (Summary)
5466 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5467 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5468 message through mail and include the original message
5469 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5470 the process/prefix convention.
5473 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5474 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5475 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5476 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5477 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5478 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5479 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5480 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5481 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5482 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5483 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5484 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5485 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
5488 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5489 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5491 @cindex making digests
5492 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5493 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5494 process/prefix convention.
5497 @kindex S u (Summary)
5498 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5499 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5500 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5501 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5504 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5505 Manual}, for more information.
5508 @node Summary Message Commands
5509 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5513 @kindex S y (Summary)
5514 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5515 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5516 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5517 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5518 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5523 @node Canceling and Superseding
5524 @subsection Canceling Articles
5525 @cindex canceling articles
5526 @cindex superseding articles
5528 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5529 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5531 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5533 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5535 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5536 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5537 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5538 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5539 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5540 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5542 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5543 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5546 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5547 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5548 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5550 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
5551 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
5552 message, Message Manual}).
5554 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5555 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5556 your original article.
5558 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5560 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5561 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5562 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5565 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5566 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5567 have posted almost the same article twice.
5569 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5570 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5571 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5572 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5573 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5574 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5575 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5576 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5577 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5578 canceled/superseded.
5580 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5582 @node Delayed Articles
5583 @section Delayed Articles
5584 @cindex delayed sending
5585 @cindex send delayed
5587 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5588 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5589 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5590 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5593 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5596 @findex gnus-delay-article
5597 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5598 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5599 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5600 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5604 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5605 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5606 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5607 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5610 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5611 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5612 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5615 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5616 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5617 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5618 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5619 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5620 that means a time tomorrow.
5623 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5624 couple of variables:
5627 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5628 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5629 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5630 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5632 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5633 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5634 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5635 formats described above.
5637 @item gnus-delay-group
5638 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5639 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5640 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5641 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5643 @item gnus-delay-header
5644 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5645 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5646 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5647 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5650 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5651 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5652 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5653 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5654 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5656 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5657 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5658 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5659 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5660 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5661 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5662 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5665 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5666 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5667 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5668 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5669 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5670 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5671 argument is ignored.
5673 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5674 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5675 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5679 @node Marking Articles
5680 @section Marking Articles
5681 @cindex article marking
5682 @cindex article ticking
5685 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5687 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5688 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5689 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5691 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5694 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5695 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5696 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5700 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5704 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5705 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5706 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5710 @node Unread Articles
5711 @subsection Unread Articles
5713 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5718 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5719 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5721 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5722 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5723 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5724 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5725 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5726 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5727 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5730 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5731 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5733 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5734 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5735 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5736 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5740 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5741 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5743 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5748 @subsection Read Articles
5749 @cindex expirable mark
5751 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5756 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5757 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5758 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5761 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5762 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5765 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5766 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5767 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5770 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5771 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5774 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5775 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5778 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5779 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5782 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5783 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5786 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5787 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5790 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5791 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5794 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5795 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5799 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5800 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5801 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5805 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5806 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5808 One more special mark, though:
5812 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5813 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5815 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5816 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5817 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5818 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5824 @subsection Other Marks
5825 @cindex process mark
5828 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5834 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5835 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5836 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5837 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5838 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5841 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5842 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5843 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5844 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5847 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5848 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5849 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5852 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5853 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5854 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5857 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5858 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5859 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5860 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5863 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5864 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5865 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5866 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5867 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5868 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5871 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5872 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5873 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5874 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5877 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5878 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5879 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5880 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5881 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5885 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5886 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5887 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5888 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5889 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5890 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5893 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5894 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5895 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5896 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5897 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5898 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5902 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5903 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5904 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5905 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5906 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5909 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5910 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5911 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5912 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5913 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5914 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5918 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5919 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5920 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5922 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5923 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5924 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5928 @subsection Setting Marks
5929 @cindex setting marks
5931 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5936 @kindex M c (Summary)
5937 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5938 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5939 @cindex mark as unread
5940 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5941 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5947 @kindex M t (Summary)
5948 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5949 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5950 @xref{Article Caching}.
5955 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5956 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5957 Mark the current article as dormant
5958 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5962 @kindex M d (Summary)
5964 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5965 Mark the current article as read
5966 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5970 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5971 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5972 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5977 @kindex M k (Summary)
5978 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5979 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5980 and then select the next unread article
5981 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5985 @kindex M K (Summary)
5986 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5987 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5988 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5989 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5992 @kindex M C (Summary)
5993 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5994 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5995 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5998 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5999 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
6000 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
6001 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
6004 @kindex M H (Summary)
6005 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
6006 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
6007 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
6010 @kindex M h (Summary)
6011 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
6012 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6013 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6016 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6017 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6018 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6019 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6022 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6023 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6024 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6025 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6029 @kindex M e (Summary)
6031 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6032 Mark the current article as expirable
6033 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6036 @kindex M b (Summary)
6037 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6038 Set a bookmark in the current article
6039 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6042 @kindex M B (Summary)
6043 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6044 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6045 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6048 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6049 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6050 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6051 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6054 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6055 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6056 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6057 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6060 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6061 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6062 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6063 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6064 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6067 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6068 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6069 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6070 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6071 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6072 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6073 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6074 The default is @code{t}.
6077 @node Generic Marking Commands
6078 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6080 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6081 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6082 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6083 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6084 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6087 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6088 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6091 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6092 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6093 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6094 to list in this manual.
6096 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6097 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6098 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6099 article, you could say something like:
6103 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6104 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6105 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6113 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6114 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6118 @node Setting Process Marks
6119 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6120 @cindex setting process marks
6122 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6123 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6124 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6125 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6126 commands into the cache. For more information,
6127 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6134 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6135 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6136 Mark the current article with the process mark
6137 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6138 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6142 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6143 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6144 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6145 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6148 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6149 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6150 Remove the process mark from all articles
6151 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6154 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6155 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6156 Invert the list of process marked articles
6157 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6160 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6161 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6162 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6163 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6166 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6167 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6168 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6169 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6172 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6173 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6174 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6177 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6178 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6179 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6182 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6183 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6184 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6185 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6188 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6189 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6190 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6191 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6194 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6195 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6196 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6197 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6200 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6201 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6202 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6205 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6206 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6207 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6208 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6211 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6212 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6213 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6216 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6217 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6218 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6219 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6222 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6223 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6224 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6225 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6228 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6229 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6230 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6231 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6234 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6235 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6236 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6237 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6241 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6242 set process marks based on article body contents.
6249 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6250 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6251 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6254 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6255 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6256 additional articles.
6262 @kindex / / (Summary)
6263 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6264 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6265 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6269 @kindex / a (Summary)
6270 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6271 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6272 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6276 @kindex / x (Summary)
6277 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6278 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6279 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6280 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6285 @kindex / u (Summary)
6287 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6288 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6289 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6290 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6291 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6294 @kindex / m (Summary)
6295 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6296 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6297 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6300 @kindex / t (Summary)
6301 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6302 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6303 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6304 articles younger than that number of days.
6307 @kindex / n (Summary)
6308 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6309 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6310 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6311 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6314 @kindex / w (Summary)
6315 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6316 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6317 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6321 @kindex / . (Summary)
6322 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6323 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6324 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6327 @kindex / v (Summary)
6328 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6329 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6330 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6333 @kindex / p (Summary)
6334 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6335 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6336 group parameter predicate
6337 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6338 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6342 @kindex M S (Summary)
6343 @kindex / E (Summary)
6344 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6345 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6346 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6349 @kindex / D (Summary)
6350 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6351 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6352 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6355 @kindex / * (Summary)
6356 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6357 Include all cached articles in the limit
6358 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6361 @kindex / d (Summary)
6362 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6363 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6364 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6367 @kindex / M (Summary)
6368 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6369 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6372 @kindex / T (Summary)
6373 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6374 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6377 @kindex / c (Summary)
6378 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6379 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6380 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6383 @kindex / C (Summary)
6384 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6385 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6386 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6387 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6390 @kindex / N (Summary)
6391 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6392 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6393 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6396 @kindex / o (Summary)
6397 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6398 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6399 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6407 @cindex article threading
6409 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6410 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6411 hierarchical fashion.
6413 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6414 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6415 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6416 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6417 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6418 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6419 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6421 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6425 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6428 A tree-like article structure.
6431 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6434 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6435 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6436 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6437 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6438 called loose threads.
6440 @item thread gathering
6441 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6443 @item sparse threads
6444 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6445 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6451 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6452 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6456 @node Customizing Threading
6457 @subsection Customizing Threading
6458 @cindex customizing threading
6461 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6462 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6463 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6464 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6469 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6472 @cindex loose threads
6475 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6476 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6477 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6478 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6479 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6480 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6482 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6483 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6484 There are four possible values:
6488 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6489 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6490 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6491 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6492 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6497 @cindex adopting articles
6502 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6503 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6504 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6505 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6508 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6509 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6510 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6511 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6512 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6513 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6514 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6515 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6516 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6517 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6520 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6521 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6522 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6526 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6527 display them after one another.
6530 Don't gather loose threads.
6533 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6534 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6535 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6536 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6537 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6538 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6539 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6540 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6541 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6542 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6543 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6545 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6546 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6547 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6550 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6551 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6552 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6553 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6554 simplification is used.
6556 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6557 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6558 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6559 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6561 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6563 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6569 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6570 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6571 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6572 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6577 (mapconcat 'identity
6578 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6580 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6583 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6586 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6587 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6588 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6589 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6590 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6591 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6593 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6596 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6597 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6598 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6600 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6601 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6604 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6605 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6606 Remove excessive whitespace.
6608 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6609 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6610 Remove all whitespace.
6613 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6616 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6617 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6618 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6619 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6620 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6621 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6622 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6623 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6625 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6626 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6627 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6628 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6629 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6630 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6631 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6632 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6633 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6637 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6638 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6639 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6640 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6642 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6643 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6644 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6647 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6651 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6652 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6658 @node Filling In Threads
6659 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6662 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6663 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6664 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6665 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
6666 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
6667 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
6668 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
6669 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
6670 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
6671 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6672 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6673 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
6676 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6677 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6678 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6680 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6681 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6682 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6685 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6686 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6687 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6688 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6689 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6690 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6691 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6692 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6693 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6694 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6695 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6696 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6697 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6698 @code{nil} by default.
6700 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6701 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6702 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6703 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6704 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6705 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6706 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6708 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6709 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6710 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6715 @node More Threading
6716 @subsubsection More Threading
6719 @item gnus-show-threads
6720 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6721 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6722 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6723 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6724 slower and more awkward.
6726 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6727 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6728 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6731 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6732 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6733 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6738 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6739 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6740 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6743 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6744 unread, but you get my drift.)
6747 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6748 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6749 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6750 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6751 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6752 threads are expunged.
6754 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6755 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6756 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6759 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6760 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6761 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6762 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6763 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6764 result in a new thread.
6766 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6767 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6768 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6771 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6772 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6773 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6774 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6775 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6776 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6777 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6778 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6779 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6780 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6781 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6786 @node Low-Level Threading
6787 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6791 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6792 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6793 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6795 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6796 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6797 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6798 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6799 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6800 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6801 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6802 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6803 meaningful. Here's one example:
6806 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6808 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6809 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6811 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6813 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6820 @node Thread Commands
6821 @subsection Thread Commands
6822 @cindex thread commands
6828 @kindex T k (Summary)
6829 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6830 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6831 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6832 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6833 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6838 @kindex T l (Summary)
6839 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6840 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6841 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6842 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6845 @kindex T i (Summary)
6846 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6847 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6848 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6851 @kindex T # (Summary)
6852 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6853 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6854 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6857 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6858 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6859 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6860 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6863 @kindex T T (Summary)
6864 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6865 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6868 @kindex T s (Summary)
6869 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6870 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6871 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6874 @kindex T h (Summary)
6875 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6876 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6879 @kindex T S (Summary)
6880 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6881 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6884 @kindex T H (Summary)
6885 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6886 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6889 @kindex T t (Summary)
6890 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6891 Re-thread the current article's thread
6892 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6893 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6896 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6897 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6898 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6899 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6903 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6904 understand the numeric prefix.
6909 @kindex T n (Summary)
6911 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6913 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6914 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6915 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6918 @kindex T p (Summary)
6920 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6922 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6923 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6924 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6927 @kindex T d (Summary)
6928 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6929 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6932 @kindex T u (Summary)
6933 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6934 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6937 @kindex T o (Summary)
6938 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6939 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6942 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6943 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6944 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6945 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6946 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6947 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6948 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6949 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6950 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6951 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6952 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6953 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6957 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6958 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6960 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6961 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6962 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6963 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6964 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6965 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6966 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6967 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6968 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
6969 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
6970 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6971 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6972 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6973 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6975 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6976 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6977 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6978 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6979 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6980 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6981 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6982 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6984 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6985 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6986 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6988 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6989 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6990 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6991 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6992 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6993 ascending article order.
6995 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6996 by number, you could do something like:
6999 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7000 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
7001 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
7002 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
7005 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
7006 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
7007 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7008 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7009 which the articles arrived.
7011 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7015 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7017 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
7018 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7021 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7022 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7023 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7024 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7027 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7028 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7029 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7030 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7031 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7032 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7033 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7034 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7035 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7036 variable. It is very similar to the
7037 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7038 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7039 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7040 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7041 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7042 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7043 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7045 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7049 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7050 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7051 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7056 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7057 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7058 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7059 @cindex article pre-fetch
7062 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7063 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7064 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7065 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7066 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7068 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7069 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
7071 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7072 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7073 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7074 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7075 connection is blocked.
7077 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7078 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7079 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7080 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
7082 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7083 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7084 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7085 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7088 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7091 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7092 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7093 happen automatically.
7095 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7096 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7097 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7098 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7099 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7100 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7101 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7103 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7104 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7105 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7106 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7107 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7108 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7109 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7110 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7111 article data structure as the only parameter.
7113 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7114 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7117 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7118 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7119 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7120 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7123 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7126 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7127 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
7128 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7130 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7131 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7132 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7133 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7137 Remove articles when they are read.
7140 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7143 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7145 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7146 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7147 @c from the next group.
7150 @node Article Caching
7151 @section Article Caching
7152 @cindex article caching
7155 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7156 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7157 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7158 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7159 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7161 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7163 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7164 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7165 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7166 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7167 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7168 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7169 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7170 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7172 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7173 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7174 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7175 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7176 as dormant, and don't worry.
7178 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7180 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7181 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7182 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7183 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7184 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7185 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7186 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7187 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7188 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7189 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7191 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7192 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7193 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7194 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7195 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7196 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7197 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7198 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7199 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7200 not then be downloaded by this command.
7202 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7203 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7204 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7205 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7206 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7207 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7209 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7210 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7211 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7212 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7213 variables, the group is not cached.
7215 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7216 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7217 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7218 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7219 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7220 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
7221 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7222 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7223 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7226 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7227 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7228 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7229 where, isn't that cool?
7231 @node Persistent Articles
7232 @section Persistent Articles
7233 @cindex persistent articles
7235 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7236 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7237 useful in my opinion.
7239 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7240 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7241 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7242 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7243 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7244 the expiry going on at the news server.
7246 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7247 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7248 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7254 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7255 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7258 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7259 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7260 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7261 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7265 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7267 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7268 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7269 interested in persistent articles:
7272 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7276 @node Article Backlog
7277 @section Article Backlog
7279 @cindex article backlog
7281 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7282 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7283 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
7284 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7285 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7286 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7287 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
7288 increase memory usage some.
7290 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7291 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
7292 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7293 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
7294 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7295 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7296 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7298 The default value is 20.
7301 @node Saving Articles
7302 @section Saving Articles
7303 @cindex saving articles
7305 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7306 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7307 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7308 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7309 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7311 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7312 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7313 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7315 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7316 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
7317 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7319 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7320 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7321 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7322 deleted before saving.
7328 @kindex O o (Summary)
7330 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7331 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7332 Save the current article using the default article saver
7333 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7336 @kindex O m (Summary)
7337 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7338 Save the current article in mail format
7339 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7342 @kindex O r (Summary)
7343 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7344 Save the current article in Rmail format
7345 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7348 @kindex O f (Summary)
7349 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7350 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7351 Save the current article in plain file format
7352 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7355 @kindex O F (Summary)
7356 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7357 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7358 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7361 @kindex O b (Summary)
7362 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7363 Save the current article body in plain file format
7364 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7367 @kindex O h (Summary)
7368 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7369 Save the current article in mh folder format
7370 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7373 @kindex O v (Summary)
7374 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7375 Save the current article in a VM folder
7376 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7380 @kindex O p (Summary)
7382 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7383 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7384 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7385 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7386 complete headers in the piped output.
7389 @kindex O P (Summary)
7390 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7391 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7392 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7393 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7394 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7395 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7396 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7400 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7401 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7402 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7403 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7404 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7405 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7406 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7407 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7408 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7409 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7410 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7411 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7415 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7416 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7417 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7418 functions below, or you can create your own.
7422 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7423 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7424 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7425 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7426 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7427 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7428 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7430 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7431 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7432 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7433 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7434 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7435 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7437 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7438 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7439 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7440 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7441 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7442 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7443 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7445 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7446 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7447 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7448 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7449 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7450 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7452 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7453 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7454 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7455 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7456 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7458 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7459 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7460 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7461 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7462 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7465 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7466 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7467 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7468 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7469 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7471 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7472 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7473 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7474 reader to use this setting.
7477 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7478 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7479 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7480 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7483 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7484 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7485 available functions that generate names:
7489 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7490 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7491 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7493 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7494 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7495 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7497 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7498 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7499 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7501 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7502 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7503 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7505 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7506 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7507 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7510 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7511 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7512 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7513 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7514 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7518 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7519 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7520 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7521 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7524 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7525 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7526 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7527 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7528 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7529 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7530 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7531 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7532 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7534 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7535 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7536 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7537 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7539 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7540 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7541 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7544 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7545 lots of mail groups called things like
7546 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7547 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7548 following will do just that:
7551 (defun my-save-name (group)
7552 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7553 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7555 (setq gnus-split-methods
7556 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7561 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7562 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7563 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7564 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7565 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7566 all the files in the top level directory
7567 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7568 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7569 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7570 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7572 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7573 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7574 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7575 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7576 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7579 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7583 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7584 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7585 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7588 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7589 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7590 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7591 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7594 @node Decoding Articles
7595 @section Decoding Articles
7596 @cindex decoding articles
7598 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7599 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7602 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7603 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7604 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7605 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7606 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7607 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7611 @cindex article series
7612 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7613 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7614 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7615 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7616 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7618 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7619 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7620 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7622 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7623 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7624 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7626 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7627 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7628 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7631 @node Uuencoded Articles
7632 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7634 @cindex uuencoded articles
7639 @kindex X u (Summary)
7640 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7641 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7642 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7645 @kindex X U (Summary)
7646 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7647 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7648 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7651 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7652 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7653 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7656 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7657 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7658 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7659 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7663 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7664 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7665 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7666 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7667 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7669 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7670 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7671 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7672 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7675 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7676 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7677 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7678 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7679 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7680 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7684 @node Shell Archives
7685 @subsection Shell Archives
7687 @cindex shell archives
7688 @cindex shared articles
7690 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7691 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7692 some commands to deal with these:
7697 @kindex X s (Summary)
7698 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7699 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7702 @kindex X S (Summary)
7703 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7704 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7707 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7708 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7709 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7712 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7713 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7714 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7715 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7719 @node PostScript Files
7720 @subsection PostScript Files
7726 @kindex X p (Summary)
7727 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7728 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7731 @kindex X P (Summary)
7732 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7733 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7734 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7737 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7738 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7739 View the current PostScript series
7740 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7743 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7744 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7745 View and save the current PostScript series
7746 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7751 @subsection Other Files
7755 @kindex X o (Summary)
7756 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7757 Save the current series
7758 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7761 @kindex X b (Summary)
7762 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7763 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7764 doesn't really work yet.
7768 @node Decoding Variables
7769 @subsection Decoding Variables
7771 Adjective, not verb.
7774 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7775 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7776 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7780 @node Rule Variables
7781 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7782 @cindex rule variables
7784 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7785 variables are of the form
7788 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7795 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7796 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7798 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7799 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7802 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7803 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7806 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7807 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7808 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7809 user and default view rules.
7811 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7812 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7813 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7818 @node Other Decode Variables
7819 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7822 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7824 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7825 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7826 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7827 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7828 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7832 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7833 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7836 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7837 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7838 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7841 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7842 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7843 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7844 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7845 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7848 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7849 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7850 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7852 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7853 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7854 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7855 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7856 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7859 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7860 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7861 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7863 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7864 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7865 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7866 looking for files to display.
7868 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7869 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7870 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7873 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7874 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7875 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7878 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7879 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7880 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7883 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7884 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7885 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7888 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7889 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7890 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7891 decoded articles as unread.
7893 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7894 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7895 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7896 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7898 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7899 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7900 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7902 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7903 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7905 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7906 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
7907 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7908 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7910 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7911 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7912 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7913 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7914 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7915 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7916 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7917 simply dropped them.
7922 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7923 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7927 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7928 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7929 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7930 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7931 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7932 for you when you post the article.
7934 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7935 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7936 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7937 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7939 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7940 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7941 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7942 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7943 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7944 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7945 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7947 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7948 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7949 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7950 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7951 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7952 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7953 Default is @code{t}.
7959 @subsection Viewing Files
7960 @cindex viewing files
7961 @cindex pseudo-articles
7963 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7964 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7965 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7966 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7967 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7968 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7969 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7971 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7972 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7973 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7974 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7976 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7977 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7978 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7980 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7981 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7982 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7983 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7984 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7986 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7987 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7988 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7989 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7990 a list of parameters to that command.
7992 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7993 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7994 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7996 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7997 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7998 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
8001 @node Article Treatment
8002 @section Article Treatment
8004 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8005 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8006 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8007 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8008 these articles easier.
8011 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8012 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8013 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8014 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8015 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8016 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8017 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8018 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8019 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
8020 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8021 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8025 @node Article Highlighting
8026 @subsection Article Highlighting
8027 @cindex highlighting
8029 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8030 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8035 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8036 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8037 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8038 Do much highlighting of the current article
8039 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8040 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8043 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8044 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8045 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8046 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8047 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8048 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8049 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8050 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8051 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8052 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8053 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8054 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8057 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8058 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8059 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8061 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8064 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8066 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8067 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8068 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8070 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8071 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8072 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8074 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8075 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8076 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8077 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8078 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8079 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8081 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8082 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8083 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8085 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8086 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8087 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8089 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8090 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8091 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8092 that it's a citation.
8094 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8095 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8096 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8098 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8099 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8100 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8102 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8103 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8104 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8105 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8111 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8112 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8113 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8114 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8115 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8116 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8117 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8118 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8123 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8126 @node Article Fontisizing
8127 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8129 @cindex article emphasis
8131 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8132 @kindex W e (Summary)
8133 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8134 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8135 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8136 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8138 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8139 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8140 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8141 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8142 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8143 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8144 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8145 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8149 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8150 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8151 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8160 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8161 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8162 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8163 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8164 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8165 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8166 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8167 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8168 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8169 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8170 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8171 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8172 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8174 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8175 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8176 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8180 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8183 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8185 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8186 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8187 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8188 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8190 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8193 @node Article Hiding
8194 @subsection Article Hiding
8195 @cindex article hiding
8197 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8198 too much cruft in most articles.
8203 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8204 @findex gnus-article-hide
8205 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8206 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8207 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8210 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8211 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8212 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8216 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8217 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8218 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8219 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8222 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8223 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8224 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8228 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8229 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8230 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8231 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8232 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8233 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8234 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8235 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8239 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8240 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8241 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8242 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8247 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8248 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8249 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8250 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8253 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8254 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8255 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8256 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8259 @cindex stripping advertisements
8260 @cindex advertisements
8261 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8262 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8263 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8264 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8265 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8266 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8267 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8268 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8269 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8270 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8273 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8274 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8275 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8279 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8280 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8281 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8282 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8283 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8284 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8285 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8286 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8287 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8288 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8289 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8292 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8293 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8299 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8300 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8301 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8302 customizing the hiding:
8306 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8307 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8308 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8309 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8310 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8311 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8312 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8317 Starting point of the hidden text.
8319 Ending point of the hidden text.
8321 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8323 Number of lines of hidden text.
8326 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8327 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8328 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8329 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8330 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8335 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8336 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8338 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8339 following two variables:
8342 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8343 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8344 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8345 50), hide the cited text.
8347 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8348 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8349 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8354 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8355 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8356 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8357 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8358 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8359 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8363 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8364 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8365 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8367 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8368 citation customization.
8370 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8374 @node Article Washing
8375 @subsection Article Washing
8377 @cindex article washing
8379 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8380 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8382 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8383 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8386 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8387 articles by default.
8392 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8393 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8397 Force redisplaying of the current article
8398 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8399 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8400 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8401 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8404 @kindex W l (Summary)
8405 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8406 Remove page breaks from the current article
8407 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8411 @kindex W r (Summary)
8412 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8413 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8414 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8415 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8416 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8417 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8419 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8420 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8421 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8422 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8425 @kindex W m (Summary)
8426 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8427 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8431 @kindex W t (Summary)
8433 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8434 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8435 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8438 @kindex W v (Summary)
8439 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8440 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8441 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8444 @kindex W o (Summary)
8445 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8446 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8449 @kindex W d (Summary)
8450 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8451 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8453 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8455 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8456 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8457 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8458 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8461 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8462 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8463 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8464 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8467 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8468 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8469 @cindex Outlook Express
8470 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8471 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8472 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8475 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8476 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8477 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8478 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8479 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8480 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8481 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8482 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8483 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8484 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8487 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8488 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8489 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8490 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8493 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8494 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8495 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8496 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8499 @kindex W w (Summary)
8500 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8501 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8503 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8507 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8508 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8509 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8512 @kindex W C (Summary)
8513 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8514 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8515 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8518 @kindex W c (Summary)
8519 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8520 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8521 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8522 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8523 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8526 @kindex W q (Summary)
8527 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8528 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8529 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8530 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8531 makes strings like @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which
8532 doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually done
8533 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8534 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8535 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8538 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8539 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8540 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8541 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8542 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8543 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8544 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8545 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8548 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8549 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8550 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8551 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8552 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8555 @kindex W u (Summary)
8556 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8557 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8558 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8559 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8560 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8563 @kindex W h (Summary)
8564 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8565 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8566 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8567 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8569 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8571 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8572 The default is to use the function specified by
8573 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8574 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8575 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8576 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8584 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8587 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8590 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8593 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8598 @kindex W b (Summary)
8599 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8600 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8601 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8604 @kindex W B (Summary)
8605 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8606 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8607 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8610 @kindex W p (Summary)
8611 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8612 Verify a signed control message
8613 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8614 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8615 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8616 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8617 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8618 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8621 @kindex W s (Summary)
8622 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8623 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8624 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8625 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8628 @kindex W a (Summary)
8629 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8630 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8631 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8634 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8635 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8636 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8637 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8640 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8641 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8642 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8643 lines with a single empty line.
8644 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8647 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8648 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8649 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8650 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8653 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8654 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8655 Do all the three commands above
8656 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8659 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8660 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8661 Remove all blank lines
8662 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8665 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8666 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8667 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8668 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8671 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8672 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8673 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8674 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8678 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8681 @node Article Header
8682 @subsection Article Header
8684 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8689 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8690 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8691 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8694 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8695 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8696 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8697 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8700 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8701 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8702 Fold all the message headers
8703 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8706 @kindex W E w (Summary)
8707 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8708 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8709 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8714 @node Article Buttons
8715 @subsection Article Buttons
8718 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8719 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8720 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8721 button on these references.
8723 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8724 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8725 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8726 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8727 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8731 @item gnus-button-alist
8732 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8733 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8736 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8742 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8743 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8744 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8745 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8746 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8749 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8750 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8751 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8754 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8755 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8756 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8757 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8758 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8760 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8763 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8766 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8767 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8771 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8774 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8777 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8778 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8779 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8780 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8781 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8784 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8787 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8790 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8793 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8794 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8796 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8798 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8799 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8800 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8801 default values of the variables above.
8803 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8805 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8806 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8807 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8808 argument with a string naming the man page.
8810 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8812 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8813 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8814 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8816 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8817 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8818 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8819 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8820 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8821 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8822 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8823 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8824 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8825 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8826 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8827 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8829 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8830 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8831 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8832 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8833 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8836 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8837 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8838 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8839 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8841 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8843 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8844 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8845 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8846 argument, the string naming the URL.
8849 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8850 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8851 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8855 @item gnus-article-button-face
8856 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8857 Face used on buttons.
8859 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8860 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8861 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8865 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8868 @node Article Button Levels
8869 @subsection Article button levels
8870 @cindex button levels
8871 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8872 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8873 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8874 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8875 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8876 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8877 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8878 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
8881 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
8882 (setq gnus-parameters
8883 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
8884 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
8885 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
8890 @item gnus-button-browse-level
8891 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
8892 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
8893 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
8894 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
8895 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
8897 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
8898 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
8899 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
8900 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
8901 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
8902 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
8903 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
8904 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
8905 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
8906 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
8907 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
8908 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
8909 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
8911 @item gnus-button-man-level
8912 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
8913 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
8914 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
8916 @item gnus-button-message-level
8917 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
8918 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
8919 Related variables and functions include
8920 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
8921 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
8922 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
8923 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
8925 @item gnus-button-tex-level
8926 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
8927 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
8928 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
8929 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
8930 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
8931 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
8937 @subsection Article Date
8939 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8940 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8941 when the article was sent.
8946 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8947 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8948 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8949 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8952 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8953 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8955 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8956 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8959 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8960 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8961 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8964 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8965 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8966 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8967 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8970 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8971 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8972 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8973 @findex format-time-string
8974 Display the date using a user-defined format
8975 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8976 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8977 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8978 for a list of possible format specs.
8981 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8982 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8983 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8984 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8985 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8986 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8989 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8992 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
8993 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8994 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8997 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8998 into wonderful absurdities.
9000 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
9003 (gnus-start-date-timer)
9006 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
9007 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
9011 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9012 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9013 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9014 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9015 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9016 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9017 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9021 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9022 preferred format automatically.
9025 @node Article Display
9026 @subsection Article Display
9031 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9032 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9034 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9035 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9037 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9038 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9040 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9041 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9043 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9044 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9046 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9051 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9052 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9053 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9054 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9057 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9058 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9059 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9060 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9063 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9064 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9065 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9068 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9069 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9070 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9073 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9074 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9075 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9076 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9079 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9080 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9081 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9082 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9085 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9086 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9087 Remove all images from the article buffer
9088 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9094 @node Article Signature
9095 @subsection Article Signature
9097 @cindex article signature
9099 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9100 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9101 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9102 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9103 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9104 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9105 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9106 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9107 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9110 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9111 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9112 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9113 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9114 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9115 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9116 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9117 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9120 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9123 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9124 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9125 signature when displaying articles.
9129 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9132 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9135 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9136 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9138 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9139 in question is not a signature.
9142 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9143 listed above. Here's an example:
9146 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9147 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9150 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9151 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9152 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9153 signature after all.
9156 @node Article Miscellanea
9157 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9161 @kindex A t (Summary)
9162 @findex gnus-article-babel
9163 Translate the article from one language to another
9164 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9170 @section MIME Commands
9171 @cindex MIME decoding
9173 @cindex viewing attachments
9175 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9176 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9182 @kindex K v (Summary)
9183 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9186 @kindex K o (Summary)
9187 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9190 @kindex K c (Summary)
9191 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9194 @kindex K e (Summary)
9195 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9198 @kindex K i (Summary)
9199 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9202 @kindex K | (Summary)
9203 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9206 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9211 @kindex K b (Summary)
9212 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9213 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9217 @kindex K m (Summary)
9218 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9219 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9220 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9221 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9222 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9225 @kindex X m (Summary)
9226 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9227 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9228 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9229 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9232 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9233 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9234 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9235 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9238 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9239 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9240 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9241 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9244 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9245 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9246 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9247 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9249 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9250 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9251 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9252 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9253 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9254 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9257 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9258 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9259 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9260 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9267 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9268 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9269 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9270 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9273 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9276 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9280 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9281 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9282 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9283 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9284 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9285 default is @code{nil}.
9287 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9288 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9289 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9290 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9291 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9292 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9293 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9295 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9296 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9297 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9298 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9299 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9300 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9301 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9302 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9304 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9305 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9306 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9307 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9308 displayed. This variable overrides
9309 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9310 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9313 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9314 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9315 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9317 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9318 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9319 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9320 default value is @code{nil}.
9322 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9323 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9324 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9325 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9326 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9327 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9328 save all jpegs into some directory).
9330 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9333 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9334 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9336 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9337 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9338 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9339 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9340 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9343 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9344 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9345 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9347 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9348 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9349 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9350 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9352 Ready-made functions include@*
9353 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9354 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9355 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9356 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9357 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9358 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9359 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9360 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9361 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9362 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9363 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9364 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9366 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9367 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9369 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9370 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9371 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9374 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9375 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9376 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9377 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9381 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9390 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9391 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9392 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9393 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9394 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9395 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9396 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9398 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9399 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9400 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9401 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9403 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9404 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9405 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9406 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9407 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9408 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9409 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9410 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9411 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9413 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9414 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9415 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9416 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9417 quoted-printable header encoding.
9419 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9420 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9421 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9425 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9428 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9429 means encode all charsets),
9431 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9432 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9433 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9440 @cindex coding system aliases
9441 @cindex preferred charset
9443 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9445 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9446 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9449 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9450 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9453 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9454 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9456 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9459 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9462 This will almost do the right thing.
9464 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9468 (codepage-setup 1251)
9469 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9473 @node Article Commands
9474 @section Article Commands
9481 @kindex A P (Summary)
9482 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9483 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9484 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9485 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9486 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9487 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9492 @node Summary Sorting
9493 @section Summary Sorting
9494 @cindex summary sorting
9496 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9497 can't really see why you'd want that.
9502 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9503 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9504 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9507 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9508 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9509 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9512 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9513 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9514 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9517 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9518 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9519 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9522 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9523 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9524 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9527 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9528 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9529 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9532 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9533 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9534 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9537 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9538 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9539 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9542 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9543 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9544 Sort using the default sorting method
9545 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9548 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9549 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9550 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9551 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9552 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9556 @node Finding the Parent
9557 @section Finding the Parent
9558 @cindex parent articles
9559 @cindex referring articles
9564 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9565 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9566 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9567 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9568 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9569 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9570 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9571 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9572 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9574 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9575 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9576 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
9577 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9578 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9582 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9583 @kindex A R (Summary)
9584 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9585 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9588 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9589 @kindex A T (Summary)
9590 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9591 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9592 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9593 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9594 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9595 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9596 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9598 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9599 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9600 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9601 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9602 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9603 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9606 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9607 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9609 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9610 You can also ask the @acronym{NNTP} server for an arbitrary article, no
9611 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9612 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9613 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9614 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9615 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9618 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9619 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9620 by giving this command a prefix.
9622 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9623 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9624 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9625 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9626 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9627 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9630 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9631 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9632 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9635 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9636 then ask Google if that fails:
9639 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9641 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9644 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9645 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9646 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
9647 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9648 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
9649 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
9650 not support this at all.
9653 @node Alternative Approaches
9654 @section Alternative Approaches
9656 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9657 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9660 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9661 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9666 @subsection Pick and Read
9667 @cindex pick and read
9669 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9670 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9671 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9672 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9674 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9675 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9676 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9677 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9678 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9679 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9681 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9686 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9687 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9688 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9689 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9690 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9691 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9692 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9693 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9696 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9697 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9698 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9699 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9703 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9704 Unpick the thread or article
9705 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9706 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9707 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9708 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9709 the thread or article at that line.
9713 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9714 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9715 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9716 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9717 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9718 will still be visible when you are reading.
9722 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9723 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9724 which is mapped to the same function
9725 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9727 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9730 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9733 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9734 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9736 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9737 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9738 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9740 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9741 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9742 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9743 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9744 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9745 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9746 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9750 @subsection Binary Groups
9751 @cindex binary groups
9753 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9754 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9755 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9756 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9757 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9758 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9759 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9762 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9763 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9764 command, when you have turned on this mode
9765 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9767 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9768 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9772 @section Tree Display
9775 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9776 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9777 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9778 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9781 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9784 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9785 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9786 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9788 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9789 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9790 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9791 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9792 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9794 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9795 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9796 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9797 default is @code{modeline}.
9799 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9800 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9801 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9802 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9803 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9804 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9805 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9811 The name of the poster.
9813 The @code{From} header.
9815 The number of the article.
9817 The opening bracket.
9819 The closing bracket.
9824 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9826 Variables related to the display are:
9829 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9830 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9831 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9832 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
9834 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9835 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
9836 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
9838 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9840 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9841 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9842 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9843 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9847 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9848 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9849 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9850 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9851 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9852 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9853 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9854 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9855 other windows displayed next to it.
9857 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9861 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9862 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9865 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9866 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9867 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9868 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9869 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9870 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9871 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9875 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9878 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9888 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9893 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9894 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9896 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9898 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9904 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9905 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9906 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
9909 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9910 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9911 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9912 (gnus-add-configuration
9916 (summary 0.75 point)
9921 @xref{Window Layout}.
9924 @node Mail Group Commands
9925 @section Mail Group Commands
9926 @cindex mail group commands
9928 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9929 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9931 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9932 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9937 @kindex B e (Summary)
9938 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9939 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9940 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9941 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9942 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9945 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9946 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9947 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9948 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9949 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9950 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9953 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9954 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9955 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9956 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9957 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9958 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9961 @kindex B m (Summary)
9963 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9964 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9965 Move the article from one mail group to another
9966 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9967 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9970 @kindex B c (Summary)
9972 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9973 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9974 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9975 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9976 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9979 @kindex B B (Summary)
9980 @cindex crosspost mail
9981 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9982 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9983 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9984 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9985 be properly updated.
9988 @kindex B i (Summary)
9989 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9990 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9991 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9992 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9995 @kindex B I (Summary)
9996 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9997 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9998 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9999 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10002 @kindex B r (Summary)
10003 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10004 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10005 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10006 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10007 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10008 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10009 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10010 (which is the default).
10014 @kindex B w (Summary)
10015 @kindex e (Summary)
10016 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10017 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10018 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10019 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10020 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10021 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10022 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10025 @kindex B q (Summary)
10026 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10027 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10028 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10029 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10032 @kindex B t (Summary)
10033 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10034 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10035 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10038 @kindex B p (Summary)
10039 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10040 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10041 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10042 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10043 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10044 article from your news server (or rather, from
10045 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10046 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10047 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10048 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10049 just not have arrived yet.
10052 @kindex K E (Summary)
10053 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10054 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10055 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10056 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10057 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10061 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10062 @cindex moving articles
10063 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
10064 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10065 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10066 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10067 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10068 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10069 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10072 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10073 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10074 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10075 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10079 @node Various Summary Stuff
10080 @section Various Summary Stuff
10083 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10084 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10085 * Summary Generation Commands::
10086 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10090 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10091 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10092 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10093 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10094 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10095 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10097 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10098 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10099 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10102 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10103 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10104 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10106 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10107 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10108 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10109 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10110 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10111 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10114 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10115 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10116 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10117 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10118 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10120 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10121 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10122 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10125 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10126 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10127 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10128 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10129 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10130 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10131 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
10132 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10133 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10134 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10136 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10137 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10138 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10139 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10140 list of articles to be selected.
10142 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10143 the list in one particular group:
10146 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10147 (if (string= group "some.group")
10148 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10152 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10153 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10154 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10155 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
10156 @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary buffer is
10157 active. These variables can be used to set variables in the group
10158 parameters while still allowing them to affect operations done in
10159 other buffers. For example:
10162 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10163 '(message-use-followup-to
10164 (gnus-visible-headers .
10165 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10171 @node Summary Group Information
10172 @subsection Summary Group Information
10177 @kindex H f (Summary)
10178 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10179 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10180 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10181 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10182 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10183 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10184 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10185 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10186 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10189 @kindex H d (Summary)
10190 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10191 Give a brief description of the current group
10192 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10193 rereading the description from the server.
10196 @kindex H h (Summary)
10197 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10198 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10199 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10202 @kindex H i (Summary)
10203 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10204 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10208 @node Searching for Articles
10209 @subsection Searching for Articles
10214 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10215 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10216 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10217 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10220 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10221 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10222 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10223 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10226 @kindex & (Summary)
10227 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10228 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10229 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10230 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10231 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10232 search backward instead.
10234 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10235 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10238 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10239 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10240 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10241 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10244 @node Summary Generation Commands
10245 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10250 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10251 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10252 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10255 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10256 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10257 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10258 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10261 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10262 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10263 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10264 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10269 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10270 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10276 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10277 @kindex A D (Summary)
10278 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10279 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10280 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10281 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10282 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10283 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10284 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10285 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10289 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10290 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10291 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10292 several documents into one biiig group
10293 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10294 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10295 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10296 command understands the process/prefix convention
10297 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10300 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10301 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10302 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10303 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10304 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10305 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10308 @kindex = (Summary)
10309 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10310 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10311 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10314 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10315 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10316 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10317 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10320 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10321 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10322 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10323 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10328 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10329 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10330 @cindex summary exit
10331 @cindex exiting groups
10333 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10334 group and return you to the group buffer.
10341 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10342 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
10343 @kindex q (Summary)
10344 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10345 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10346 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10347 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10348 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10349 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10350 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10351 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10352 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10353 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10354 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10355 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10359 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10360 @kindex Q (Summary)
10361 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10362 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10363 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10367 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10368 @kindex c (Summary)
10369 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10370 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10371 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10372 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10375 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10376 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10377 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10378 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10381 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10382 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10383 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10384 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10388 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10389 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
10390 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10391 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10392 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10393 all articles, both read and unread.
10397 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10398 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10399 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10400 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10401 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10402 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10403 articles, both read and unread.
10406 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10407 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10408 Exit the group and go to the next group
10409 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10412 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10413 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10414 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10415 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10418 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10419 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10420 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10421 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10422 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10423 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10426 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10427 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10428 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10429 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10431 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10432 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10433 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10434 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10435 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10436 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10437 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10438 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10439 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10440 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10441 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10442 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10444 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10446 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10447 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10448 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10449 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10450 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10451 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10452 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10453 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10454 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10457 @node Crosspost Handling
10458 @section Crosspost Handling
10462 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10463 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10464 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10465 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10466 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10467 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10470 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10471 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10472 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10473 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10474 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10476 @cindex cross-posting
10478 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10479 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10480 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10481 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10482 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10483 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10484 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10485 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10486 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10487 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10488 the cross reference mechanism.
10490 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10491 @cindex overview.fmt
10492 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10493 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10494 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10495 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10496 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10497 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10500 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10501 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10502 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10507 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10510 @node Duplicate Suppression
10511 @section Duplicate Suppression
10513 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10514 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10515 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10516 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10521 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10522 is evil and not very common.
10525 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10526 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10529 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10530 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10533 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10536 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10537 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10539 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10540 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10541 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10542 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10543 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10544 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10545 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10548 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10549 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10550 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10551 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10552 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10553 saw the article in.
10556 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10557 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10558 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10560 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10561 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10562 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10563 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10564 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
10565 session are suppressed.
10567 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10568 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10569 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10570 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10572 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10573 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10574 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10575 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10578 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
10579 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10580 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10581 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10582 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
10583 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10584 to you to figure out, I think.
10589 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10590 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10591 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10596 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10597 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10598 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10599 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10602 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10603 or newer is recommended.
10607 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10608 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10611 @item mm-verify-option
10612 @vindex mm-verify-option
10613 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10614 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10615 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10617 @item mm-decrypt-option
10618 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10619 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10620 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10621 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10624 @vindex mml1991-use
10625 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10626 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10627 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10631 @vindex mml2015-use
10632 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10633 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10634 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10639 @cindex snarfing keys
10640 @cindex importing PGP keys
10641 @cindex PGP key ring import
10642 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10643 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10644 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10645 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10646 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10647 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10648 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10649 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10650 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10653 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10656 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10657 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10660 @section Mailing List
10661 @cindex mailing list
10664 @kindex A M (summary)
10665 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10666 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10667 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10668 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10671 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10676 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10677 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10678 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10681 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10682 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10683 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10686 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10687 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10688 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10692 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10693 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10694 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10697 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10698 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10699 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10702 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10703 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10704 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10709 @node Article Buffer
10710 @chapter Article Buffer
10711 @cindex article buffer
10713 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10714 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10715 tell Gnus otherwise.
10718 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10719 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10720 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10721 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10722 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10726 @node Hiding Headers
10727 @section Hiding Headers
10728 @cindex hiding headers
10729 @cindex deleting headers
10731 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10732 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10734 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10735 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10736 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10737 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10738 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10739 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10740 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10741 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10742 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10744 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10748 @item gnus-visible-headers
10749 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10750 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10751 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10752 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10754 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10755 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10758 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10761 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10764 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10765 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10766 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10767 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10768 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10769 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10771 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
10772 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
10775 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10778 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10781 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10782 variable will have no effect.
10786 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10787 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10788 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10789 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10790 the headers are to be displayed.
10792 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10793 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10796 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10799 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10800 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10802 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10803 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10804 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10805 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10806 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10807 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
10808 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10811 These conditions are:
10814 Remove all empty headers.
10816 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10817 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10819 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
10820 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
10823 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10826 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10827 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
10829 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10830 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10832 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10833 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10835 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10838 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10840 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10843 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10846 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10847 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10850 This is also the default value for this variable.
10854 @section Using MIME
10855 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
10857 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10858 while people stand around yawning.
10860 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10861 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10863 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10864 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10865 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10867 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10868 @findex gnus-display-mime
10869 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10870 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10871 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10872 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
10874 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10875 @acronym{MIME} button:
10878 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10879 @item RET (Article)
10880 @kindex RET (Article)
10881 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10882 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
10883 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
10884 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
10885 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
10886 object is displayed inline.
10888 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10889 @item M-RET (Article)
10890 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10892 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
10893 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10895 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10897 @kindex t (Article)
10898 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
10899 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10901 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10903 @kindex C (Article)
10904 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
10905 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10907 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10909 @kindex o (Article)
10910 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
10911 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10913 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10914 @item C-o (Article)
10915 @kindex C-o (Article)
10916 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
10917 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10918 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10919 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
10920 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
10921 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10923 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
10925 @kindex d (Article)
10926 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
10927 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
10928 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
10930 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10932 @kindex c (Article)
10933 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10934 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
10935 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
10936 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
10937 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
10939 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10941 @kindex p (Article)
10942 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10943 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10944 @file{.mailcap} file.
10946 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10948 @kindex i (Article)
10949 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
10950 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10951 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10952 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10953 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
10956 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
10958 @kindex E (Article)
10959 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10960 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10961 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
10963 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
10965 @kindex e (Article)
10966 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
10967 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
10969 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
10971 @kindex | (Article)
10972 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
10974 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
10976 @kindex . (Article)
10977 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
10978 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
10982 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
10983 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
10984 @acronym{MIME} manual.
10986 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
10987 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
10988 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
10989 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
10990 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
10991 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
10992 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
10993 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
10994 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
10996 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10998 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
11001 @node Customizing Articles
11002 @section Customizing Articles
11003 @cindex article customization
11005 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
11006 exist. You can call these functions interactively
11007 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
11008 called automatically when you select the articles.
11010 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
11011 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
11012 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
11013 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
11015 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
11016 for sensible values.
11020 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
11023 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
11026 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
11029 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
11032 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
11036 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
11037 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
11038 regexps in the list.
11041 A list where the first element is not a string:
11043 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
11044 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
11045 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
11049 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
11054 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
11055 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
11056 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
11057 considered to contain just a single part.
11059 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
11060 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
11061 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11062 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11063 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11064 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11065 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11067 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11068 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11069 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11070 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11073 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11074 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11076 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11078 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11079 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11080 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11081 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11082 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
11083 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11084 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11085 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11086 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11087 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11089 @xref{Article Washing}.
11091 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
11092 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
11093 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
11094 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
11095 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
11096 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
11097 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
11099 @xref{Article Date}.
11101 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11102 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11103 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11107 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11109 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11111 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11112 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11113 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11117 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11121 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11125 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11126 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11127 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11128 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11129 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11130 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11131 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11132 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11133 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11134 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11136 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11138 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11139 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11140 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11142 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11144 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11145 @item gnus-treat-translate
11146 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11148 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11149 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11150 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11151 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11153 @xref{Article Header}.
11158 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11159 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11160 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11161 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11162 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11166 @node Article Keymap
11167 @section Article Keymap
11169 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11170 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11171 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11172 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11175 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11180 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11181 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11182 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11183 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11186 @kindex DEL (Article)
11187 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11188 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11189 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11192 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11193 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11194 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11195 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11196 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11199 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11200 @findex gnus-article-mail
11201 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11202 given a prefix, include the mail.
11205 @kindex s (Article)
11206 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11207 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11208 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11211 @kindex ? (Article)
11212 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11213 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11214 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11217 @kindex TAB (Article)
11218 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11219 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11220 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11223 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11224 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11225 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11228 @kindex R (Article)
11229 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11230 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11231 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11232 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11236 @kindex F (Article)
11237 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11238 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11239 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11240 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11248 @section Misc Article
11252 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11253 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11254 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11255 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11258 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11259 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11260 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11261 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11262 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11264 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11265 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11266 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11267 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11268 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11269 the contents of the article buffer.
11271 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11272 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11273 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11275 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11276 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11277 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11278 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11280 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11281 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11282 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11283 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11285 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11286 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11287 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11288 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
11289 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
11295 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11296 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11297 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11302 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11305 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11308 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11309 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11310 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11313 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11316 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11319 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11324 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11328 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11330 @item gnus-break-pages
11331 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11332 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11333 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11334 paging will not be done.
11336 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11337 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11338 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11342 @cindex internationalized domain names
11343 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11344 @item gnus-use-idna
11345 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11346 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11347 @samp{Cc} headers. This requires
11348 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11349 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11354 @node Composing Messages
11355 @chapter Composing Messages
11356 @cindex composing messages
11359 @cindex sending mail
11364 @cindex using s/mime
11365 @cindex using smime
11367 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11368 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11369 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11370 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11371 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11372 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11375 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11376 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11377 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11378 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11379 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11380 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11381 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11382 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11385 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11386 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11392 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11395 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11396 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11397 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11398 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11399 @code{nil} include all headers.
11401 @item gnus-add-to-list
11402 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11403 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11404 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11406 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11407 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11408 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11409 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11410 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11411 confirmation is should be asked for.
11413 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11414 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11416 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11417 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11418 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11419 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11420 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11425 @node Posting Server
11426 @section Posting Server
11428 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11429 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11431 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11433 It can be quite complicated.
11435 @vindex gnus-post-method
11436 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11437 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11438 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11439 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11440 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11441 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11442 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11443 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11444 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11447 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11450 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11451 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11452 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11453 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11455 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11456 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11458 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11459 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11462 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11463 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11465 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11466 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11467 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11468 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11469 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11470 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11471 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11472 package correctly. An example:
11475 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11476 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11479 To the thing similar to this, there is
11480 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your ISP requires
11481 the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. See the
11482 documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11484 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11485 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11486 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11488 @node Mail and Post
11489 @section Mail and Post
11491 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11495 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11496 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11497 @cindex mailing lists
11499 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11500 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11501 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11502 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11503 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11504 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11505 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11506 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11507 still a pain, though.
11509 @item gnus-user-agent
11510 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11513 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11514 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11515 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11516 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11517 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11518 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11519 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11523 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11524 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11525 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11528 @findex ispell-message
11530 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11533 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11534 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11537 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11541 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11542 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11544 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11547 Modify to suit your needs.
11550 @node Archived Messages
11551 @section Archived Messages
11552 @cindex archived messages
11553 @cindex sent messages
11555 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11556 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11557 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11558 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11561 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11562 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11565 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11566 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
11567 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11570 (nnfolder "archive"
11571 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11572 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11573 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11574 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11577 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11578 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11579 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11580 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11583 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11584 '(nnfolder "archive"
11585 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11586 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11587 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11590 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11592 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11593 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11594 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11596 This variable can be used to do the following:
11600 Messages will be saved in that group.
11602 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11603 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11604 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11605 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11606 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11607 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11608 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11609 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11612 @item a list of strings
11613 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11615 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11616 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11619 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11624 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11626 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11629 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11631 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11634 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11636 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11637 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11638 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11639 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11642 More complex stuff:
11644 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11645 '((if (message-news-p)
11650 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11651 messages in one file per month:
11654 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11655 '((if (message-news-p)
11657 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11660 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11661 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11663 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11664 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11665 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11666 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11667 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11668 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11669 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11670 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11671 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11672 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11674 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11675 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11676 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11677 this will disable archiving.
11680 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11681 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11682 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11683 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11684 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11687 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11688 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11689 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11692 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11693 but the latter is the preferred method.
11695 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11696 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11697 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11699 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11700 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11701 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11702 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11703 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11704 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11705 changed in the future.
11710 @node Posting Styles
11711 @section Posting Styles
11712 @cindex posting styles
11715 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11717 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11718 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11719 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11722 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11723 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11724 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11725 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11726 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11731 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11732 (organization "What me?"))
11734 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11735 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11736 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11739 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11740 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11741 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11742 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11743 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11744 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11745 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11746 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11748 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11749 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11750 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11751 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11752 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11753 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
11754 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11755 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11756 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11757 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11758 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11759 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11760 said to @dfn{match}.
11762 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11763 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11764 attribute name can be one of:
11767 @item @code{signature}
11768 @item @code{signature-file}
11769 @item @code{x-face-file}
11770 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
11771 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
11775 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
11776 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
11777 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
11778 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
11779 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
11781 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11782 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11783 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11784 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11785 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11786 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11787 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11788 references chars lines xref extra.
11790 @vindex message-reply-headers
11792 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11793 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11794 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11796 @findex message-mail-p
11797 @findex message-news-p
11799 So here's a new example:
11802 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11804 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11806 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11807 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11809 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11810 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
11811 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11812 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
11813 (signature my-news-signature))
11814 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
11815 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11816 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
11817 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11818 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11819 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
11820 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11821 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11822 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11823 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11825 (From (save-excursion
11826 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11827 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11829 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11832 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11833 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11834 if you fill many roles.
11841 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11842 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11843 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11844 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11845 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11847 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11848 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11849 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11850 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11851 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11855 @vindex nndraft-directory
11856 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11857 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11858 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11859 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11860 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11861 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11863 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11864 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11865 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11866 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11867 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11868 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11869 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11870 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
11871 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
11873 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11874 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11875 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11876 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11877 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11878 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11879 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11880 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11881 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11882 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11883 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11884 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11885 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11886 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11888 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11889 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11890 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11892 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11893 @kindex D e (Draft)
11894 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11895 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11896 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11898 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11901 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11902 @kindex D s (Draft)
11903 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11904 @kindex D S (Draft)
11905 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11906 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11907 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11908 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11909 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11912 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11913 @kindex D t (Draft)
11914 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11915 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11916 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11919 @node Rejected Articles
11920 @section Rejected Articles
11921 @cindex rejected articles
11923 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11924 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11925 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11926 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11928 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11929 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11930 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11931 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11932 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11934 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11935 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11936 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11938 @node Signing and encrypting
11939 @section Signing and encrypting
11941 @cindex using s/mime
11942 @cindex using smime
11944 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
11945 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
11946 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
11947 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
11949 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11950 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11951 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11952 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11953 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11954 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11955 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11956 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11957 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11958 automatically encrypted messages.
11960 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
11961 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
11962 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11967 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
11968 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11970 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11973 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
11974 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11976 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11979 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
11980 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11982 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
11985 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
11986 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11988 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11991 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
11992 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11994 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11997 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
11998 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
12000 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12003 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
12004 @findex mml-unsecure-message
12005 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
12009 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
12011 @node Select Methods
12012 @chapter Select Methods
12013 @cindex foreign groups
12014 @cindex select methods
12016 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
12017 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
12018 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
12019 personal mail group.
12021 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
12022 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
12023 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
12024 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
12025 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
12026 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
12028 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
12029 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
12031 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
12034 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
12035 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
12036 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
12037 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
12038 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
12040 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
12043 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
12044 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
12045 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
12046 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
12047 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
12048 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
12049 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
12050 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
12054 @node Server Buffer
12055 @section Server Buffer
12057 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
12058 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
12059 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
12060 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
12061 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
12062 back end represents a virtual server.
12064 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
12065 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
12066 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
12067 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
12069 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
12070 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
12071 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
12072 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
12073 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
12074 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
12075 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
12077 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
12078 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
12081 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
12082 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
12083 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12084 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12085 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12086 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12087 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12090 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12091 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12094 @node Server Buffer Format
12095 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12096 @cindex server buffer format
12098 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12099 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12100 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12101 variable, with some simple extensions:
12106 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12109 The name of this server.
12112 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12115 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12118 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12119 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12120 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12121 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12131 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12134 @node Server Commands
12135 @subsection Server Commands
12136 @cindex server commands
12142 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12143 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12147 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12148 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12151 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12152 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12153 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12157 @findex gnus-server-exit
12158 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12162 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12163 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12167 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12168 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12172 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12173 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12177 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12178 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12182 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12183 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12184 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12189 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12190 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12191 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12192 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12197 @node Example Methods
12198 @subsection Example Methods
12200 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12203 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12206 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12212 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12213 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12216 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12217 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12219 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12220 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12224 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12227 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12228 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12230 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12231 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12232 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12236 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12239 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12242 Here's the method for a public spool:
12246 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12247 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12253 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12254 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12255 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12256 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12257 should probably look something like this:
12261 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12262 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12263 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12264 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12267 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12268 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12269 configuration to the example above:
12272 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12275 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12277 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12278 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12279 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12283 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12284 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12285 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12286 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12289 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12290 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12291 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12292 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12295 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12296 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12298 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12299 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12301 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12302 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
12303 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12305 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
12307 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
12308 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12309 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12310 will contain the following:
12320 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
12321 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12324 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12325 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12326 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12329 @node Server Variables
12330 @subsection Server Variables
12331 @cindex server variables
12332 @cindex server parameters
12334 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12335 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12336 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12337 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12338 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12340 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12341 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12342 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12343 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12344 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12345 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12346 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12347 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12348 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12352 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12353 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12354 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12357 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12359 @node Servers and Methods
12360 @subsection Servers and Methods
12362 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12363 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12364 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12365 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12369 @node Unavailable Servers
12370 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12372 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12373 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12374 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12375 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12376 actually the case or not.
12378 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12379 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12380 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12381 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12382 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12383 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12384 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12385 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12387 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12388 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12390 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12391 with the following commands:
12397 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12398 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12399 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12403 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12404 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12405 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12409 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12410 Mark the current server as unreachable
12411 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12414 @kindex M-o (Server)
12415 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12416 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12417 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12420 @kindex M-c (Server)
12421 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12422 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12423 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12427 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12428 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12429 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12433 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12434 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12440 @section Getting News
12441 @cindex reading news
12442 @cindex news back ends
12444 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12445 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12446 or it can read from a local spool.
12449 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12450 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12458 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12459 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12460 server as the, uhm, address.
12462 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12463 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12464 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12465 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12467 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12468 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12469 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12471 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12476 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12477 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12478 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12480 @cindex authentification
12481 @cindex nntp authentification
12482 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12483 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12484 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12485 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12486 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12487 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12488 present in this hook.
12490 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12491 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12492 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12493 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12494 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12495 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12496 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12497 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12498 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12499 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12500 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12501 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12505 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12508 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12510 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12511 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12512 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12513 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12514 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12515 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12516 @samp{force} is explained below.
12520 Here's an example file:
12523 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12524 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12527 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12528 have to be first, for instance.
12530 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12531 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12532 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12533 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12534 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12535 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12536 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12538 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12539 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12545 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12546 previously mentioned.
12548 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12550 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12551 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12552 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12553 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12554 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12557 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12558 '(("innd" (ding))))
12561 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12563 The default value is
12566 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12567 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12568 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12571 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12572 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12574 @item nntp-maximum-request
12575 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12576 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12577 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12578 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12579 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12580 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12581 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12583 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12584 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12585 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12586 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12587 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12588 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12589 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12590 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12591 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12592 no timeouts are done.
12594 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12595 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12596 @c @cindex PPP connections
12597 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12598 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12599 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12600 @c changes after connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will simply sit
12601 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12602 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12603 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12604 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12605 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12606 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12608 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12609 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12610 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12611 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12612 @c described above.
12614 @item nntp-server-hook
12615 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12616 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @acronym{NNTP}
12619 @item nntp-buggy-select
12620 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12621 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12623 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12624 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12625 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12626 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12629 @item nntp-xover-commands
12630 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12631 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12633 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12634 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12638 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12639 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12640 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12641 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12642 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12643 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12644 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12645 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12646 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12647 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12648 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12650 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12651 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12652 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12654 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12655 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12656 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12657 server closes connection.
12659 @item nntp-record-commands
12660 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12661 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12662 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12663 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12664 that doesn't seem to work.
12666 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12667 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12668 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12669 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12670 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12671 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12672 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12673 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12675 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12676 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12677 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12678 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12679 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12680 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12681 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12684 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12687 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12688 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12690 @item nntp-read-timeout
12691 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12692 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12693 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12694 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12695 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12701 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12702 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12703 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12707 @node Direct Functions
12708 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12709 @cindex direct connection functions
12711 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12712 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12713 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12714 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12717 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12718 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12719 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12722 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12723 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12724 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12725 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12726 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12729 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12730 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12732 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12733 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12734 (nntp-port-number )
12735 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12738 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12739 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12740 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12741 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12742 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12743 then define a server as follows:
12746 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12747 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12749 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12750 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12751 (nntp-port-number 563)
12752 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12755 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12756 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12757 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12758 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12759 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12760 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12761 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12762 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12766 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12767 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12768 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12771 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12772 session, which is not a good idea.
12776 @node Indirect Functions
12777 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12778 @cindex indirect connection functions
12780 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12781 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12782 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12783 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12784 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12785 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12788 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12789 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12790 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12791 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12792 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12794 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12797 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12798 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12799 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12800 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12802 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12803 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12804 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12805 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12806 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12807 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12808 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
12809 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
12813 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12814 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12815 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12816 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12818 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12821 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12822 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12823 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12826 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12827 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12828 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12829 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12831 @item nntp-via-user-password
12832 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12833 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12835 @item nntp-via-envuser
12836 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12837 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12838 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12839 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12841 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12842 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12843 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12844 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12851 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12856 @item nntp-via-user-name
12857 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12858 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12860 @item nntp-via-address
12861 @vindex nntp-via-address
12862 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12867 @node Common Variables
12868 @subsubsection Common Variables
12870 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12871 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12876 @item nntp-pre-command
12877 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12878 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
12879 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
12880 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
12881 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
12884 @vindex nntp-address
12885 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12887 @item nntp-port-number
12888 @vindex nntp-port-number
12889 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12890 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
12891 @acronym{tls}/@acronym{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12892 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
12893 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
12894 not work with named ports.
12896 @item nntp-end-of-line
12897 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12898 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
12899 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12900 using a non native connection function.
12902 @item nntp-telnet-command
12903 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12904 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
12905 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
12906 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12909 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12910 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12911 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12918 @subsection News Spool
12922 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12923 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12924 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12927 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12928 anything else) as the address.
12930 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12931 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12932 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12933 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12937 @item nnspool-inews-program
12938 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12939 Program used to post an article.
12941 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12942 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12943 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12945 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12946 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12947 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12948 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12950 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12951 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12952 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
12953 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12955 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12956 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12957 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12959 @item nnspool-active-file
12960 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12961 The name of the active file.
12963 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12964 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12965 The name of the group descriptions file.
12967 @item nnspool-history-file
12968 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12969 The name of the news history file.
12971 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12972 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12973 The name of the active date file.
12975 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12976 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12977 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
12980 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12981 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12983 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12984 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
12985 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
12992 @section Getting Mail
12993 @cindex reading mail
12996 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
13000 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
13001 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
13002 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
13003 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
13004 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
13005 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
13006 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
13007 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
13008 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
13009 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
13010 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
13011 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
13012 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
13016 @node Mail in a Newsreader
13017 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
13019 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
13020 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
13021 of a culture shock.
13023 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
13024 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
13026 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
13027 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
13028 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
13029 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
13031 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
13033 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
13034 deleted? How awful!
13036 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
13037 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
13038 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
13039 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
13042 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
13043 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
13044 they want to treat a message.
13046 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
13047 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
13048 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
13049 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
13050 archived somewhere else.
13052 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
13053 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
13054 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
13055 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
13056 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
13058 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
13059 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
13060 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13062 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13063 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13066 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13067 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13068 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13069 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13070 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13072 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13073 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13074 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13075 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13076 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13077 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13081 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13082 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13084 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13085 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13086 and things will happen automatically.
13088 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13089 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13092 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13095 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13096 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13097 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13098 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13099 like any other group.
13101 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13104 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13105 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13106 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13110 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13111 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13112 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13115 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13116 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13117 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13120 @node Splitting Mail
13121 @subsection Splitting Mail
13122 @cindex splitting mail
13123 @cindex mail splitting
13124 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13126 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13127 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13128 to be split into groups.
13131 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13132 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13133 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13134 ("mail.other" "")))
13137 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13138 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13139 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13140 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13141 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13142 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13143 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13146 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13149 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13150 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13151 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13152 mail belongs in that group.
13154 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13155 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
13156 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13157 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
13158 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
13159 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
13161 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13162 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13163 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13164 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13165 thinks should carry this mail message.
13167 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13168 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13169 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13170 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13172 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13173 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13174 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13175 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13176 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
13178 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13181 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13182 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13183 links. If that's the case for you, set
13184 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13185 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13187 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13188 @findex nnmail-split-history
13189 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13190 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13191 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13192 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13195 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13196 Header lines longer than the value of
13197 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13200 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13201 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13202 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13203 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13204 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13205 charset for decoding. The behaviour can be turned off completely by
13206 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13207 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13209 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13210 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13211 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13212 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13213 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13214 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13215 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13216 other kinds of entries.)
13218 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13219 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13220 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13221 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13222 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13223 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13224 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13225 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13226 month's rent money.
13230 @subsection Mail Sources
13232 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13233 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13234 maildir, for instance.
13237 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13238 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13239 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13243 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13244 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13246 @cindex mail server
13249 @cindex mail source
13251 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13252 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13257 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13260 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13261 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13262 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13265 The following mail source types are available:
13269 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13275 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13276 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13277 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13281 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13284 An example file mail source:
13287 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13290 Or using the default file name:
13296 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13297 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13298 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13299 mail spool while moving the mail.
13301 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13305 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13308 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13312 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13315 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13317 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13320 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13324 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13325 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13326 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13327 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13328 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13329 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13330 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13331 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13332 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13333 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13335 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13336 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13337 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13338 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13344 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13348 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13352 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13353 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13354 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13355 predicate are considered.
13359 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13363 An example directory mail source:
13366 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13371 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13377 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13378 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13381 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13382 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13383 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13384 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13385 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13388 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13392 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13393 the user is prompted.
13396 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13397 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13400 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13403 The valid format specifier characters are:
13407 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13408 included in this string.
13411 The name of the server.
13414 The port number of the server.
13417 The user name to use.
13420 The password to use.
13423 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13424 corresponding keywords.
13427 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13428 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13431 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13432 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13435 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13436 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13437 mail should be moved to.
13439 @item :authentication
13440 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13441 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13446 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13447 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13449 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13450 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13456 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13459 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13460 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13463 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13466 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13470 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13471 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13472 contains exactly one mail.
13478 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13479 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13482 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13483 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13485 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13486 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13487 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13490 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13491 from locking problems).
13495 Two example maildir mail sources:
13498 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13499 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13503 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13508 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13509 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13510 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13511 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13512 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13514 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13515 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13521 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13522 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13525 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13526 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13529 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13533 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13537 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13538 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13539 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13540 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13542 @item :authentication
13543 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13544 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13545 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13546 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13549 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13550 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13551 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13557 The valid format specifier characters are:
13561 The name of the server.
13564 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13567 The port number of the server.
13570 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13571 corresponding keywords.
13574 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13575 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13578 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13579 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13580 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13581 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13582 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13583 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13586 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13587 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13588 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13589 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13592 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13593 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13597 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13600 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13602 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13606 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
13607 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
13608 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
13610 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13611 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13613 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13619 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13620 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13623 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13627 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13631 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13632 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13636 An example webmail source:
13639 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13641 :password "secret")
13646 @item Common Keywords
13647 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13653 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13654 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
13659 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13664 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13665 useful when you use local mail and news.
13670 @subsubsection Function Interface
13672 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13673 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13674 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13675 consider the following mail-source setting:
13678 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13679 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13682 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13683 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13684 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13685 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13686 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13688 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13691 @node Mail Source Customization
13692 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13694 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13695 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13699 @item mail-source-crash-box
13700 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13701 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
13702 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13704 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13705 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13706 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13707 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13708 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13709 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
13710 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13711 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13713 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13714 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13715 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13716 files. This variable only applies when
13717 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13719 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13720 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13721 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13723 @item mail-source-directory
13724 @vindex mail-source-directory
13725 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13726 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13727 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13730 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13731 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13732 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13733 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13734 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13735 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13737 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13738 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13739 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13741 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13742 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13743 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
13744 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13749 @node Fetching Mail
13750 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13752 @vindex mail-sources
13753 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13754 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13755 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13756 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13758 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13759 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13762 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
13763 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
13768 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13769 :password "secret")))
13772 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13776 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13777 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13780 :password "secret")))
13784 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13785 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13786 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13787 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13788 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13789 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13793 @node Mail Back End Variables
13794 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13796 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13800 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13801 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13802 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13803 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13805 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13806 @item nnmail-split-hook
13807 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13808 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
13809 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
13810 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13811 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13812 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13813 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13814 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13815 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13818 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13819 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13820 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13821 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13822 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13823 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13824 starting to handle the new mail) and
13825 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13826 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13827 default file modes the new mail files get:
13830 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13831 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13833 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13834 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13837 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13838 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13839 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13840 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13841 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13842 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13843 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13845 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13846 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13847 @findex delete-file
13848 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13850 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13851 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13852 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13853 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13854 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13856 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13857 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13858 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13859 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13860 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13862 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13863 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13864 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13869 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13870 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13871 @cindex mail splitting
13872 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13874 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13875 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13876 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13877 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13878 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13879 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13881 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13884 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
13885 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
13886 ;; @r{from real errors.}
13887 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13889 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
13890 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
13891 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
13892 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13893 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13894 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
13895 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13896 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13897 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
13898 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
13899 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
13900 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
13901 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13902 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13903 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
13904 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13905 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
13909 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
13910 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
13911 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
13916 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
13917 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
13919 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split})
13920 If the split is a list, the first element of which is a string, then
13921 store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field}
13922 (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict}
13923 (yet another regexp) matches some string after @var{field} and before
13924 the end of the matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If
13925 none of the @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13927 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
13928 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
13929 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
13930 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
13931 stored in one or more groups.
13933 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
13934 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
13935 process all @var{split}s in the list.
13938 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
13939 this message. Use with extreme caution.
13941 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
13942 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
13943 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
13944 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
13947 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13948 body of the messages:
13951 (defun split-on-body ()
13955 (goto-char (point-min))
13956 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13960 The buffer is narrowed to the message in question when @var{function}
13961 is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called after
13962 @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
13963 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
13964 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
13965 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to t to do that (@pxref{Splitting in
13968 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
13969 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
13970 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
13971 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
13972 should return a split.
13975 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13979 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13980 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13981 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13982 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13983 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13985 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13986 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
13987 they are expanded as specified by the variable
13988 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
13989 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
13990 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
13991 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
13995 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
13997 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
13998 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
14000 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
14003 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
14004 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
14005 when all this splitting is performed.
14007 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
14008 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
14009 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
14012 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
14015 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
14016 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
14018 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
14019 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
14020 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
14021 groupings 1 through 9.
14023 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
14024 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} controls whether partial
14025 words are matched during fancy splitting.
14027 Normally, regular expressions given in @code{nnmail-split-fancy} are
14028 implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers, which are word
14029 delimiters. If this variable is true, they are not implicitly
14030 surrounded by anything.
14033 (any "joe" "joemail")
14036 In this example, messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will
14037 normally not be filed in @samp{joemail}. With
14038 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} set to t, however, the
14039 match will happen. In effect, the requirement of a word boundary is
14040 removed and instead the match becomes more like a grep.
14042 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
14043 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
14044 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
14045 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
14046 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
14047 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
14048 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
14049 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
14050 it once per thread.
14052 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
14053 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
14054 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
14055 using the colon feature, like so:
14057 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
14058 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
14060 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
14061 ;; @r{other splits go here}
14065 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
14066 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
14067 in the file specified by the variable
14068 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
14069 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
14070 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
14071 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
14072 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
14073 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
14074 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
14075 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
14076 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
14077 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
14078 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
14079 300 kBytes in size.)
14080 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14081 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
14082 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
14083 messages goes into the new group.
14085 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
14086 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
14087 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14088 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14089 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14090 ``outgoing'' group.
14093 @node Group Mail Splitting
14094 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14095 @cindex mail splitting
14096 @cindex group mail splitting
14098 @findex gnus-group-split
14099 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14100 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14101 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
14102 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14103 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14104 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14105 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
14106 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14108 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14109 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
14110 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14111 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
14113 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14114 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14115 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14116 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
14117 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14118 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14119 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14121 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14122 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14123 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14124 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14125 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
14126 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14127 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14129 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14130 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14131 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14132 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14133 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14134 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14135 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14136 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14137 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14138 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14139 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14140 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14141 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14143 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14148 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14149 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14151 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14152 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14153 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14154 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14156 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14159 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14160 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14161 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14164 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14165 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14166 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14170 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14171 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14172 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14176 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14179 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14180 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14181 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14182 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14183 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14184 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
14185 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14186 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14187 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14189 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14190 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14191 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14192 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14193 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14194 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14195 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14196 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14197 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14199 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14200 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14201 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14202 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14203 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14204 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14207 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14210 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14211 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14212 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14213 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14214 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14217 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14218 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14219 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14220 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14222 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14223 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14224 @cindex incorporating old mail
14225 @cindex import old mail
14227 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14228 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14229 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14232 Doing so can be quite easy.
14234 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14235 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14236 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14237 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14238 your @code{nnml} groups.
14244 Go to the group buffer.
14247 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14248 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14251 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14254 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14255 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14258 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14259 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14262 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14263 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14264 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14265 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14266 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14268 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14269 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14270 using the new mail back end.
14273 @node Expiring Mail
14274 @subsection Expiring Mail
14275 @cindex article expiry
14277 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14278 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14279 different approach to mail reading.
14281 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14282 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14283 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14284 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14285 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14286 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14289 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14290 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14291 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14292 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14293 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14294 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14295 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14296 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14297 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14299 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14300 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14301 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14302 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14303 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14304 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14305 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14308 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14309 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14310 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14311 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14312 into its own group.)
14314 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14315 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14316 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14317 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14318 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14319 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14320 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14321 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14324 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14325 Groups that match the regular expression
14326 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14327 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14328 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14330 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14331 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14332 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14333 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14334 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14336 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14338 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14339 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14340 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14343 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14344 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14345 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14346 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14347 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14349 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14350 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14353 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14354 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14357 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14358 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14360 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14361 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14362 don't really mix very well.
14364 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14365 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14366 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14367 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14370 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14371 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14372 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14373 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14376 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14378 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14380 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14382 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14384 ((string= group "important")
14390 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14391 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14393 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14394 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14395 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14398 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14399 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14401 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14402 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14403 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14404 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14405 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14406 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14407 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14408 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14409 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14410 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14411 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14412 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14413 name or @code{delete}.
14415 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14417 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14420 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14421 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14422 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14423 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14424 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14427 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14428 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14429 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14430 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14431 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14434 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14435 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14436 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14437 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14438 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14439 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14441 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14442 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14443 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14444 easier for procmail users.
14446 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14447 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14448 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14449 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14450 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14451 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14452 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14453 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14454 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14455 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14456 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14457 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14458 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14461 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14463 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14464 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14465 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14466 auto-expire turned on.
14470 @subsection Washing Mail
14471 @cindex mail washing
14472 @cindex list server brain damage
14473 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14475 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14476 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14477 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14478 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14479 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14480 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14482 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14483 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14484 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14487 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14488 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14489 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14490 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14493 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14494 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14495 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14496 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14497 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14500 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14501 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14502 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14503 Emacs running on MS machines.
14507 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14508 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14509 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14510 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14513 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14514 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14515 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14516 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14518 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14519 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14520 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14521 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14522 into a feature by documenting it.)
14524 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14525 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14526 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14527 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14528 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14529 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14530 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14533 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14534 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14537 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14538 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14541 This can also be done non-destructively with
14542 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14544 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14545 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14546 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14548 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14549 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14551 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14552 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14553 @code{References} headers.
14557 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14558 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14559 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14563 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14564 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14565 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14572 @subsection Duplicates
14574 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14575 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14576 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14577 @cindex duplicate mails
14578 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14579 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14580 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14581 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14582 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14583 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14584 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14585 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14586 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14587 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14588 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14589 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14590 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14592 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14593 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14594 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14595 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14597 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14600 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14601 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14605 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14606 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14607 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14608 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14609 (any mail "mail.misc")
14610 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14616 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14617 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14618 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14622 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14623 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14624 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14625 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14626 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14629 @node Not Reading Mail
14630 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14632 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14633 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14634 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14636 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14637 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14638 mail, which should help.
14640 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14641 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14642 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14643 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14644 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14645 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14646 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14647 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14648 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14649 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14650 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14652 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14653 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14657 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14658 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14660 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14661 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14662 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14664 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14665 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14666 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14670 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14671 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
14672 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14673 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14674 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14675 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14676 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14680 @node Unix Mail Box
14681 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14683 @cindex unix mail box
14685 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14686 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14687 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14688 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14689 which group it belongs in.
14691 Virtual server settings:
14694 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14695 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14696 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14699 @item nnmbox-active-file
14700 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14701 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14702 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14704 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14705 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14706 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14707 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14712 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14716 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14717 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14718 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
14719 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14720 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14722 Virtual server settings:
14725 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14726 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14727 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14729 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14730 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14731 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14732 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14734 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14735 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14736 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14742 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14744 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
14746 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14747 format. It should be used with some caution.
14749 @vindex nnml-directory
14750 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14751 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14752 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14753 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14755 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14758 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14759 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14760 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14761 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14762 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14763 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14764 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14765 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14767 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14768 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14769 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14770 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14772 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14774 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14775 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14776 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14777 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14778 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14779 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14780 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14781 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14784 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14785 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14786 them next time it starts.
14788 Virtual server settings:
14791 @item nnml-directory
14792 @vindex nnml-directory
14793 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14794 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14797 @item nnml-active-file
14798 @vindex nnml-active-file
14799 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14800 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14802 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14803 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14804 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14805 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14807 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14808 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14809 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14812 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14813 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14814 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
14815 default is @code{nil}.
14817 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14818 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14819 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14821 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14822 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14823 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14825 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14826 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14827 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14828 default is @code{nil}.
14830 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14831 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14832 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14834 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14835 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14836 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14841 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14842 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
14843 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14844 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14845 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14846 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14847 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14852 @subsubsection MH Spool
14854 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14856 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14857 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
14858 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
14859 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
14862 Virtual server settings:
14865 @item nnmh-directory
14866 @vindex nnmh-directory
14867 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14868 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14871 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14872 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14873 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14877 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14878 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14879 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
14880 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14881 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14882 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
14883 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14888 @subsubsection Maildir
14892 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14893 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14894 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14895 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
14896 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
14899 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14900 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
14901 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14902 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14903 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
14904 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
14905 that appear as group in Gnus.
14907 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
14908 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
14909 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
14911 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
14912 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
14913 another, and you will keep your marks.
14915 Virtual server settings:
14919 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
14920 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
14921 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
14922 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
14923 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
14924 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
14925 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
14926 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
14927 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
14928 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
14930 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14931 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14932 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14933 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14934 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14935 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14936 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
14937 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
14938 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
14939 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
14942 @item target-prefix
14943 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14944 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
14945 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
14948 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
14949 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
14950 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
14951 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
14952 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
14953 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
14954 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
14955 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
14956 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
14958 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
14959 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
14960 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
14961 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
14962 symlinks pointing to them will be).
14964 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
14965 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
14966 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
14967 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
14968 @code{force} argument.
14970 @item directory-files
14971 This should be a function with the same interface as
14972 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
14973 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
14974 parameter is optional; the default is
14975 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
14976 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
14977 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
14978 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
14979 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
14980 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
14983 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
14984 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
14985 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
14986 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
14987 value is @code{nil}.
14989 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
14990 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
14991 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
14992 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
14993 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
14996 @subsubsection Group parameters
14998 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
14999 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
15000 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
15001 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
15002 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
15003 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
15006 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
15007 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
15008 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
15009 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
15010 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
15011 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
15012 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
15013 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
15014 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
15018 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
15019 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
15020 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
15021 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
15022 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overrideable by
15023 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
15024 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
15025 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
15026 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
15027 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
15028 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
15029 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
15032 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
15034 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
15036 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
15037 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
15038 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
15039 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
15040 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
15041 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
15042 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
15043 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
15044 article. So that form can refer to
15045 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
15046 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir} does
15047 not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
15048 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
15051 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
15052 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
15053 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
15054 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
15055 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
15056 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
15057 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
15058 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
15059 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
15060 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
15061 contain extra copies of the articles.
15063 @item directory-files
15064 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
15065 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
15066 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
15067 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
15069 @item distrust-Lines:
15070 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
15071 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
15072 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
15075 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
15076 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15077 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
15078 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
15079 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
15080 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15083 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
15084 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15085 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
15086 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
15087 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
15088 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15089 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15091 @item nov-cache-size
15092 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
15093 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
15094 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
15095 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
15096 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
15097 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
15098 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
15099 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
15100 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
15101 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
15102 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15105 @subsubsection Article identification
15106 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15107 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15108 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
15109 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15110 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15111 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15112 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15113 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15114 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15115 request the article in the summary buffer.
15117 @subsubsection NOV data
15118 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
15119 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15120 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15121 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15122 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
15123 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
15124 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
15125 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
15126 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
15127 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
15128 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15130 @subsubsection Article marks
15131 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15132 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15133 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15134 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
15135 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15136 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
15137 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
15138 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15140 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15141 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15142 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15143 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15144 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
15145 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
15146 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
15147 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
15148 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
15152 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15154 @cindex mbox folders
15155 @cindex mail folders
15157 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
15158 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
15159 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
15160 numbers and arrival dates.
15162 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15164 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15165 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15166 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15167 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15168 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15169 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15170 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
15171 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
15172 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
15173 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
15175 Virtual server settings:
15178 @item nnfolder-directory
15179 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15180 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
15181 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
15182 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
15184 @item nnfolder-active-file
15185 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15186 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15188 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15189 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15190 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15191 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15193 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15194 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15195 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
15196 default is @code{t}
15198 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15199 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15200 @cindex backup files
15201 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15202 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
15203 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
15204 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
15207 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15208 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15210 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15213 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15214 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15215 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15216 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15217 extract some information from it before removing it.
15219 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15220 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15221 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15222 default is @code{nil}.
15224 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15225 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15226 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15228 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15229 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15230 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15231 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15233 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15234 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15235 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15236 default is @code{nil}.
15238 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15239 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15240 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15242 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15243 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15244 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15245 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15250 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15251 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15252 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15253 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15254 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15255 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15258 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15259 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15261 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15262 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15263 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15264 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15265 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15267 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15268 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15269 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15270 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15271 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15272 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15273 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15274 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15277 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15278 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15279 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15280 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15285 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15286 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15287 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15288 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15289 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15290 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15291 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15292 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15293 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15294 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15295 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15296 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15297 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15302 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15303 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15304 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15305 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15306 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15307 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15308 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15309 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15310 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15311 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15312 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15313 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15314 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15315 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15317 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15318 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15323 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15324 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15325 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15326 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15327 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15328 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15329 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15330 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15331 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15332 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15333 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15334 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15335 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15336 provided by the active file and overviews.
15338 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15339 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15340 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15341 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15342 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15345 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15346 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15351 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15352 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15353 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15354 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15355 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15356 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15357 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15361 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15362 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15363 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15364 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15365 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15366 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15367 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15368 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15369 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15371 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15372 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15373 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15374 friendly mail back end all over.
15378 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15379 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15382 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15383 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15384 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15385 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15386 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15387 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15388 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15389 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15392 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15393 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15394 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15395 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15396 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15397 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15398 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15399 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15400 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15401 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15402 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15404 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15405 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15406 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15407 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15408 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15411 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15412 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15413 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15414 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15415 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15416 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15417 removed in the future.
15419 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15420 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15421 on your file system.
15423 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15424 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15429 @node Browsing the Web
15430 @section Browsing the Web
15432 @cindex browsing the web
15436 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15437 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15438 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15439 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15440 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15441 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15442 even know what a news group is.
15444 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15445 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15446 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15447 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15448 you mad in the end.
15450 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15453 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15454 interfaces to these sources.
15458 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15459 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15460 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15461 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15462 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15463 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15466 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15468 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15469 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15470 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15471 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15472 though, you should be ok.
15474 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15475 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15476 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15477 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15478 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15480 @node Archiving Mail
15481 @subsection Archiving Mail
15482 @cindex archiving mail
15483 @cindex backup of mail
15485 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15486 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15487 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15488 marks is fairly simple.
15490 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15491 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15494 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15495 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15496 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15497 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15498 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15499 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15500 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15501 before you restore the data.
15503 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15504 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15505 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15506 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15507 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15508 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15509 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15510 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15511 is unnecessary in that case.
15514 @subsection Web Searches
15519 @cindex Usenet searches
15520 @cindex searching the Usenet
15522 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15523 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15524 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15525 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15526 searches without having to use a browser.
15528 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15529 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15530 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15531 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15532 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15534 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15535 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15536 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15537 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15538 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15539 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15540 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15541 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15542 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15543 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15546 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15547 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15548 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15549 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15550 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15551 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15553 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15554 to use @code{nnweb}.
15556 Virtual server variables:
15561 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15562 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15563 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15566 @vindex nnweb-search
15567 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15569 @item nnweb-max-hits
15570 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15571 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15574 @item nnweb-type-definition
15575 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15576 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15577 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15582 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15586 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15589 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15592 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15596 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15603 @subsection Slashdot
15607 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15608 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15609 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15611 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15612 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15615 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15616 '((nnslashdot "")))
15619 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15620 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15621 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15622 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15623 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15626 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15627 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15629 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15630 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15631 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15632 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
15633 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15634 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15635 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15637 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15640 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15641 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15642 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15643 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15644 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15645 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15646 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15648 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15649 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15650 The login name to use when posting.
15652 @item nnslashdot-password
15653 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15654 The password to use when posting.
15656 @item nnslashdot-directory
15657 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15658 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15659 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15661 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15662 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15663 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
15664 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
15665 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15667 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15668 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15669 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
15671 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15672 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15673 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
15674 article. The default is
15675 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15677 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15678 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15679 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15681 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15682 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15683 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15684 updated. The default is 0.
15691 @subsection Ultimate
15693 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15695 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
15696 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15697 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15698 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15700 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15701 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15702 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
15703 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15704 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15705 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15706 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15708 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15711 @item nnultimate-directory
15712 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15713 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
15714 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15719 @subsection Web Archive
15721 @cindex Web Archive
15723 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15724 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15725 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15726 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15729 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15730 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15731 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15732 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
15733 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
15734 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15735 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15736 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15738 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15741 @item nnwarchive-directory
15742 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15743 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
15744 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15746 @item nnwarchive-login
15747 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15748 The account name on the web server.
15750 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15751 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15752 The password for your account on the web server.
15760 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
15761 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
15762 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
15763 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
15764 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
15766 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
15767 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15769 @kindex G R (Summary)
15770 Use @kbd{G R} from the summary buffer to subscribe to a feed---you
15771 will be prompted for the location of the feed.
15773 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
15774 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET y}, then
15775 subscribe to groups.
15777 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15780 @item nnrss-directory
15781 @vindex nnrss-directory
15782 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15783 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15785 @item nnrss-use-local
15786 @vindex nnrss-use-local
15787 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
15788 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
15789 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
15790 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
15791 download script using @command{wget}.
15794 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15795 the summary buffer.
15798 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15799 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15801 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15803 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15804 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15807 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15810 (require 'browse-url)
15812 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15814 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15817 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15818 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15821 (browse-url (cdr url))
15822 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15823 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15825 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15826 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15827 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15828 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15831 @node Customizing w3
15832 @subsection Customizing w3
15838 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15839 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15840 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15842 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15843 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15844 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15847 (eval-after-load "w3"
15849 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15850 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15851 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15852 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15854 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15857 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15858 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15865 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
15867 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15868 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
15869 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15870 specify the network address of the server.
15872 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
15873 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
15874 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
15875 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
15876 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
15877 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15879 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
15880 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
15881 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
15882 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
15884 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15885 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15886 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
15887 usage explained in this section.
15889 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
15890 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
15891 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
15895 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15896 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
15897 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
15899 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15900 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15901 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
15903 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15904 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15905 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15906 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
15907 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15908 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15909 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15910 (nnimap-stream network))
15911 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
15913 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15914 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15915 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15918 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15919 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15920 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15921 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15923 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15928 @item nnimap-address
15929 @vindex nnimap-address
15931 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
15932 server name if not specified.
15934 @item nnimap-server-port
15935 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15936 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
15938 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15941 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15942 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15945 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15946 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15947 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15948 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15949 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
15950 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15951 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15953 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15954 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15955 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15958 Example server specification:
15961 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15962 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15963 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15966 @item nnimap-stream
15967 @vindex nnimap-stream
15968 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15969 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15970 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
15971 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
15972 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15974 Example server specification:
15977 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15978 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15981 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15985 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15986 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
15988 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15990 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15991 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15994 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
15995 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
15997 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15998 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
16000 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
16002 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
16005 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
16006 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
16007 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
16008 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
16009 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
16010 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
16011 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
16012 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
16013 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
16016 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
16017 needed. It is available from
16018 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
16020 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
16021 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
16022 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
16023 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
16024 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
16025 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
16026 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
16029 @vindex imap-ssl-program
16030 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
16031 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
16032 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
16033 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
16034 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
16035 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
16038 @vindex imap-shell-program
16039 @vindex imap-shell-host
16040 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
16041 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
16043 @item nnimap-authenticator
16044 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
16046 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
16047 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
16049 Example server specification:
16052 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16053 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
16056 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
16060 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
16061 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
16063 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
16066 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
16067 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
16069 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
16071 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
16073 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
16076 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
16078 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
16079 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
16080 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
16081 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
16082 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
16083 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
16086 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
16087 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
16088 running in circles yet?
16090 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
16091 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
16094 The possible options are:
16099 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
16102 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
16103 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
16104 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16105 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16107 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16112 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16113 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16115 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16116 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16117 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16118 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16119 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16122 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16123 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16126 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16127 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16128 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16129 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16132 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16133 as ticked for other users.
16135 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16137 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16139 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16140 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16141 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16142 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16144 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16145 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16146 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16147 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16149 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16150 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16152 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16153 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16154 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16157 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16158 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16160 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16161 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16167 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16168 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16169 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16170 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16171 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16172 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
16177 @node Splitting in IMAP
16178 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16179 @cindex splitting imap mail
16181 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
16182 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16183 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
16184 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
16185 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16189 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
16190 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
16191 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
16193 Here are the variables of interest:
16197 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16198 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16200 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16202 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16203 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16204 found will be used.
16206 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16208 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16209 @cindex splitting, inbox
16211 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16213 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16214 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16215 splitting is disabled!
16218 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16219 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16222 No nnmail equivalent.
16224 @item nnimap-split-rule
16225 @cindex splitting, rules
16226 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16228 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16231 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16232 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16233 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16234 Neither did I, we need examples.
16237 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16239 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16240 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16241 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16244 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16245 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16246 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16248 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16249 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16253 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16256 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16257 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16259 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16260 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16261 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16262 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16264 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16265 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16266 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16267 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16268 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16269 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16271 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16272 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16273 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16275 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16276 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16277 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16279 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16281 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16282 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16283 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16286 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16287 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16288 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16289 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16290 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16291 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16294 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16295 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16296 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16297 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16298 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16299 group/function elements.
16301 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16303 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16305 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16307 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16308 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16310 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16311 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16312 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16315 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16316 @cindex splitting, fancy
16317 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16318 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16320 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16321 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16322 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16324 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16325 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16326 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16327 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16332 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16333 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16336 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16338 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16339 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16340 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16342 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16343 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16344 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16345 splitting function that analyses the body to split the article.
16349 @node Expiring in IMAP
16350 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16351 @cindex expiring imap mail
16353 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16354 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16355 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16356 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16357 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16358 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16361 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16362 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16363 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16364 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16365 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16366 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16367 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16368 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16372 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16373 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16375 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16376 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16378 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16380 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16381 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16382 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16383 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16387 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16388 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16389 @cindex editing imap acls
16390 @cindex Access Control Lists
16391 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16392 @kindex G l (Group)
16393 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16395 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16396 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16397 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16400 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16401 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16402 editing window with detailed instructions.
16404 Some possible uses:
16408 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16409 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16410 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16412 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16413 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16414 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16418 @node Expunging mailboxes
16419 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16423 @cindex manual expunging
16424 @kindex G x (Group)
16425 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16427 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16428 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16429 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16431 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16434 @node A note on namespaces
16435 @subsection A note on namespaces
16436 @cindex IMAP namespace
16439 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16440 by the following text in the RFC:
16443 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16445 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16446 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16447 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16448 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16450 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16451 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16452 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16453 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16454 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16455 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16458 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16459 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16460 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16462 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16463 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16464 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16465 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16466 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16467 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16468 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16469 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16472 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16473 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16474 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16476 @node Debugging IMAP
16477 @subsection Debugging IMAP
16478 @cindex IMAP debugging
16479 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
16481 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
16482 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
16483 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behaviour, chances
16484 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
16486 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
16487 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
16488 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
16489 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
16490 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
16491 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
16492 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
16496 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
16497 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
16504 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
16505 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
16506 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
16507 @code{BAD} - but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
16510 @node Other Sources
16511 @section Other Sources
16513 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16514 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16518 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16519 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16520 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16521 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16522 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16526 @node Directory Groups
16527 @subsection Directory Groups
16529 @cindex directory groups
16531 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16532 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16535 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16536 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16537 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16538 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16540 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16541 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16542 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16543 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16544 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16546 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16548 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16549 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16550 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16551 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16554 @node Anything Groups
16555 @subsection Anything Groups
16558 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16559 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16560 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16563 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16564 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16565 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16566 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16567 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16568 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16569 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16570 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16571 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16572 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16575 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16576 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16577 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16578 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16580 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16581 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16582 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16583 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16585 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16586 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16587 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16588 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16589 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16590 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16591 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16592 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16597 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16598 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16599 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16600 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16602 @item nneething-exclude-files
16603 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16604 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16605 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16607 @item nneething-include-files
16608 @vindex nneething-include-files
16609 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16610 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16612 @item nneething-map-file
16613 @vindex nneething-map-file
16614 Name of the map files.
16618 @node Document Groups
16619 @subsection Document Groups
16621 @cindex documentation group
16624 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16625 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16632 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
16637 The standard Unix mbox file.
16639 @cindex MMDF mail box
16641 The MMDF mail box format.
16644 Several news articles appended into a file.
16647 @cindex rnews batch files
16648 The rnews batch transport format.
16649 @cindex forwarded messages
16652 Forwarded articles.
16655 Netscape mail boxes.
16658 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
16660 @item standard-digest
16661 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16664 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
16666 @item lanl-gov-announce
16667 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16669 @item rfc822-forward
16670 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16673 The Outlook mail box.
16676 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16679 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16682 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16685 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16691 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16694 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16700 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16701 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16702 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16705 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16706 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16707 group. And that's it.
16709 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16710 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16711 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16712 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16713 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16714 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16715 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16716 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16717 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16718 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16720 Virtual server variables:
16723 @item nndoc-article-type
16724 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16725 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16726 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16727 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16728 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16729 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16731 @item nndoc-post-type
16732 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16733 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16734 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16739 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16743 @node Document Server Internals
16744 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16746 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16747 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16748 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16749 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16751 First, here's an example document type definition:
16755 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16756 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16759 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16760 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16761 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16762 types can be defined with very few settings:
16765 @item first-article
16766 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16767 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16770 @item article-begin
16771 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16772 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16774 @item head-begin-function
16775 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16778 @item nndoc-head-begin
16779 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16782 @item nndoc-head-end
16783 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16784 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16786 @item body-begin-function
16787 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16791 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16794 @item body-end-function
16795 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16799 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16802 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16803 regexp will be totally ignored.
16807 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16808 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16809 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16810 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16811 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16814 @item prepare-body-function
16815 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16816 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16817 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16819 @item article-transform-function
16820 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16821 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16822 body of the article.
16824 @item generate-head-function
16825 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16826 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16827 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16828 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16832 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16837 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16838 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16839 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16840 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16841 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16842 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16843 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16844 (subtype digest guess))
16847 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16848 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16849 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16850 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16851 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16853 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16854 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16855 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16856 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16857 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
16858 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
16859 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
16860 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
16861 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
16862 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
16863 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
16864 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16872 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16873 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16874 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16876 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16877 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16878 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16881 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16882 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16883 that interested in doing things properly.
16885 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16886 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16889 First some terminology:
16894 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16895 get news and/or mail from.
16898 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16899 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16902 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16906 @item message packets
16907 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16908 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16909 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16911 @item response packets
16912 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16913 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16914 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16924 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16925 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16926 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16927 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16930 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16933 You put the packet in your home directory.
16936 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16937 the native or secondary server.
16940 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16941 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16944 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16948 You transfer this packet to the server.
16951 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16954 You then repeat until you die.
16958 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16959 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16962 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16963 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16964 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16968 @node SOUP Commands
16969 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16971 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16975 @kindex G s b (Group)
16976 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16977 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16978 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16979 process/prefix convention.
16982 @kindex G s w (Group)
16983 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16984 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16987 @kindex G s s (Group)
16988 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16989 Send all replies from the replies packet
16990 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16993 @kindex G s p (Group)
16994 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16995 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16998 @kindex G s r (Group)
16999 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
17000 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
17003 @kindex O s (Summary)
17004 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
17005 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
17006 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
17007 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17012 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
17017 @item gnus-soup-directory
17018 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
17019 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
17020 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
17022 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
17023 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
17024 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
17025 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
17027 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
17028 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
17029 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
17030 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
17032 @item gnus-soup-packer
17033 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
17034 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17035 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
17037 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
17038 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
17039 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17040 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17042 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
17043 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
17044 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
17046 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17047 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17048 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
17049 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
17055 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
17058 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
17059 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
17060 you can read them at leisure.
17062 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
17066 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
17067 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
17068 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
17069 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
17071 @item nnsoup-directory
17072 @vindex nnsoup-directory
17073 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
17074 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
17076 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
17077 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
17078 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
17079 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
17081 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
17082 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
17083 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
17084 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
17085 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
17087 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
17088 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
17089 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
17090 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
17092 @item nnsoup-active-file
17093 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
17094 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
17095 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
17096 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
17097 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
17099 @item nnsoup-packer
17100 @vindex nnsoup-packer
17101 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
17102 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
17104 @item nnsoup-unpacker
17105 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
17106 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
17107 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17109 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
17110 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
17111 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
17114 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
17115 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
17116 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
17119 @item nnsoup-always-save
17120 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
17121 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
17127 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
17129 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
17130 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
17131 more for that to happen.
17133 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
17134 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
17135 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
17138 In specific, this is what it does:
17141 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
17142 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17145 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17146 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17147 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17150 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17151 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17152 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17155 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17156 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17157 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17159 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17165 @item nngateway-address
17166 @vindex nngateway-address
17167 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17169 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17170 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17171 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17172 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17173 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17174 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17175 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17178 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17179 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17180 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17183 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17186 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17189 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17192 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17194 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17197 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17198 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17199 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17201 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17203 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17204 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17205 @code{nngateway-address}.
17213 (setq gnus-post-method
17215 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17216 (nngateway-header-transformation
17217 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17220 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17223 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17228 @node Combined Groups
17229 @section Combined Groups
17231 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17235 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17236 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17240 @node Virtual Groups
17241 @subsection Virtual Groups
17243 @cindex virtual groups
17244 @cindex merging groups
17246 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17249 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17250 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17251 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17253 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17254 regexp to match component groups.
17256 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17257 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17258 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17259 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17260 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17261 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17262 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17263 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17265 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17266 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17269 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17272 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17273 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17275 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17276 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17277 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17278 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17281 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17284 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17285 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17286 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17288 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17289 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17290 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17291 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17292 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17294 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17295 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17296 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17298 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17299 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17300 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17301 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17302 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17303 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17304 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17305 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17306 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17307 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17308 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17310 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17311 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17312 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17313 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17314 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17315 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17316 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17318 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17319 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17321 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17322 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17326 @node Kibozed Groups
17327 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17331 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
17332 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
17333 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
17334 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17336 @kindex G k (Group)
17337 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17340 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17341 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17342 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17343 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17345 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17346 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17347 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17349 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17350 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17351 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17352 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17353 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17354 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17355 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17356 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17358 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17359 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17360 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17361 Stranger things have happened.
17363 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17364 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17366 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17367 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17368 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
17369 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
17370 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
17371 information on what groups have been searched through to find
17372 component articles.
17374 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17375 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17378 @node Gnus Unplugged
17379 @section Gnus Unplugged
17384 @cindex Gnus unplugged
17386 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
17387 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
17388 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
17389 read news. Believe it or not.
17391 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
17392 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
17393 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
17394 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
17395 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
17397 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
17398 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
17399 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
17400 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
17401 reading news on a machine.
17403 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
17404 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
17406 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
17409 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
17410 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
17411 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
17412 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
17413 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
17414 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
17415 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
17416 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
17417 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
17418 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
17419 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
17420 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
17421 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
17426 @subsection Agent Basics
17428 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17430 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17431 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17432 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17433 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17435 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17436 connected to the net continuously.
17438 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17439 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17441 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
17442 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
17443 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
17444 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
17445 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
17447 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
17448 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
17449 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
17450 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
17451 they're kinda like plugged always).
17453 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
17454 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
17455 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
17458 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
17459 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
17460 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
17461 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
17462 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
17464 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17469 @findex gnus-unplugged
17470 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17471 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17472 already fetched while in this mode.
17475 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17476 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17477 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17478 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
17479 Source Specifiers}).
17482 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
17483 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
17484 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
17485 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
17486 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
17489 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17490 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17491 then you read the news offline.
17494 And then you go to step 2.
17497 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17503 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17504 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17505 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17506 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17507 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17508 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17509 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17510 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17513 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17514 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17515 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17516 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
17518 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17519 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17520 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17521 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17522 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17523 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17527 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17531 @node Agent Categories
17532 @subsection Agent Categories
17534 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17535 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17536 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17537 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17538 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17539 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17540 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17542 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17543 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17544 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17545 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17546 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17548 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17549 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17550 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17551 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17552 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17555 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17556 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17557 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17558 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17559 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17560 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17564 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17565 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17566 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17570 @node Category Syntax
17571 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17573 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17574 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17575 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17578 @cindex Agent Parameters
17580 @item gnus-agent-cat-name
17581 The name of the category.
17583 @item gnus-agent-cat-groups
17584 The list of groups that are in this category.
17586 @item gnus-agent-cat-predicate
17587 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17588 are eligible for downloading; and
17590 @item gnus-agent-cat-score-file
17591 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17592 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17593 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17595 @item gnus-agent-cat-enable-expiration
17596 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17597 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17598 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17599 only groups that should not be expired.
17601 @item gnus-agent-cat-days-until-old
17602 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17603 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17605 @item gnus-agent-cat-low-score
17606 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17608 @item gnus-agent-cat-high-score
17609 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17611 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-short
17612 an integer that overrides the value of
17613 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17615 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-long
17616 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17618 @item gnus-agent-cat-disable-undownloaded-faces
17619 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should @emph{not} display
17620 undownloaded articles using the gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face
17621 faces. The symbol nil will enable the use of undownloaded faces while
17622 all other symbols disable them.
17625 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17628 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17629 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17630 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17633 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17634 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17635 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17636 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17638 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17639 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17640 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17642 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17643 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17644 operators sprinkled in between.
17646 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17648 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17649 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17655 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17656 short (for some value of ``short'').
17658 Here's a more complex predicate:
17667 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17668 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17671 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17672 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17673 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17675 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17676 you want to do, you can write your own.
17678 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17679 bound to the value determined by calling
17680 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17681 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17682 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17683 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17684 predicate to individual groups.
17688 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17689 lines; default 100.
17692 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17693 lines; default 200.
17696 True iff the article has a download score less than
17697 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17700 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17701 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17704 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17705 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17706 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17715 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17716 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17717 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17720 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17721 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17722 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17723 something along the lines of the following:
17726 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17727 "Say whether an article is old."
17728 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17729 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17732 with the predicate then defined as:
17735 (not my-article-old-p)
17738 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17739 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17743 (require 'gnus-agent)
17744 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17745 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17746 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17749 and simply specify your predicate as:
17755 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17756 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17757 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17758 just don't give a damn.
17760 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17761 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17762 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17763 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
17764 parameters like so:
17767 (agent-predicate . short)
17770 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17771 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17772 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17774 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17777 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17780 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17781 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17782 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17785 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17786 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17787 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17788 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17789 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17790 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17792 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17793 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17794 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17795 if it's to be specific to that group.
17797 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17804 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
17805 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17811 Category specification
17815 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17821 Group/Topic Parameter specification
17824 (agent-score ("from"
17825 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17830 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17836 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17837 keywords stated above.
17843 Category specification
17846 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17852 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17856 Group Parameter specification
17859 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17862 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17867 Use @code{normal} score files
17869 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17870 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17871 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17872 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17874 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17875 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17876 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17877 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17881 Category Specification
17888 Group Parameter specification
17891 (agent-score . file)
17896 @node Category Buffer
17897 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17899 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17900 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17901 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17903 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17907 @kindex q (Category)
17908 @findex gnus-category-exit
17909 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17912 @kindex e (Category)
17913 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
17914 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
17915 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
17918 @kindex k (Category)
17919 @findex gnus-category-kill
17920 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17923 @kindex c (Category)
17924 @findex gnus-category-copy
17925 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17928 @kindex a (Category)
17929 @findex gnus-category-add
17930 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17933 @kindex p (Category)
17934 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17935 Edit the predicate of the current category
17936 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17939 @kindex g (Category)
17940 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17941 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17942 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17945 @kindex s (Category)
17946 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17947 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17948 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17951 @kindex l (Category)
17952 @findex gnus-category-list
17953 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17957 @node Category Variables
17958 @subsubsection Category Variables
17961 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17962 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17963 Hook run in category buffers.
17965 @item gnus-category-line-format
17966 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17967 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17968 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17972 The name of the category.
17975 The number of groups in the category.
17978 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17979 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17980 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17982 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17983 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17984 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17986 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17987 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17988 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17990 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17991 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17992 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17995 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17996 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17997 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18000 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18001 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18002 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18003 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18004 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18005 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18006 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18007 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18011 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18012 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18013 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18014 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18015 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18016 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18017 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18022 @node Agent Commands
18023 @subsection Agent Commands
18024 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18025 @kindex J j (Agent)
18027 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18028 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18029 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18033 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18034 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18035 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18041 @node Group Agent Commands
18042 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18046 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18047 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18048 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18049 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18052 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18053 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18054 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18057 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18058 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18059 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18060 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18063 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18064 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18065 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18066 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18069 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18070 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18071 Add the current group to an Agent category
18072 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18073 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18076 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18077 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18078 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18079 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18080 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18083 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18084 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18085 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18091 @node Summary Agent Commands
18092 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18096 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18097 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18098 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18101 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18102 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18103 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18104 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18108 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18109 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18110 Toggle whether to download the article
18111 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18115 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18116 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18117 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18120 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18121 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18122 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18123 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18126 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18127 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
18128 Download all processable articles in this group.
18129 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
18132 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18133 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18134 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18135 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18140 @node Server Agent Commands
18141 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18145 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18146 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18147 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18148 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18151 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18152 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18153 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18154 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18159 @node Agent Visuals
18160 @subsection Agent Visuals
18162 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18163 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18164 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18165 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18166 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18167 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18168 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18169 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18170 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18171 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18173 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18174 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18175 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18176 way, "If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18177 less than satisfying unplugged session". For this reason, the Agent
18178 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18179 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18180 articles will be available when unplugged.
18182 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18183 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18184 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18185 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18186 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18187 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18188 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18189 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18191 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18192 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18193 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18194 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18195 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18196 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18197 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18198 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18199 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18201 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18202 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18203 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18204 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18205 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear.
18207 For occasional Agent users, the undownloaded faces may appear to be an
18208 absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since most of their
18209 articles have not been fetched into the Agent, most of the normal
18210 faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces. If this is your
18211 situation, you have two choices available. First, you can completely
18212 disable the undownload faces by customizing
18213 @code{gnus-summary-highlight} to delete the three cons-cells that
18214 refer to the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face} faces. Second, if
18215 you prefer to take a more fine-grained approach, you may set the
18216 @code{agent-disable-undownloaded-faces} group parameter to t. This
18217 parameter, like all other agent parameters, may be set on an Agent
18218 Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}), a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic
18219 Parameters}), or an individual group (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18221 @node Agent as Cache
18222 @subsection Agent as Cache
18224 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18225 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18226 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18227 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18228 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18229 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18230 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18231 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18232 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18234 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18235 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18236 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18237 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18238 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
18241 @subsection Agent Expiry
18243 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18244 @findex gnus-agent-expire
18245 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
18246 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
18247 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
18248 @cindex agent expiry
18249 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
18252 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
18253 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
18254 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
18255 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
18256 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
18257 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
18258 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
18259 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
18261 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
18262 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
18263 synchronized with the group.
18265 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
18266 prevent expiration in selected groups.
18268 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
18269 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
18270 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
18271 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
18272 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
18273 be kept indefinitely.
18275 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
18276 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
18277 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
18278 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
18280 @node Agent Regeneration
18281 @subsection Agent Regeneration
18283 @cindex agent regeneration
18284 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
18285 @cindex regeneration
18287 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
18288 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
18289 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
18290 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
18291 internal inconsistencies.
18293 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
18294 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
18295 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
18296 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
18297 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
18298 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
18300 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
18301 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
18302 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
18303 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
18304 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
18305 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
18307 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18308 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18309 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
18310 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
18311 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
18312 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
18315 @node Agent and IMAP
18316 @subsection Agent and IMAP
18318 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
18319 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
18320 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
18321 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
18323 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
18324 are kept on the @acronym{IMAP} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
18325 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
18326 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
18328 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
18329 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
18330 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
18331 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
18333 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18334 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
18335 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
18336 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
18337 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
18338 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
18340 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
18341 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
18342 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
18343 in the group buffer.
18345 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
18346 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
18351 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
18354 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
18358 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
18359 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
18360 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
18361 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group and
18362 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
18363 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
18364 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
18365 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
18368 @node Outgoing Messages
18369 @subsection Outgoing Messages
18371 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
18372 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
18373 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
18375 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
18376 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
18377 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
18378 messages in the draft group.
18382 @node Agent Variables
18383 @subsection Agent Variables
18386 @item gnus-agent-directory
18387 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
18388 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
18389 @file{~/News/agent/}.
18391 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
18392 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
18393 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
18394 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
18395 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
18398 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18399 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18400 Hook run when connecting to the network.
18402 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18403 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18404 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
18406 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18407 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18408 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
18410 @item gnus-agent-cache
18411 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
18412 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
18413 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
18414 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
18416 @item gnus-agent-go-online
18417 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
18418 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
18419 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
18420 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
18421 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
18422 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
18425 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18426 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18427 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
18428 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
18429 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
18430 read. The default is t.
18432 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18433 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18434 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
18435 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
18436 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
18437 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
18438 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
18439 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
18440 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
18441 over and over again.
18443 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18444 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18445 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
18446 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
18447 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
18448 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
18449 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
18450 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
18451 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
18452 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
18453 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
18454 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
18457 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
18458 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
18459 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
18460 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
18461 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
18462 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
18463 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
18464 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
18465 is only valid if the Agent is used.
18467 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18468 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18469 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
18470 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
18471 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
18472 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
18474 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
18475 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
18476 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
18477 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
18478 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
18480 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18481 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18482 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
18483 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
18484 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
18485 which backends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
18486 to agentize remote backends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
18487 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
18488 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
18489 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
18490 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
18495 @node Example Setup
18496 @subsection Example Setup
18498 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
18499 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
18500 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
18503 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
18504 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
18505 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
18507 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
18508 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
18509 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
18511 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
18512 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
18514 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
18515 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
18516 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
18519 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
18520 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
18523 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
18524 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
18525 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
18526 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
18527 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
18530 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
18531 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
18532 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
18533 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
18534 back all the killed groups.)
18536 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18537 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18538 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18541 @node Batching Agents
18542 @subsection Batching Agents
18543 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18545 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18546 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18547 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18549 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18550 following incantation:
18554 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18558 @node Agent Caveats
18559 @subsection Agent Caveats
18561 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18562 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18566 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18568 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18569 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18570 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18572 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18573 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18575 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18579 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18580 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18581 locally stored articles.
18588 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18589 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18590 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18593 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18594 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18595 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18596 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18597 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18599 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18600 before generating the summary buffer.
18602 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18603 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18604 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18606 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18607 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18608 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18609 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18612 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18613 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18614 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18615 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18616 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18617 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18618 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18619 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18620 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18621 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18622 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18623 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18624 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18625 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18626 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
18627 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18628 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18632 @node Summary Score Commands
18633 @section Summary Score Commands
18634 @cindex score commands
18636 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18637 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18638 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18639 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18640 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18642 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18643 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18644 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18645 score file the current one.
18647 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18652 @kindex V s (Summary)
18653 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18654 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18657 @kindex V S (Summary)
18658 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18659 Display the score of the current article
18660 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18663 @kindex V t (Summary)
18664 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18665 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18666 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
18667 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
18668 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
18669 score file and edit it.
18672 @kindex V w (Summary)
18673 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18674 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18677 @kindex V R (Summary)
18678 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18679 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18680 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18681 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18682 effect you're having.
18685 @kindex V c (Summary)
18686 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18687 Make a different score file the current
18688 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18691 @kindex V e (Summary)
18692 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18693 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18694 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18698 @kindex V f (Summary)
18699 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18700 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18701 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18704 @kindex V F (Summary)
18705 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18706 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18707 after editing score files.
18710 @kindex V C (Summary)
18711 @findex gnus-score-customize
18712 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18713 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18717 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18722 @kindex V m (Summary)
18723 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18724 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18725 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18728 @kindex V x (Summary)
18729 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18730 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18731 expunge all articles below this score
18732 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18735 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18736 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18739 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18740 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18744 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18745 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18747 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18748 keys are available:
18752 Score on the author name.
18755 Score on the subject line.
18758 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18761 Score on the @code{References} line.
18767 Score on the number of lines.
18770 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18773 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18774 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18777 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18778 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18779 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18788 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18794 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18795 what headers you are scoring on.
18807 Substring matching.
18810 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18839 Greater than number.
18844 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18845 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18846 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18851 Temporary score entry.
18854 Permanent score entry.
18857 Immediately scoring.
18861 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18862 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18863 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18867 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18868 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18869 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18870 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18872 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18873 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18874 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18875 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18876 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18878 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18879 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18880 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18881 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18882 current score file.
18884 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18885 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18886 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18889 @node Group Score Commands
18890 @section Group Score Commands
18891 @cindex group score commands
18893 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18898 @kindex W f (Group)
18899 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18900 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18901 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18902 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18906 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18908 @findex gnus-batch-score
18909 @cindex batch scoring
18911 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18915 @node Score Variables
18916 @section Score Variables
18917 @cindex score variables
18921 @item gnus-use-scoring
18922 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18923 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18924 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18926 @item gnus-kill-killed
18927 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18928 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18929 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18930 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18931 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
18932 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
18933 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
18935 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
18936 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
18937 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
18938 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
18939 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
18941 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
18942 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
18943 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
18944 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
18946 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18947 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18948 @cindex score cache
18949 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
18950 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
18951 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
18952 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
18953 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
18954 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
18955 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
18958 @item gnus-save-score
18959 @vindex gnus-save-score
18960 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
18961 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
18962 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18964 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
18965 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
18966 across group visits.
18968 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18969 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18970 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
18971 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
18972 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
18973 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
18974 manually entered data.
18976 @item gnus-summary-default-score
18977 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
18978 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
18980 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
18981 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
18982 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
18983 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
18984 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
18985 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
18987 @item gnus-score-over-mark
18988 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
18989 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
18990 default. Default is @samp{+}.
18992 @item gnus-score-below-mark
18993 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
18994 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
18995 default. Default is @samp{-}.
18997 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18998 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18999 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19000 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19002 Predefined functions available are:
19005 @item gnus-score-find-single
19006 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19007 Only apply the group's own score file.
19009 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19010 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19011 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19012 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19013 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19014 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19015 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19016 then a regexp match is done.
19018 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19019 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19021 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19022 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19023 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19024 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19026 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19027 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19028 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19029 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19030 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19034 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19035 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19036 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19037 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19038 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19039 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19040 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19043 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19044 overall score file, you could use the value
19046 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19047 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19050 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19051 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19052 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19053 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19054 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19056 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19057 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19058 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19059 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19060 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19061 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19062 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19063 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19065 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19066 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19067 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19069 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19070 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19071 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19072 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19073 threading---according to the current value of
19074 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19075 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19076 simplified in this manner.
19081 @node Score File Format
19082 @section Score File Format
19083 @cindex score file format
19085 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19086 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19087 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19089 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19093 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19095 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19097 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19099 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19104 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19108 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19109 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19110 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19111 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19115 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19116 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19118 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19119 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19120 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19122 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19127 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19128 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19129 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19130 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19131 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19132 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19133 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19134 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19135 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19136 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19137 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19138 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19139 to articles that matches these score entries.
19141 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19142 score entry has one to four elements.
19146 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19147 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19151 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19152 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19153 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19154 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19155 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19156 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19159 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19160 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19161 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19162 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19163 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19166 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19167 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19168 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19169 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19172 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19173 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19174 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19175 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19176 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19177 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19178 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19179 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19180 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19181 instead, if you feel like.
19184 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19185 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19186 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19187 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19188 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
19189 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
19193 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
19194 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
19198 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
19199 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
19201 These predicates are true if
19204 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
19207 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
19208 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
19215 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
19216 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
19217 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
19218 it's not. I think.)
19220 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
19221 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
19222 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
19223 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
19226 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
19227 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
19228 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
19229 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
19230 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
19231 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
19232 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
19236 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
19237 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
19238 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
19239 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
19240 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
19241 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
19242 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
19243 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
19246 @item Head, Body, All
19247 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
19251 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
19252 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
19253 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
19254 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
19255 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
19256 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
19257 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
19261 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
19262 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
19263 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
19264 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
19265 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
19266 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
19267 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
19268 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
19269 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
19270 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
19271 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
19275 @cindex score file atoms
19277 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19278 lower than this number will be marked as read.
19281 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19282 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
19284 @item mark-and-expunge
19285 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19286 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
19289 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
19290 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
19291 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
19292 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
19293 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
19296 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
19297 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
19300 @item exclude-files
19301 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
19302 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
19306 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
19307 ignored when handling global score files.
19310 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
19311 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
19312 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
19313 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
19316 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
19317 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
19318 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
19319 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
19321 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
19325 (mark-and-expunge -100)
19328 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
19329 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
19330 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
19331 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
19332 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
19334 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
19335 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
19336 scoring rules exist.
19339 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
19340 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
19341 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
19342 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
19343 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
19344 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
19345 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19346 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
19347 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
19348 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
19349 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
19353 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
19354 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
19355 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
19356 file for a number of groups.
19359 @cindex local variables
19360 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
19361 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
19362 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
19363 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
19364 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
19369 @node Score File Editing
19370 @section Score File Editing
19372 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
19373 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
19374 with a mode for that.
19376 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
19377 additional commands:
19382 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
19383 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
19384 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
19385 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
19388 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
19389 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
19390 Insert the current date in numerical format
19391 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
19392 you were wondering.
19395 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
19396 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
19397 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
19398 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
19399 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
19404 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
19406 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
19407 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
19409 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
19410 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
19413 @node Adaptive Scoring
19414 @section Adaptive Scoring
19415 @cindex adaptive scoring
19417 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
19418 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
19419 stupidity, to be precise.
19421 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
19422 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
19423 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
19424 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
19425 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19426 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
19427 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
19428 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
19429 variable to @code{(word line)}.
19431 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19432 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
19433 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
19434 might look something like this:
19437 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19438 '((gnus-unread-mark)
19439 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
19440 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
19441 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
19442 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
19443 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
19444 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
19445 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
19446 (gnus-ancient-mark)
19447 (gnus-low-score-mark)
19448 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
19451 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
19452 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
19453 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
19454 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
19455 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
19456 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
19459 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
19460 will be applied to each article.
19462 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
19463 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
19464 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
19465 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
19467 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
19468 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
19469 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
19470 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
19472 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
19473 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
19474 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
19475 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
19477 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
19478 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
19479 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
19480 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
19481 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
19482 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
19484 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
19485 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
19486 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
19488 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
19489 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
19490 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
19492 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
19493 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
19494 let you use different rules in different groups.
19496 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
19497 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
19498 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
19501 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
19502 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
19503 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
19504 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
19505 the length of the match is less than
19506 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
19507 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
19510 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19511 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
19512 headers. If you adapt on words, the
19513 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
19514 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
19517 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19518 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
19519 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
19520 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
19521 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
19524 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
19525 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
19526 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
19527 score with 30 points.
19529 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
19530 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
19531 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
19532 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
19533 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
19535 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
19536 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
19537 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
19538 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
19539 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19541 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19542 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19543 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19544 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19546 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19547 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19548 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19549 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19551 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19552 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19553 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19554 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19555 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19557 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19558 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19559 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19561 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19562 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19563 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19564 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19567 @node Home Score File
19568 @section Home Score File
19570 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19571 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19572 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19573 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19575 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19576 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19577 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19579 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19580 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19585 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19589 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19590 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19594 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19598 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19599 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19602 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
19603 be used as the home score file.
19606 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19609 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19614 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19617 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19618 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19621 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19622 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19624 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19626 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19627 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19630 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19631 Other functions include
19634 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19635 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19636 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19637 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19641 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19642 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19643 their own home score files:
19646 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19647 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
19648 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19649 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
19650 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19653 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19654 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19655 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19656 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19657 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19659 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19660 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19661 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19662 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19663 precedence over this variable.
19666 @node Followups To Yourself
19667 @section Followups To Yourself
19669 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19670 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19671 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19672 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19673 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19674 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19678 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19679 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19680 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19683 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19684 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19685 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19689 @vindex message-sent-hook
19690 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19691 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19693 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19697 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19698 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19702 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19703 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19706 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19707 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19712 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19716 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19717 is system-dependent.
19720 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19721 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19722 @cindex scoring on other headers
19724 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19725 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19726 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19727 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19728 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19730 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19731 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
19732 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
19733 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
19734 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19736 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
19739 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19740 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19743 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19744 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19745 time if you have much mail.
19747 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19748 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19754 @section Scoring Tips
19755 @cindex scoring tips
19761 @cindex scoring crossposts
19762 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19763 the @code{Xref} header.
19765 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19768 @item Multiple crossposts
19769 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19770 more than, say, 3 groups:
19773 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19777 @item Matching on the body
19778 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19779 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19780 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19781 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19782 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19783 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19784 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19787 @item Marking as read
19788 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19789 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19790 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19794 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19796 @item Negated character classes
19797 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19798 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19799 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19803 @node Reverse Scoring
19804 @section Reverse Scoring
19805 @cindex reverse scoring
19807 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19808 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19809 like this in your score file:
19813 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19818 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19819 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19822 @node Global Score Files
19823 @section Global Score Files
19824 @cindex global score files
19826 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19827 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19828 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19830 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19831 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19832 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19834 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19835 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19836 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19837 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19838 files are applicable to which group.
19840 To use the score file
19841 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19842 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19846 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19847 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19848 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19851 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19853 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19854 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19855 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19856 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19858 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19859 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19861 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19862 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19863 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19864 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19865 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19866 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19868 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19874 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19876 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19878 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19880 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19881 lowered out of existence.
19883 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19884 articles completely.
19887 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19888 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19889 old articles for a long time.
19892 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19893 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19894 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19895 holding our breath yet?
19899 @section Kill Files
19902 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19903 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19904 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19906 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19907 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19908 files into score files.
19910 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19911 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19912 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19913 that isn't a very good idea.
19915 Normal kill files look like this:
19918 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19919 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19923 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19924 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19926 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19927 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19930 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
19935 @kindex M-k (Summary)
19936 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
19937 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
19940 @kindex M-K (Summary)
19941 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
19942 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
19945 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
19950 @kindex M-k (Group)
19951 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
19952 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
19955 @kindex M-K (Group)
19956 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
19957 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
19960 Kill file variables:
19963 @item gnus-kill-file-name
19964 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
19965 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
19966 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
19967 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
19968 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
19969 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
19971 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19972 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19973 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
19974 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
19977 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
19978 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
19979 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
19980 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
19981 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
19982 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
19983 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
19984 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
19985 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
19987 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19988 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19989 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
19994 @node Converting Kill Files
19995 @section Converting Kill Files
19997 @cindex converting kill files
19999 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20000 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20001 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20004 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
20005 You can fetch it from
20006 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20008 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20009 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20010 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20018 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
20019 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
20021 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/, GroupLens} is a
20022 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
20023 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
20024 news articles generated every day.
20026 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
20027 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
20028 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
20029 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
20030 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
20031 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
20032 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
20033 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
20037 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
20038 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
20039 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
20040 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
20044 @node Using GroupLens
20045 @subsection Using GroupLens
20047 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local
20048 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html, Better Bit
20049 Bureau (BBB)} is the only better bit in town at the moment.
20051 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
20055 @item gnus-use-grouplens
20056 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
20057 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
20058 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
20060 @item grouplens-pseudonym
20061 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
20062 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
20063 with the Better Bit Bureau.
20065 @item grouplens-newsgroups
20066 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
20067 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
20071 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
20072 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
20073 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
20074 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
20075 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
20076 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
20079 @node Rating Articles
20080 @subsection Rating Articles
20082 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
20083 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
20084 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
20085 yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
20088 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
20093 @kindex r (GroupLens)
20094 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
20095 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
20098 @kindex k (GroupLens)
20099 @findex grouplens-score-thread
20100 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
20101 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
20102 threads in rec.humor.
20106 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
20107 the score of the article you're reading.
20112 @kindex n (GroupLens)
20113 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
20114 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
20117 @kindex , (GroupLens)
20118 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
20119 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
20123 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
20124 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
20127 @node Displaying Predictions
20128 @subsection Displaying Predictions
20130 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
20131 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
20132 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
20133 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
20134 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
20136 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
20137 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
20138 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
20139 regular Gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
20140 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
20141 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
20142 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
20143 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
20144 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
20145 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
20146 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
20147 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
20148 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
20150 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
20151 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
20152 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
20153 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
20155 The following are valid values for that variable.
20158 @item prediction-spot
20159 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
20162 @item confidence-interval
20163 A numeric confidence interval.
20165 @item prediction-bar
20166 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
20168 @item confidence-bar
20169 Numerical confidence.
20171 @item confidence-spot
20172 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
20174 @item prediction-num
20175 Plain-old numeric value.
20177 @item confidence-plus-minus
20178 Prediction +/- confidence.
20183 @node GroupLens Variables
20184 @subsection GroupLens Variables
20188 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
20189 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
20190 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
20191 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
20194 @item grouplens-bbb-host
20195 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
20198 @item grouplens-bbb-port
20199 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
20201 @item grouplens-score-offset
20202 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
20203 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
20206 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
20207 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
20208 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
20213 @node Advanced Scoring
20214 @section Advanced Scoring
20216 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20217 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20218 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20219 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20220 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20222 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20226 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20227 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20228 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20232 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20233 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20235 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20236 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20237 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20238 non-@code{nil} value.
20240 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20241 operator, and various match operators.
20248 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20249 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20250 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20255 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20256 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20257 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20262 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20263 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20267 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20268 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20269 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20270 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20271 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20272 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20273 the ancestry you want to go.
20275 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20276 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20277 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20278 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20279 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20282 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20283 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20285 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20286 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20289 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20290 when he's talking about Gnus:
20295 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20296 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20303 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20307 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20314 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20315 really don't want to read what he's written:
20319 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20320 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
20324 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20325 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20326 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20333 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20334 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20335 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20336 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20340 The possibilities are endless.
20343 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20344 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20346 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20347 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20348 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20349 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20350 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20351 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20352 @samp{subject}) first.
20354 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20355 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20366 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20367 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20373 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20380 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20381 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20386 @section Score Decays
20387 @cindex score decays
20390 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20391 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20392 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20393 use them in any sensible way.
20395 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20396 @findex gnus-decay-score
20397 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20398 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20399 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20400 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20401 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20402 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
20403 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
20404 definition of that function:
20407 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20408 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20409 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20411 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
20413 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20415 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20416 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
20417 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
20418 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
20419 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
20421 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
20425 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20426 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20427 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20428 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20432 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20435 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20438 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20442 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20443 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20444 the new score, which should be an integer.
20446 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20447 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20452 @include message.texi
20453 @chapter Emacs MIME
20454 @include emacs-mime.texi
20456 @include sieve.texi
20466 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
20467 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
20468 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
20469 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
20470 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
20471 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
20472 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
20473 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
20474 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
20475 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
20476 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
20477 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
20478 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
20479 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
20480 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
20481 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
20482 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
20483 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
20484 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
20488 @node Process/Prefix
20489 @section Process/Prefix
20490 @cindex process/prefix convention
20492 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
20493 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
20495 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
20496 command to be performed on.
20500 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
20501 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
20502 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
20503 with the current one.
20505 @vindex transient-mark-mode
20506 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
20507 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
20509 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
20510 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
20513 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
20514 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
20516 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
20519 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
20520 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
20521 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
20522 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20524 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
20525 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
20526 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
20527 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
20528 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
20529 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
20530 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
20531 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
20533 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
20534 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
20535 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
20536 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
20537 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
20541 @section Interactive
20542 @cindex interaction
20546 @item gnus-novice-user
20547 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20548 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20549 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20550 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20551 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20554 @item gnus-expert-user
20555 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20556 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20557 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20558 matter how strange.
20560 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20561 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20562 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20563 is @code{t} by default.
20565 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20566 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20567 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20572 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20573 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20574 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20576 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20577 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20578 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20579 rule of 900 to the current article.
20581 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20582 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20583 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20584 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20585 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20586 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20587 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20589 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20590 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20591 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20592 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20593 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20594 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20595 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20596 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20597 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20599 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20600 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20601 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20603 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20607 @node Formatting Variables
20608 @section Formatting Variables
20609 @cindex formatting variables
20611 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20612 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20613 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20614 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20615 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20618 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20619 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20620 lots of percentages everywhere.
20623 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20624 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20625 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20626 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20627 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20628 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20629 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20630 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20633 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20634 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20635 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20636 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20637 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20638 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20639 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20640 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20642 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20643 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20645 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20646 @findex gnus-update-format
20647 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20648 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20649 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20650 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20654 @node Formatting Basics
20655 @subsection Formatting Basics
20657 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20658 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20659 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20661 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20662 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20663 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20664 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20665 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20668 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20669 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20670 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20671 less than 4 characters wide.
20673 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20674 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20677 @node Mode Line Formatting
20678 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20680 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20681 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20682 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20683 with the following two differences:
20688 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20691 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20692 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20693 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20694 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20695 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20696 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20697 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20702 @node Advanced Formatting
20703 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20705 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20706 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20707 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20708 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20710 These are the valid modifiers:
20715 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20719 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20724 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20727 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20732 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20735 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20738 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20741 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20747 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20752 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20753 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20754 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20755 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20756 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20757 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20758 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20760 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20761 last operation, padding.
20763 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
20764 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
20765 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
20766 @xref{Compilation}.
20769 @node User-Defined Specs
20770 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20772 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20773 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20774 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20775 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20776 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20777 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20778 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20779 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20780 should protect against that.
20782 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20783 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20785 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20786 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20787 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20788 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20792 @node Formatting Fonts
20793 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20795 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20796 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20797 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20798 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20801 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20802 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20803 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20804 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20805 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20806 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20808 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20809 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20810 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20811 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20812 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20813 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20814 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20815 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20816 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20817 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20818 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20821 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20824 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
20825 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20826 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20828 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
20829 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
20830 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
20831 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20832 ;; @r{Set the color.}
20833 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20834 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20836 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
20837 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20838 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20841 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20842 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20844 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20845 mode-line variables.
20847 @node Positioning Point
20848 @subsection Positioning Point
20850 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20851 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20852 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20854 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20856 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20857 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20858 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20860 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20861 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20862 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20867 @subsection Tabulation
20869 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20870 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20871 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20872 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20874 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
20875 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20877 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20878 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20879 This is the soft tabulator.
20881 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20882 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20883 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20886 @node Wide Characters
20887 @subsection Wide Characters
20889 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20890 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20891 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20893 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20894 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20895 these countries, that's not true.
20897 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20898 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20899 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20900 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20904 @node Window Layout
20905 @section Window Layout
20906 @cindex window layout
20908 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20910 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20911 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20912 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20913 @code{t} by default.
20915 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20916 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20918 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20919 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20920 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20923 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20924 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20925 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20929 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20930 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20931 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20932 possible names is listed below.
20934 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20935 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20938 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20942 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20943 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20944 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20945 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20946 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20947 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20948 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20949 size spec per split.
20951 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20952 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20953 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20954 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
20955 present) gets focus.
20957 Here's a more complicated example:
20960 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
20961 (summary 0.25 point)
20962 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
20966 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
20967 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20968 occupy, not a percentage.
20970 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20971 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20972 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20973 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20974 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20977 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20980 (article (horizontal 1.0
20985 (summary 0.25 point)
20990 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20991 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20993 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20994 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20995 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20996 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20997 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20999 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
21000 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
21001 lines from the splits.
21003 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
21008 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
21009 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
21010 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
21011 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
21012 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
21013 size = number | frame-params
21014 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
21018 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
21019 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
21020 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
21021 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
21023 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
21024 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
21025 @cindex window height
21026 @cindex window width
21027 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
21028 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
21029 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
21030 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
21031 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
21032 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
21034 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
21035 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
21036 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
21037 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
21039 @findex gnus-configure-frame
21040 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
21041 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
21042 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
21043 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
21044 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
21045 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
21046 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
21047 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
21048 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
21049 configuration list.
21052 (gnus-configure-frame
21056 (article 0.3 point))
21064 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
21065 @code{frame} split:
21068 (gnus-configure-frame
21071 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
21073 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
21074 (user-position . t)
21075 (left . -1) (top . 1))
21080 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
21081 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
21082 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
21083 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
21084 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
21085 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
21086 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
21087 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
21089 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
21090 be found in its default value.
21092 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
21093 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
21094 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
21098 (message (horizontal 1.0
21099 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
21101 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
21106 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
21107 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
21108 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
21113 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
21114 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
21115 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
21116 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
21117 (name . "Message"))
21118 (message 1.0 point))))
21121 @findex gnus-add-configuration
21122 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
21123 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
21124 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
21125 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
21128 (gnus-add-configuration
21129 '(article (vertical 1.0
21131 (summary .25 point)
21135 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
21136 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
21137 Gnus has been loaded.
21139 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
21140 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
21141 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
21142 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
21143 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
21145 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
21146 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
21147 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
21150 @subsection Example Window Configurations
21154 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
21155 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
21170 (gnus-add-configuration
21173 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21175 (summary 0.16 point)
21178 (gnus-add-configuration
21181 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21182 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21188 @node Faces and Fonts
21189 @section Faces and Fonts
21194 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21195 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21196 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21201 @section Compilation
21202 @cindex compilation
21203 @cindex byte-compilation
21205 @findex gnus-compile
21207 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21208 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21209 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
21210 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21211 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21212 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21215 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21216 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21217 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21218 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
21219 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
21220 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
21221 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
21225 @section Mode Lines
21228 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21229 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21230 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21231 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21232 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21233 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21234 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21237 @cindex display-time
21239 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21240 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21241 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21242 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21243 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21244 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21245 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21246 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21249 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21251 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21252 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21254 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21255 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21256 (length display-time-string)))))
21259 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21260 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21261 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21262 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21263 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21266 @node Highlighting and Menus
21267 @section Highlighting and Menus
21269 @cindex highlighting
21272 @vindex gnus-visual
21273 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
21274 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
21275 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
21278 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
21279 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
21282 @item group-highlight
21283 Do highlights in the group buffer.
21284 @item summary-highlight
21285 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
21286 @item article-highlight
21287 Do highlights in the article buffer.
21289 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
21291 Create menus in the group buffer.
21293 Create menus in the summary buffers.
21295 Create menus in the article buffer.
21297 Create menus in the browse buffer.
21299 Create menus in the server buffer.
21301 Create menus in the score buffers.
21303 Create menus in all buffers.
21306 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
21307 buffers, you could say something like:
21310 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
21313 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
21316 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
21319 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
21320 in all Gnus buffers.
21322 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
21325 @item gnus-mouse-face
21326 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
21327 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
21328 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
21332 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
21336 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
21337 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
21338 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
21340 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
21341 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
21342 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
21344 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
21345 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
21346 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
21348 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
21349 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
21350 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
21352 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
21353 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
21354 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
21356 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
21357 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
21358 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
21369 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
21370 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
21371 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
21372 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
21373 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
21377 @vindex gnus-carpal
21378 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
21379 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
21380 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
21385 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21386 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21387 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
21389 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
21390 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
21391 Face used on buttons.
21393 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
21394 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
21395 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
21397 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21398 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21399 Buttons in the group buffer.
21401 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21402 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21403 Buttons in the summary buffer.
21405 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21406 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21407 Buttons in the server buffer.
21409 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21410 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21411 Buttons in the browse buffer.
21414 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
21415 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
21416 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
21424 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
21425 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
21426 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
21427 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
21428 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
21430 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
21431 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
21432 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
21434 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
21435 been idle for thirty minutes:
21438 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
21441 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
21445 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
21448 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
21449 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
21450 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21452 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
21453 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
21454 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
21455 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21457 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
21458 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
21459 @var{idle} minutes.
21461 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
21462 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
21465 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
21466 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
21467 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
21469 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
21470 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
21471 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
21472 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
21474 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
21475 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21477 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
21479 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
21482 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
21483 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
21484 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
21485 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
21486 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
21487 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
21488 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
21489 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
21490 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
21491 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
21492 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
21494 @findex gnus-demon-init
21495 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
21496 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
21497 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
21498 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
21499 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
21501 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
21502 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
21503 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
21512 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
21513 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
21515 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
21516 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
21517 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
21518 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
21521 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
21522 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
21523 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
21524 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
21526 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
21527 this will make spam disappear.
21529 There are some variables to customize, of course:
21532 @item gnus-use-nocem
21533 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
21534 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
21537 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21538 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21539 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21542 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21543 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
21546 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21547 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21548 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21549 people you want to listen to. The default is
21551 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
21552 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
21554 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21556 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
21557 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21559 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21560 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21561 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21562 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21563 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21564 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21565 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21566 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21567 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21568 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21570 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21571 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21574 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21577 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21578 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21581 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21584 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21587 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21588 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21590 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21591 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21592 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21593 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21595 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21596 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21599 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21601 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21609 This might be dangerous, though.
21611 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21612 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21613 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
21614 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21616 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21617 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21618 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21619 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21620 might then see old spam.
21622 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21623 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21624 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21625 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21626 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21629 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21630 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21631 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21632 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21636 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21637 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21638 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21639 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21646 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21647 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21648 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21650 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21651 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21652 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21653 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21654 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21655 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21656 @code{undo} function.
21658 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21659 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21660 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21661 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21662 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21663 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21664 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21665 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21666 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21667 never be totally undoable.
21669 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21670 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21672 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21673 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21674 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21675 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21679 @node Predicate Specifiers
21680 @section Predicate Specifiers
21681 @cindex predicate specifiers
21683 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21684 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21685 to type all that much.
21687 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21692 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21693 gnus-article-unread-p)
21696 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21697 functions all take one parameter.
21699 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21700 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21701 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21702 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21707 @section Moderation
21710 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21711 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21712 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21715 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21719 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21722 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21724 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21729 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21730 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21731 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21734 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21735 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21738 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21739 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21743 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21746 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21747 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21751 @node Image Enhancements
21752 @section Image Enhancements
21754 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
21755 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
21756 taken advantage of that.
21759 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21760 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
21761 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21762 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21763 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21771 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21772 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21773 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21777 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21778 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21779 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21787 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21788 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21789 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21790 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21792 The variable that controls this is the
21793 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21794 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21795 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21796 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21797 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21799 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21800 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21801 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21802 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21805 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21806 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21807 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21808 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21809 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21810 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21811 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21812 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21814 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21817 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21818 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21820 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21821 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21822 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21823 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21824 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21825 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21826 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21827 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21828 header data as a string.
21830 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21831 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21832 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21833 randomly generated data.
21835 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21836 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21837 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21838 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21839 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21841 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21842 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21845 (setq message-required-news-headers
21846 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21847 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21850 Using the last function would be something like this:
21853 (setq message-required-news-headers
21854 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21855 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21856 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21857 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21865 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
21867 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
21868 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
21869 represent the author of the message.
21872 @findex gnus-article-display-face
21873 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
21874 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
21877 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21878 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
21880 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
21881 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
21882 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
21884 @findex gnus-face-from-file
21885 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
21886 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
21887 converts the file to Face format by using the
21888 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
21890 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
21891 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21894 (setq message-required-news-headers
21895 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21896 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
21897 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
21902 @subsection Smileys
21907 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21912 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21913 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21915 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21916 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21919 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21922 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21923 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21924 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21925 text and maps that to file names.
21927 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21928 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21929 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21930 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21931 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21934 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21939 @item smiley-data-directory
21940 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21941 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21943 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21944 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21945 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
21959 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
21960 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
21961 over your shoulder as you read news.
21963 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
21972 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
21973 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
21974 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
21975 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
21976 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
21977 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
21978 @code{GIF} formats.
21981 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21982 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
21983 point your Web browser at
21984 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
21986 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
21987 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
21989 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
21990 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
21993 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
21997 @item gnus-picon-databases
21998 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21999 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
22000 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
22001 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
22002 "/usr/local/faces")}.
22004 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
22005 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
22006 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22007 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
22009 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
22010 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
22011 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
22012 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
22014 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
22015 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
22016 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22017 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
22018 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
22020 @item gnus-picon-file-types
22021 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
22022 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
22023 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
22029 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
22032 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22033 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22034 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
22035 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
22036 unusual directory structure.
22038 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
22039 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
22040 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
22041 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
22043 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
22044 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
22045 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
22046 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
22047 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
22048 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
22050 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22051 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22052 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
22057 @subsubsection Toolbar
22061 @item gnus-use-toolbar
22062 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
22063 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
22064 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
22065 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
22067 @item gnus-group-toolbar
22068 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
22069 The toolbar in the group buffer.
22071 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
22072 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
22073 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
22075 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22076 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22077 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
22088 @node Fuzzy Matching
22089 @section Fuzzy Matching
22090 @cindex fuzzy matching
22092 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
22093 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
22095 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
22096 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
22097 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
22099 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
22100 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
22101 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
22102 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
22103 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
22106 @node Thwarting Email Spam
22107 @section Thwarting Email Spam
22111 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22113 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
22114 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
22115 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
22116 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
22117 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
22118 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
22119 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
22120 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
22123 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
22124 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
22125 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
22126 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
22127 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
22128 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
22130 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
22133 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
22134 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
22135 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
22136 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
22137 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
22138 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
22141 @node The problem of spam
22142 @subsection The problem of spam
22144 @cindex spam filtering approaches
22145 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
22147 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22149 First, some background on spam.
22151 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
22152 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
22153 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
22154 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
22155 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
22156 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
22157 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
22158 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
22160 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
22161 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
22162 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
22163 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
22164 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
22165 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
22166 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
22167 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
22168 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
22171 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
22172 spam messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
22173 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
22174 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
22175 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
22176 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
22177 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
22178 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
22179 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
22180 mail can be useful.
22182 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22183 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22184 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22185 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22186 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into
22187 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the
22188 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
22189 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
22190 message is spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22192 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22193 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22194 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22195 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22196 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22197 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
22198 because of the incident.
22200 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22201 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22202 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22203 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22204 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22205 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22206 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22207 to store the database of spam analyses.
22209 @node Anti-Spam Basics
22210 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
22214 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22216 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
22217 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
22219 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
22220 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
22221 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
22222 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
22223 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
22224 part of the mail address.)
22227 (setq message-default-news-headers
22228 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
22231 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22232 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22236 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
22237 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
22238 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
22243 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
22244 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
22245 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
22246 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
22248 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
22249 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
22250 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
22251 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
22252 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
22253 your fancy split rule in this way:
22258 (to "larsi" "misc")
22262 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
22263 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
22264 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
22265 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
22266 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
22268 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
22269 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
22270 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
22271 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
22276 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
22277 @cindex SpamAssassin
22278 @cindex Vipul's Razor
22281 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
22282 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
22283 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
22284 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
22285 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
22286 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
22287 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
22289 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
22290 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
22291 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
22292 Specifiers}) follow.
22296 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
22300 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
22303 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
22304 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
22305 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
22308 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
22312 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22315 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
22316 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
22320 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
22321 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
22322 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
22323 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
22326 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
22328 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
22332 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
22333 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
22337 Note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will not be
22338 downloaded by default. You need to set
22339 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to t to do that (@pxref{Splitting in
22342 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
22343 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
22344 spam. And here is the nifty function:
22347 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
22348 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
22350 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
22351 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
22352 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
22356 @subsection Hashcash
22359 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
22360 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
22361 you cannot rely on everyone in the world using this technique,
22362 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
22363 in smaller communities.
22365 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
22366 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
22367 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
22368 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
22369 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
22370 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
22371 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
22372 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
22373 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
22374 one of them separately.
22377 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
22378 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
22379 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
22380 header. For more details, and for the external application
22381 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
22382 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
22383 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
22385 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
22389 (require 'hashcash)
22390 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
22393 The @file{hashcash.el} library can be found in the Gnus development
22394 contrib directory or at
22395 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}.
22397 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
22401 @item hashcash-default-payment
22402 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
22403 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
22404 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
22405 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
22407 @item hashcash-payment-alist
22408 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
22409 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
22410 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
22411 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
22412 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
22413 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
22414 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
22415 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
22419 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
22423 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
22424 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
22425 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
22426 a useful contribution, however.
22428 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22429 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22430 @cindex spam filtering
22433 The idea behind @file{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
22434 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @file{spam.el} does two things: it
22435 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
22436 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @file{spam.el} to indicate
22439 First of all, you @strong{must} run the function
22440 @code{spam-initialize} to autoload @code{spam.el} and to install the
22441 @code{spam.el} hooks. There is one exception: if you use the
22442 @code{spam-use-stat} (@pxref{spam-stat spam filtering}) setting, you
22443 should turn it on before @code{spam-initialize}:
22446 (setq spam-use-stat t) ;; if needed
22450 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
22452 You get the following keyboard commands:
22462 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
22463 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
22465 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
22466 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
22467 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
22468 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
22474 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
22475 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
22477 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
22483 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
22484 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
22487 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
22488 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
22489 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
22490 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
22491 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
22492 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
22493 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
22494 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
22495 will be detected later.
22497 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22498 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
22499 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
22500 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
22501 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
22502 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
22503 by customizing the corresponding variable
22504 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
22505 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
22506 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
22507 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
22508 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
22509 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
22510 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
22513 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
22515 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
22516 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
22517 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
22518 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
22519 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
22520 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
22521 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
22522 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
22523 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
22524 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
22525 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
22526 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
22527 processor which will study them as spam samples.
22529 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
22530 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
22531 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
22532 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
22533 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
22534 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
22535 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
22536 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
22539 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22540 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
22541 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
22545 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22546 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
22550 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
22551 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
22552 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
22553 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
22554 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
22555 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
22558 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
22559 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
22560 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
22561 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
22562 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
22563 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
22564 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
22565 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
22566 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
22567 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
22568 newsgroup specification has the format (REGEXP PROCESSOR) in a
22569 standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually.
22570 The ultimate location is a group name. If the
22571 @code{ham-process-destination} parameter is not set, ham articles are
22572 left in place. If the
22573 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
22574 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
22576 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
22577 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
22579 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
22580 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
22581 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
22582 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
22583 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
22585 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
22586 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
22587 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
22588 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
22589 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
22592 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
22593 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
22594 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
22595 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
22596 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
22597 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
22598 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
22599 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each newsgroup specification has
22600 the repeated format (REGEXP PROCESSOR) and they are all in a standard
22601 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. The
22602 ultimate location is a group name. If the
22603 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
22604 articles are only expired.
22606 To use the @file{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
22607 must add the following to your fancy split list
22608 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
22614 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
22615 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
22616 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
22618 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
22619 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
22620 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
22621 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}. Make sure the contents
22622 of @code{spam-split-group} are an @emph{unqualified} group name, for
22623 instance in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server} the value
22624 @samp{spam} will turn out to be @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The
22625 value @samp{nnimap+server:spam}, therefore, is wrong and will
22626 actually give you the group
22627 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam} which may or may not
22628 work depending on your server's tolerance for strange group names.
22630 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
22631 e.g. @samp{'spam-use-regex-headers} or @samp{"maybe-spam"}. Why is
22634 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
22635 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
22638 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22639 (any "ding" "ding")
22645 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
22646 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
22647 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
22648 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
22649 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
22650 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
22652 You can let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, but all other
22653 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
22654 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
22657 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22658 ;;; all spam detected by spam-use-regex-headers goes to "regex-spam"
22659 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22660 (any "ding" "ding")
22661 ;;; all other spam detected by spam-split goes to spam-split-group
22667 Basically, this lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks
22668 depending on your particular needs, and to target the results of those
22669 checks to a particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail
22670 into all the spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that
22671 messages to mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have
22672 resource-intensive blackhole checks performed on them. You could also
22673 specify different spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap
22676 You still have to have specific checks such as
22677 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you specifically
22678 invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is that when
22679 loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on
22680 what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
22682 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
22684 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22685 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22686 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
22687 message headers. If you use @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
22688 @code{spam-check-ifile}, or @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that
22689 can benefit from the full message body), you should set this variable.
22690 It is not set by default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and
22691 that is not an appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user.
22693 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22695 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
22696 into a back end. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
22697 longer spam or ham.}
22699 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
22700 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
22703 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
22704 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
22707 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22708 * BBDB Whitelists::
22709 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
22710 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
22712 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22714 * ifile spam filtering::
22715 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22717 * Extending the spam elisp package::
22720 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
22721 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
22722 @cindex spam filtering
22723 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
22724 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
22727 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
22729 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
22730 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
22731 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
22732 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
22737 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
22739 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
22740 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
22741 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22742 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
22743 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22747 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
22749 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
22750 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22751 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
22755 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
22757 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22758 customizing the group parameters or the
22759 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22760 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22761 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
22765 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
22767 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22768 customizing the group parameters or the
22769 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22770 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22771 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22772 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22773 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22777 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
22778 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
22779 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
22780 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
22781 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
22783 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
22784 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
22785 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
22786 Emacs regular expression syntax.
22788 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
22789 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
22790 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
22791 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
22792 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
22793 @file{blacklist} respectively.
22795 @node BBDB Whitelists
22796 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
22797 @cindex spam filtering
22798 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
22799 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
22802 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
22804 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22805 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
22806 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
22807 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
22808 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22809 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
22810 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22814 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
22816 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
22817 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22818 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
22819 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
22820 classified as spammers.
22824 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
22826 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22827 customizing the group parameters or the
22828 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22829 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22830 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22831 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22832 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22836 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
22837 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
22838 @cindex spam reporting
22839 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
22840 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
22843 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
22845 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22846 customizing the group parameters or the
22847 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22848 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22849 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
22852 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
22856 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
22858 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
22859 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
22860 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
22861 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
22862 @code{spam-report.el} will use the @code{X-Report-Spam} header that
22867 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
22868 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
22869 @cindex spam filtering
22870 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
22873 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
22875 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22876 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
22877 instead of the sender address. You must have the @code{hashcash.el}
22878 package loaded for @code{spam-use-hashcash} to work properly.
22879 Messages without a hashcash payment token will be sent to the next
22880 spam-split rule. This is an explicit filter, meaning that unless a
22881 hashcash token is found, the messages are not assumed to be spam or
22887 @subsubsection Blackholes
22888 @cindex spam filtering
22889 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
22892 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
22894 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
22895 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
22896 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
22897 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
22898 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
22899 contains outdated servers.
22901 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
22902 @file{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
22903 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
22904 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
22905 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
22906 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
22910 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
22912 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
22916 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
22918 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
22919 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
22923 @defvar spam-use-dig
22925 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
22926 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
22930 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
22931 ham processor for blackholes.
22933 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
22934 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
22935 @cindex spam filtering
22936 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
22939 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
22941 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
22942 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
22943 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
22944 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
22945 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
22946 message is spam or ham, respectively.
22950 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
22952 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22953 the message, positively identify it as spam.
22957 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
22959 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22960 the message, positively identify it as ham.
22964 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
22965 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
22968 @subsubsection Bogofilter
22969 @cindex spam filtering
22970 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
22973 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
22975 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22978 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
22979 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
22980 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
22981 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
22982 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
22983 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
22985 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
22986 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
22989 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
22990 processing will be turned off.
22992 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
22996 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
22998 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22999 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
23000 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
23001 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
23002 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
23003 installation documents for details.
23005 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
23009 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
23010 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23011 customizing the group parameters or the
23012 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23013 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
23014 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
23017 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
23018 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23019 customizing the group parameters or the
23020 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23021 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23022 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
23023 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
23024 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23027 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
23029 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
23030 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
23031 database directory.
23035 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
23036 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23037 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
23038 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
23039 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
23040 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
23042 @node ifile spam filtering
23043 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
23044 @cindex spam filtering
23045 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
23048 @defvar spam-use-ifile
23050 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
23051 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
23055 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
23057 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
23058 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
23059 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
23063 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
23065 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
23066 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
23067 the default value of @samp{spam}.
23070 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
23072 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
23073 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
23077 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
23078 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23079 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
23080 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
23083 @node spam-stat spam filtering
23084 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
23085 @cindex spam filtering
23086 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
23090 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
23092 @defvar spam-use-stat
23094 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
23095 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
23099 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
23100 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23101 customizing the group parameters or the
23102 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23103 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23104 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
23107 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
23108 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23109 customizing the group parameters or the
23110 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23111 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23112 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
23113 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
23114 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
23117 This enables @file{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
23118 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
23119 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
23120 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
23121 @code{spam-split} are provided.
23124 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
23125 @cindex spam filtering
23129 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
23130 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
23131 installed separately.
23133 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
23134 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
23135 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
23136 mail as a spam mail or not.
23138 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
23139 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
23140 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
23142 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
23143 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
23145 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
23146 To enable SpamOracle usage by @file{spam.el}, set the variable
23147 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
23148 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
23149 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
23150 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
23151 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
23152 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
23156 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
23157 spam-split-group "Junk"
23158 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
23159 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23160 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
23163 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
23164 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
23168 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
23169 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
23170 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
23174 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
23175 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
23176 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
23177 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
23178 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
23179 database to live somewhere special, set
23180 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
23183 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
23184 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
23185 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
23186 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
23187 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
23188 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
23189 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @file{spam.el}'s
23190 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
23191 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
23192 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
23194 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
23195 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23196 customizing the group parameter or the
23197 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23198 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
23199 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
23202 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
23203 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23204 customizing the group parameter or the
23205 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23206 to a grup's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
23207 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
23208 messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam} or
23209 @emph{unclassified} groups.
23212 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of an group that has been
23213 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
23216 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
23218 (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle)))
23220 For this group the @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle} is
23221 installed. If the group contains spam message (e.g. because SpamOracle
23222 has not had enough sample messages yet) and the user marks some
23223 messages as spam messages, these messages will be processed by
23224 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}. This processor sends
23225 the messages to SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
23227 @node Extending the spam elisp package
23228 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
23229 @cindex spam filtering
23230 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
23231 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
23233 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
23234 incoming mail, provide the following:
23242 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
23243 "True if blackbox should be used.")
23248 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
23250 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
23255 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
23256 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
23257 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
23259 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
23260 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
23261 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
23265 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
23272 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
23273 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
23276 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
23277 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
23278 Only applicable to spam groups.")
23280 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
23281 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
23282 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
23290 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
23291 (spam-generic-register-routine
23292 ;; @r{the spam function}
23294 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
23295 (when (stringp from)
23296 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
23297 ;; @r{the ham function}
23300 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
23301 (spam-generic-register-routine
23302 ;; @r{the spam function}
23304 ;; @r{the ham function}
23306 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
23307 (when (stringp from)
23308 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
23311 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
23312 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
23313 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
23314 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
23315 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
23316 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
23321 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23322 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23323 @cindex Paul Graham
23324 @cindex Graham, Paul
23325 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
23326 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
23327 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
23329 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
23330 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
23331 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
23332 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
23333 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
23334 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
23335 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
23336 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
23337 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
23340 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
23341 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
23342 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
23343 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
23344 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
23345 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
23346 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
23347 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
23349 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
23350 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
23351 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
23352 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
23353 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
23356 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
23357 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
23358 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
23361 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23362 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23364 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
23365 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
23366 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
23367 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
23368 need several hundred emails in both collections.
23370 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
23371 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
23372 per mail. Use the following:
23374 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
23375 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
23376 is treated as one spam mail.
23379 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
23380 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
23381 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
23384 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
23385 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
23386 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
23387 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
23388 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
23389 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
23391 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
23392 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
23393 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
23394 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
23395 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
23398 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
23399 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
23400 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
23401 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
23404 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
23405 reset the dictionary.
23407 @defun spam-stat-reset
23408 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
23411 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
23412 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
23413 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
23414 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
23415 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
23416 only non-spam mails.
23418 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
23419 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
23420 to update the dictionary incrementally.
23423 @defun spam-stat-save
23424 Save the dictionary.
23427 @defvar spam-stat-file
23428 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
23429 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
23432 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
23433 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
23435 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
23436 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23439 (require 'spam-stat)
23443 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
23446 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
23447 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
23448 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
23449 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
23451 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
23452 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
23453 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
23454 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
23457 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23458 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23462 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
23463 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
23466 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
23467 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
23468 expression are considered potential spam.
23471 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23472 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23473 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23477 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
23478 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
23479 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
23480 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
23481 mails, when creating the dictionary!
23484 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23485 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23486 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23490 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
23491 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
23492 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
23493 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
23494 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
23498 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23499 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
23500 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23501 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23506 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23507 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23509 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
23511 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
23512 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
23513 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23516 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
23517 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
23518 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23521 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
23522 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
23523 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
23524 already been processed as non-spam.
23527 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
23528 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
23529 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
23530 been processed as spam.
23533 @defun spam-stat-save
23534 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
23535 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23538 @defun spam-stat-load
23539 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
23540 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23543 @defun spam-stat-score-word
23544 Return the spam score for a word.
23547 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
23548 Return the spam score for a buffer.
23551 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
23552 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
23553 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23556 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
23557 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23560 (require 'spam-stat)
23564 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
23567 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23568 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23569 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23570 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23571 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23572 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23573 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23574 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23575 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23576 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23577 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23578 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23579 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23580 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23583 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
23586 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23587 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23588 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23589 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
23590 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23591 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23594 @node Various Various
23595 @section Various Various
23601 @item gnus-home-directory
23602 @vindex gnus-home-directory
23603 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
23604 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
23606 @item gnus-directory
23607 @vindex gnus-directory
23608 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
23609 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
23610 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
23612 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
23613 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
23614 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
23615 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
23617 @item gnus-default-directory
23618 @vindex gnus-default-directory
23619 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
23620 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
23621 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
23622 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
23623 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
23624 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
23627 @vindex gnus-verbose
23628 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
23629 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
23630 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
23631 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
23632 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
23634 @item gnus-verbose-backends
23635 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
23636 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
23637 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
23639 @item nnheader-max-head-length
23640 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
23641 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
23642 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
23643 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
23644 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
23645 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
23646 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
23647 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
23648 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
23650 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
23651 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
23652 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
23653 read when doing the operation described above.
23655 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23656 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23658 @cindex invalid characters in file names
23659 @cindex characters in file names
23660 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
23661 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
23662 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
23666 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23671 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
23672 Windows (phooey) systems.
23674 @item gnus-hidden-properties
23675 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
23676 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
23677 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
23678 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
23680 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
23681 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
23682 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
23683 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
23684 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
23686 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
23687 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
23688 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
23690 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23691 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23693 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
23694 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
23695 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
23696 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
23699 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
23707 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
23708 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
23710 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
23712 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
23718 Not because of victories @*
23721 but for the common sunshine,@*
23723 the largess of the spring.
23727 but for the day's work done@*
23728 as well as I was able;@*
23729 not for a seat upon the dais@*
23730 but at the common table.@*
23735 @chapter Appendices
23738 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
23739 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
23740 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
23741 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
23742 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
23743 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
23744 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
23745 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
23746 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
23753 @cindex installing under XEmacs
23755 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
23756 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
23757 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
23758 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
23759 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{w3},
23760 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
23767 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
23768 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
23770 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
23771 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
23772 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
23773 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
23774 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
23776 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
23777 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
23778 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
23779 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
23780 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
23781 appropriate name, don't you think?)
23783 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
23784 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
23785 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
23786 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
23789 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
23790 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
23791 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
23792 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
23793 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
23794 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
23795 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
23796 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
23797 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
23801 @node Gnus Versions
23802 @subsection Gnus Versions
23804 @cindex September Gnus
23806 @cindex Quassia Gnus
23807 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
23810 @cindex Gnus versions
23812 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
23813 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
23814 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
23816 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
23817 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
23819 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
23820 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
23822 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
23823 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
23825 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
23826 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
23829 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
23831 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
23832 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
23833 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
23834 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
23835 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
23836 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
23839 @node Other Gnus Versions
23840 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
23843 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
23844 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
23845 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
23846 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
23848 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
23849 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
23850 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
23851 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
23858 What's the point of Gnus?
23860 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
23861 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
23862 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
23863 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
23864 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
23865 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
23866 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
23867 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
23868 keep track of millions of people who post?
23870 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
23871 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
23872 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
23873 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
23874 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
23875 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
23876 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
23877 every one of you to explore and invent.
23879 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
23880 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
23883 @node Compatibility
23884 @subsection Compatibility
23886 @cindex compatibility
23887 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
23888 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
23889 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
23894 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
23898 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
23901 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
23904 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
23905 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
23906 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
23907 important variables have their values copied into their global
23908 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
23909 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
23911 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
23912 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
23913 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
23914 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
23915 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
23919 @cindex highlighting
23920 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
23921 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
23922 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
23923 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
23924 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
23925 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
23928 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
23929 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
23930 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
23931 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
23933 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
23934 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
23935 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
23936 to stop doing it the old way.
23938 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
23940 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23942 @cindex reporting bugs
23944 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
23945 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
23946 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
23948 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
23949 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
23950 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
23951 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
23956 @subsection Conformity
23958 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
23959 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
23967 There are no known breaches of this standard.
23971 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
23973 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
23974 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
23975 We do have some breaches to this one.
23981 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
23982 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
23983 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
23984 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
23985 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
23990 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
23991 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
23992 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
23993 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
23995 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
23996 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
23997 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
23999 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
24000 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
24002 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
24005 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
24006 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
24007 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
24008 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
24009 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
24012 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
24013 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
24014 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
24015 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
24017 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
24018 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
24020 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
24021 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
24022 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
24023 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
24024 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
24025 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
24026 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
24027 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
24031 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
24032 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
24037 @subsection Emacsen
24043 Gnus should work on:
24051 XEmacs 21.1 and up.
24055 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
24056 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
24059 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
24060 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
24061 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
24065 @node Gnus Development
24066 @subsection Gnus Development
24068 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
24069 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
24070 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
24071 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
24072 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
24073 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
24074 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
24075 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
24077 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
24078 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
24079 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
24080 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
24081 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
24084 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
24085 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
24086 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
24087 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
24088 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
24090 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
24091 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
24092 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
24093 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
24094 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
24095 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
24096 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
24097 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
24098 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
24099 can't be assumed to do so.
24104 @subsection Contributors
24105 @cindex contributors
24107 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
24108 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
24109 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
24110 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
24111 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
24112 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
24113 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
24114 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
24115 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
24116 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
24118 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
24124 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
24127 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
24128 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
24129 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
24130 functionality and stuff.
24133 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
24134 well as numerous other things).
24137 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
24140 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
24143 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
24146 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
24149 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
24150 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
24153 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
24156 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
24157 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
24160 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
24163 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
24166 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
24169 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
24172 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
24173 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
24176 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
24179 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
24182 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
24185 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
24189 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
24192 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
24195 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
24198 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
24199 well as autoconf support.
24203 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
24204 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
24206 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
24221 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
24223 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
24227 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
24237 Alexei V. Barantsev,
24252 Massimo Campostrini,
24257 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
24258 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
24262 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
24265 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
24271 Michael Welsh Duggan,
24276 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
24280 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
24288 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
24290 Michelangelo Grigni,
24294 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
24296 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
24298 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
24305 François Felix Ingrand,
24306 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
24307 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
24309 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
24319 Peter Skov Knudsen,
24320 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
24322 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
24323 Thor Kristoffersen,
24326 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
24344 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
24345 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
24352 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
24357 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
24361 John McClary Prevost,
24367 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
24372 Christian von Roques,
24375 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
24382 Philippe Schnoebelen,
24384 Randal L. Schwartz,
24398 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
24403 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
24423 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
24424 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
24425 (550kB and counting).
24427 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
24430 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
24431 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
24435 @subsection New Features
24436 @cindex new features
24439 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
24440 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
24441 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
24442 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
24443 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
24444 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
24447 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
24448 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
24449 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
24452 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
24454 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
24459 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
24460 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
24463 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
24464 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
24467 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
24470 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
24471 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
24472 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
24475 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
24476 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
24477 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
24478 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24481 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
24482 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24485 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
24486 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
24487 (@pxref{The Active File}).
24490 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
24491 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
24494 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
24495 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
24496 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24499 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
24500 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
24501 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
24504 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
24505 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
24508 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
24509 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
24512 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
24513 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
24516 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
24517 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24520 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
24521 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
24524 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
24525 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24528 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
24531 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
24532 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
24535 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
24536 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
24539 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
24540 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
24543 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
24546 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
24547 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24550 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
24554 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
24558 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
24559 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
24562 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
24568 @node September Gnus
24569 @subsubsection September Gnus
24573 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
24577 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
24582 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
24583 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
24587 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
24588 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
24592 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
24596 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
24597 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
24600 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
24604 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
24607 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
24610 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
24613 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
24617 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
24618 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
24621 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
24625 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
24629 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
24633 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
24637 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
24640 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
24641 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
24644 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
24648 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
24649 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
24652 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
24655 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
24656 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
24657 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24660 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
24664 The Gnus cache is much faster.
24667 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
24671 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
24672 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24675 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
24676 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
24679 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
24680 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
24683 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
24684 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
24685 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
24688 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
24689 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
24692 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
24695 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24698 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
24701 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
24704 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
24705 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
24708 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
24712 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
24715 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
24720 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
24723 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
24727 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24730 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
24734 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
24737 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
24740 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
24741 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24744 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
24745 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
24749 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
24750 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
24753 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
24757 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
24758 buffer to allow easier treatment.
24761 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
24764 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
24768 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
24772 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
24773 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
24776 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
24780 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
24781 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24784 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
24785 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24788 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
24792 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24795 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
24798 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
24804 @subsubsection Red Gnus
24806 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
24810 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
24817 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
24820 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
24821 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24824 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
24825 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
24829 Article washing status can be displayed in the
24830 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
24833 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
24836 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
24837 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
24840 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
24844 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
24845 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
24849 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
24850 Server Internals}).
24853 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
24857 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
24860 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
24861 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
24864 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
24865 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
24866 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
24869 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
24870 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24873 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
24874 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
24877 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
24881 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
24882 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24885 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
24886 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24889 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
24893 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
24896 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
24900 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
24901 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24904 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
24905 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24908 A new command for reading collections of documents
24909 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
24910 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
24913 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
24917 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
24918 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
24921 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
24922 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
24923 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
24926 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
24927 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
24931 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
24935 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
24939 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
24944 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
24948 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
24952 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
24953 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
24956 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
24962 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
24964 New features in Gnus 5.6:
24969 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
24970 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
24971 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
24974 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
24975 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
24976 group, which is created automatically.
24979 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
24983 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
24986 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
24987 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
24990 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
24994 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
24997 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
24998 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
25001 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
25004 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
25008 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
25009 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
25012 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
25013 control over simplification.
25016 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
25019 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
25023 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
25026 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
25029 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
25030 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
25031 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
25034 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
25035 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
25038 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
25042 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
25043 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
25046 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
25047 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
25050 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
25054 A history of where mails have been split is available.
25057 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
25060 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
25061 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
25064 A new function for citing in Message has been
25065 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
25068 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
25071 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
25075 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
25076 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
25079 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
25080 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
25083 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
25086 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
25090 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
25091 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
25093 New features in Gnus 5.8:
25098 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
25099 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
25101 If you used procmail like in
25104 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
25105 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
25106 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
25107 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
25110 this now has changed to
25114 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
25118 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
25121 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
25122 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
25125 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
25126 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
25129 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
25130 called to position point.
25133 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
25134 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
25137 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
25138 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
25141 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
25142 subtly different manner.
25145 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
25146 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
25147 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
25150 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
25155 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
25158 New features in Gnus 5.10:
25163 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
25164 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
25167 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
25168 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
25171 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
25173 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
25174 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
25175 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
25176 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
25177 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
25178 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
25179 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
25180 isn't save in general.
25185 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
25186 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
25187 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
25188 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
25193 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} installs key bindings in dired buffers to send
25194 a file as an attachment (@kbd{C-c C-a}), open a file using the appropriate
25195 mailcap entry (@kbd{C-c C-l}), and print a file using the mailcap entry
25196 (@kbd{C-c P}). It is enabled with
25198 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
25202 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
25205 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
25210 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
25211 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
25213 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
25214 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
25218 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
25219 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
25222 Retrieval of charters and control messages
25224 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
25225 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
25230 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
25231 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
25232 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
25235 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
25236 decompressed when activated.
25239 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
25240 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
25243 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
25246 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
25247 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
25250 Warn about email replies to news
25252 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
25253 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
25257 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
25258 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
25262 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
25263 opposed to old but unread messages).
25266 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
25267 Gcc articles as read.
25270 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
25273 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
25274 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
25277 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
25278 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
25281 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
25282 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
25285 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
25286 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
25289 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
25291 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
25292 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
25293 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
25294 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
25297 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
25299 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
25300 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
25301 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
25302 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
25303 the second parameter.
25305 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
25306 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
25307 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
25308 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
25309 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
25310 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
25311 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
25312 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
25313 cycle used under Unix systems.
25315 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
25319 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
25321 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
25322 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
25323 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
25324 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
25325 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
25329 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
25331 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
25332 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
25333 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
25334 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
25338 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
25340 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
25341 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
25342 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
25343 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
25345 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
25346 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
25347 message cited below.
25350 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
25353 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
25355 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
25356 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
25357 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
25358 variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
25359 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
25362 (setq gnus-parameters
25364 (gnus-show-threads nil)
25365 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
25366 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
25367 (to-group . "\\1"))))
25371 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
25373 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
25377 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
25379 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
25380 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
25381 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
25382 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
25383 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
25384 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
25385 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
25386 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
25387 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
25390 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
25392 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
25393 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
25394 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
25395 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
25396 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
25397 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
25400 References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
25401 composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
25405 Improved anti-spam features.
25407 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
25408 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
25409 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
25410 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
25411 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
25414 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
25417 Face headers handling.
25420 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
25421 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
25424 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
25427 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
25429 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
25430 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
25431 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
25432 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
25433 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
25434 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
25435 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
25436 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
25437 when getting new mail, remove the function.
25440 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
25442 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
25443 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
25444 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
25445 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
25446 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
25447 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
25448 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
25449 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
25450 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
25451 was inserted directly.
25454 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
25456 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
25457 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
25463 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
25464 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
25465 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
25466 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
25467 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
25468 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
25469 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
25470 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
25471 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
25472 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
25473 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
25474 behaviour of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
25475 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
25476 is not needed any more.
25479 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
25481 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
25482 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
25483 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
25484 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
25485 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
25489 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
25491 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
25492 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
25495 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
25497 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
25498 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
25499 lisp directory into load-path.
25501 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
25502 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
25505 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
25507 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
25510 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
25512 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
25513 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
25514 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
25515 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
25518 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
25520 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
25522 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
25523 'bbdb-complete-name)
25527 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
25529 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
25530 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
25531 local files as external parts.
25533 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
25534 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
25535 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
25536 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
25537 that support editing.
25540 @code{gnus-default-charset}
25542 The default value is determined from the
25543 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
25544 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
25545 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
25548 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
25550 Add a new format of match like
25552 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
25553 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25555 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
25557 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
25558 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25562 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
25564 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
25565 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
25566 need add those two headers too.
25569 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
25571 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
25572 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
25573 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
25576 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
25577 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
25578 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
25582 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
25584 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
25587 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
25589 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
25592 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
25594 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
25595 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
25596 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
25599 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
25601 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
25605 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
25607 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
25608 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
25609 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
25610 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
25611 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
25612 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
25613 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
25614 The behaviour can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
25617 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
25619 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
25620 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
25621 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
25622 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
25623 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
25626 Extended format specs.
25628 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
25629 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
25630 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
25631 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
25632 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
25633 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
25636 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
25638 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
25639 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
25640 out other articles.
25642 @item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
25644 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
25645 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
25646 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
25647 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
25650 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
25652 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
25653 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
25654 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
25657 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
25659 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
25660 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
25661 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
25662 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
25663 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
25664 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
25665 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
25666 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
25667 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
25668 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
25669 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
25672 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
25673 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
25676 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
25677 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
25678 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
25679 message, Message Manual}).
25682 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
25683 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
25685 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
25686 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
25687 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
25689 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
25693 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
25694 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
25696 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
25697 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
25698 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
25699 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
25702 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
25705 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
25708 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
25709 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
25712 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to symbol @code{best}.
25714 The behaviour for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
25715 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
25716 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
25717 invalidate the digital signature.
25724 @section The Manual
25728 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
25729 either @code{texi2dvi}
25731 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
25732 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
25734 to get what you hold in your hands now.
25736 The following conventions have been used:
25741 This is a @samp{string}
25744 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
25747 This is a @file{file}
25750 This is a @code{symbol}
25754 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
25758 (setq flargnoze "yes")
25761 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
25764 (setq flumphel 'yes)
25767 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
25768 ever get them confused.
25772 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
25773 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
25774 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
25775 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
25776 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
25777 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
25778 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
25784 @node On Writing Manuals
25785 @section On Writing Manuals
25787 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
25788 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
25789 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
25790 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
25791 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
25792 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
25795 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
25796 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
25797 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
25800 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
25801 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
25806 @section Terminology
25808 @cindex terminology
25813 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
25814 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
25815 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
25816 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
25817 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
25821 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
25822 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
25823 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
25824 not posting, and replying is not following up.
25828 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
25832 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
25837 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
25838 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
25839 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
25840 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
25841 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
25842 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
25843 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
25844 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
25845 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
25848 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
25849 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
25850 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
25851 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
25852 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
25853 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
25855 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
25856 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
25857 access the articles.
25859 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
25860 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
25861 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
25866 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
25867 default, way of getting news.
25871 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
25872 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
25877 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
25878 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
25882 A message that has been posted as news.
25885 @cindex mail message
25886 A message that has been mailed.
25890 A mail message or news article
25894 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
25899 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
25904 A line from the head of an article.
25908 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
25909 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
25911 @item @acronym{NOV}
25912 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
25913 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
25914 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
25915 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
25916 normal @sc{head} format.
25920 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
25921 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
25922 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
25923 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
25924 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
25925 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
25927 @item killed groups
25928 @cindex killed groups
25929 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
25930 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
25932 @item zombie groups
25933 @cindex zombie groups
25934 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
25937 @cindex active file
25938 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
25939 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
25940 is rather large, as you might surmise.
25943 @cindex bogus groups
25944 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
25945 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
25946 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
25949 @cindex activating groups
25950 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
25951 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
25952 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
25956 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
25958 @item select method
25959 @cindex select method
25960 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
25963 @item virtual server
25964 @cindex virtual server
25965 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
25966 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
25967 whole is a virtual server.
25971 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
25972 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
25975 @item ephemeral groups
25976 @cindex ephemeral groups
25977 @cindex temporary groups
25978 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
25979 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
25980 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
25983 @cindex solid groups
25984 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
25985 group buffer are solid groups.
25987 @item sparse articles
25988 @cindex sparse articles
25989 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
25990 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
25994 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
25995 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
25999 @cindex thread root
26000 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
26001 articles in the thread.
26005 An article that has responses.
26009 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
26013 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
26014 specified by RFC 1153.
26017 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
26018 @cindex mail sorting
26019 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
26020 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
26021 incorrectly called mail filtering.
26027 @node Customization
26028 @section Customization
26029 @cindex general customization
26031 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
26032 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
26033 for some quite common situations.
26036 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
26037 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
26038 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
26039 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
26043 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
26044 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
26046 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
26047 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
26048 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
26052 @item gnus-read-active-file
26053 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
26054 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
26055 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26056 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
26057 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
26059 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
26060 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
26061 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
26062 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
26066 @node Slow Terminal Connection
26067 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
26069 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
26070 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
26071 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
26075 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
26076 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
26077 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
26078 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
26079 horizontal and vertical recentering.
26081 @item gnus-visible-headers
26082 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
26083 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
26084 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
26085 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
26087 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
26089 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
26090 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
26091 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
26094 @item gnus-use-full-window
26095 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
26096 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
26097 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
26098 want to read them anyway.
26100 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
26101 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
26105 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
26106 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
26107 lines, which might save some time.
26111 @node Little Disk Space
26112 @subsection Little Disk Space
26115 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
26116 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
26120 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
26121 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
26122 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26123 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26126 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
26127 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
26128 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26129 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26132 @item gnus-save-killed-list
26133 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
26134 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
26135 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
26136 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
26142 @subsection Slow Machine
26143 @cindex slow machine
26145 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
26146 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
26148 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26149 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
26151 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
26152 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
26153 summary buffer faster.
26157 @node Troubleshooting
26158 @section Troubleshooting
26159 @cindex troubleshooting
26161 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
26169 Make sure your computer is switched on.
26172 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
26173 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
26177 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
26178 like @samp{Gnus v5.10.3} you have the right files loaded. Otherwise
26179 you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
26182 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
26183 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
26186 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
26187 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
26188 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
26189 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
26190 something like that.
26193 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
26196 @cindex reporting bugs
26198 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26200 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
26201 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
26202 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
26203 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
26205 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
26206 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
26207 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
26208 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
26211 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
26212 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
26213 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
26214 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
26215 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
26216 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
26218 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
26219 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
26220 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
26224 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
26225 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
26228 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
26229 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
26230 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
26231 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
26232 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
26233 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
26234 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
26235 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
26236 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
26237 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
26238 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
26239 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
26240 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
26241 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
26246 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
26247 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
26248 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
26249 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
26250 helps isolating the real problem areas).
26252 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
26253 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
26254 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
26255 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
26256 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
26257 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
26258 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
26259 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
26260 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
26261 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
26262 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
26263 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
26264 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
26267 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
26268 @cindex ding mailing list
26269 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
26270 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
26271 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
26272 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
26276 @node Gnus Reference Guide
26277 @section Gnus Reference Guide
26279 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
26280 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
26281 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
26282 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
26285 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
26286 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
26287 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
26288 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
26289 and general methods of operation.
26292 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
26293 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
26294 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
26295 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
26296 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
26297 * Group Info:: The group info format.
26298 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
26299 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
26300 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
26304 @node Gnus Utility Functions
26305 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
26306 @cindex Gnus utility functions
26307 @cindex utility functions
26309 @cindex internal variables
26311 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
26312 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
26313 Below is a list of the most common ones.
26317 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
26318 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
26319 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
26321 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
26322 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
26323 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
26325 @item gnus-group-real-name
26326 @findex gnus-group-real-name
26327 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
26330 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
26331 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
26332 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
26333 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
26335 @item gnus-get-info
26336 @findex gnus-get-info
26337 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
26339 @item gnus-group-unread
26340 @findex gnus-group-unread
26341 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
26345 @findex gnus-active
26346 The active entry for @var{group}.
26348 @item gnus-set-active
26349 @findex gnus-set-active
26350 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
26352 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26353 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26354 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
26357 @item gnus-continuum-version
26358 @findex gnus-continuum-version
26359 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
26360 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
26363 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
26364 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
26365 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
26367 @item gnus-news-group-p
26368 @findex gnus-news-group-p
26369 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
26371 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26372 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26373 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
26375 @item gnus-server-to-method
26376 @findex gnus-server-to-method
26377 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
26379 @item gnus-server-equal
26380 @findex gnus-server-equal
26381 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
26383 @item gnus-group-native-p
26384 @findex gnus-group-native-p
26385 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
26387 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
26388 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
26389 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
26391 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
26392 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
26393 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
26395 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
26396 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
26397 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
26398 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
26400 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
26401 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
26402 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
26404 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
26405 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
26406 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
26408 @item gnus-check-backend-function
26409 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
26410 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
26411 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
26414 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
26418 @item gnus-read-method
26419 @findex gnus-read-method
26420 Prompts the user for a select method.
26425 @node Back End Interface
26426 @subsection Back End Interface
26428 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
26429 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
26430 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
26431 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
26432 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
26433 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
26435 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
26436 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
26437 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
26438 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
26439 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
26440 been opened, the function should fail.
26442 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
26443 name. Take this example:
26447 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
26448 (nntp-port-number 4324))
26451 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
26452 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
26454 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
26455 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
26456 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
26458 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
26459 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
26460 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
26462 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
26463 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
26464 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
26465 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
26466 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
26467 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
26470 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
26471 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
26472 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
26473 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
26476 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
26477 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
26478 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
26479 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
26480 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
26481 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
26482 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
26483 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
26484 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
26485 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
26487 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
26488 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
26489 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
26490 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
26491 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
26492 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
26493 of numbers as long as possible.
26495 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
26496 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
26497 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
26499 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
26502 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
26505 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
26506 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
26507 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
26508 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
26509 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
26510 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
26514 @node Required Back End Functions
26515 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
26519 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
26521 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
26522 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
26523 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
26524 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
26526 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
26527 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
26528 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
26529 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
26531 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
26532 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
26533 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
26534 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
26535 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
26536 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
26537 number, do maximum fetches.
26539 Here's an example HEAD:
26542 221 1056 Article retrieved.
26543 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
26544 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
26545 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
26546 Subject: Re: Something very droll
26547 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
26548 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
26550 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
26551 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
26552 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
26556 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
26557 these in the data buffer.
26559 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
26563 head = error / valid-head
26564 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
26565 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
26566 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
26567 header = <text> eol
26571 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
26573 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
26574 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
26578 nov-buffer = *nov-line
26579 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
26580 field = <text except TAB>
26583 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
26587 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
26589 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
26590 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
26592 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
26593 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
26594 server. In fact, it should do so.
26596 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
26597 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
26600 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
26602 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
26603 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
26606 There should be no data returned.
26609 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
26611 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
26612 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
26613 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
26614 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
26616 There should be no data returned.
26619 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
26621 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
26622 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
26623 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
26624 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
26626 There should be no data returned.
26629 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
26631 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
26633 There should be no data returned.
26636 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
26638 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
26639 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
26640 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
26641 it would be nice if that were possible.
26643 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
26644 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
26645 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
26646 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
26647 into its article buffer.
26649 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
26650 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
26651 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
26652 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
26653 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
26654 on successful article retrieval.
26657 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
26659 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
26660 making @var{group} the current group.
26662 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
26665 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
26668 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
26671 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
26672 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
26673 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
26674 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
26675 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
26676 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
26677 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
26678 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
26679 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
26683 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
26684 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
26685 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
26689 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
26691 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
26692 a no-op on most back ends.
26694 There should be no data returned.
26697 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
26699 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
26702 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
26705 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
26706 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
26709 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
26710 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
26711 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
26712 and the highest as 0.
26715 active-file = *active-line
26716 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
26718 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
26721 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
26722 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
26723 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
26726 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
26728 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
26729 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
26730 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
26731 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
26732 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
26733 clear if the posting could not be completed.
26735 There should be no result data from this function.
26740 @node Optional Back End Functions
26741 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
26745 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
26747 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
26748 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
26749 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
26751 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
26752 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
26753 former is in the same format as the data from
26754 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
26755 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
26758 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
26762 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
26764 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
26765 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
26766 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
26767 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
26768 should return a non-@code{nil} value.
26770 There should be no result data from this function.
26773 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
26775 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
26776 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
26777 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
26778 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
26779 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
26780 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
26781 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
26782 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
26784 There should be no result data from this function.
26787 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
26789 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
26790 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
26791 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
26792 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
26793 propagate the mark information to the server.
26795 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
26798 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
26801 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
26802 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
26803 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
26804 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
26805 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
26806 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
26807 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
26808 possible, not limit itself to these.
26810 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
26811 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
26812 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
26813 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
26815 An example action list:
26818 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
26819 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
26820 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
26823 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
26824 mark on (currently not used for anything).
26826 There should be no result data from this function.
26828 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
26830 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
26831 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
26832 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
26833 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
26834 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
26836 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
26837 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
26838 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
26841 There should be no result data from this function.
26844 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
26846 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
26847 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
26848 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
26849 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
26850 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
26851 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
26852 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
26853 local if that's practical.
26855 There should be no result data from this function.
26858 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
26860 The result data from this function should be a description of
26864 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
26866 description = <text>
26869 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
26871 The result data from this function should be the description of all
26872 groups available on the server.
26875 description-buffer = *description-line
26879 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
26881 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
26882 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
26883 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
26884 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
26885 in the active buffer format.
26887 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
26888 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
26889 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
26890 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
26891 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
26892 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
26893 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
26896 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
26898 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
26900 There should be no return data.
26903 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
26905 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
26906 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
26907 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
26908 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
26909 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
26912 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
26915 There should be no result data returned.
26918 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
26920 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
26921 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
26923 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
26924 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
26925 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
26926 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
26927 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
26928 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
26930 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
26931 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
26934 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
26935 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
26937 There should be no data returned.
26940 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
26942 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
26943 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
26944 this function in short order.
26946 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
26947 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
26949 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
26950 article for that group.
26952 There should be no data returned.
26955 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
26957 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
26958 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
26960 There should be no data returned.
26963 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
26965 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
26966 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
26967 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
26969 There should be no data returned.
26972 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
26974 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
26975 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
26977 There should be no data returned.
26982 @node Error Messaging
26983 @subsubsection Error Messaging
26985 @findex nnheader-report
26986 @findex nnheader-get-report
26987 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
26988 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
26989 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
26990 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
26991 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
26992 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
26995 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
26997 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
27000 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
27001 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
27002 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
27003 takes one argument---the server symbol.
27005 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
27006 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
27007 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
27010 @node Writing New Back Ends
27011 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
27013 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
27014 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
27015 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
27016 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
27017 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
27020 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
27021 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
27022 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
27024 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
27025 package called @code{nnoo}.
27027 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
27028 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
27034 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
27035 parameters. For instance:
27038 (nnoo-declare nndir
27042 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
27043 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
27046 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
27047 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
27048 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
27050 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
27051 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
27052 a function in those back ends.
27055 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27056 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27057 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27060 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
27061 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
27062 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
27064 @item nnoo-define-basics
27065 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
27069 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27073 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
27074 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
27075 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
27077 @item nnoo-map-functions
27078 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
27079 functions from the parent back ends.
27082 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27083 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27084 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
27087 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
27088 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
27089 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
27090 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
27093 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
27094 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
27095 haven't already been defined.
27101 nnmh-request-newgroups)
27105 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
27106 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
27107 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
27112 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
27115 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
27116 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
27120 (require 'nnheader)
27124 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
27126 (nnoo-declare nndir
27129 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27130 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27131 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27133 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
27134 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
27137 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
27139 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
27140 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
27141 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
27143 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
27144 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
27146 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
27148 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27150 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
27151 (setq nndir-directory
27152 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
27154 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
27155 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
27156 (push `(nndir-current-group
27157 ,(file-name-nondirectory
27158 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27160 (push `(nndir-top-directory
27161 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27163 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
27165 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27166 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27167 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27168 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
27169 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
27173 nnmh-status-message
27175 nnmh-request-newgroups))
27181 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27182 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27184 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
27185 @findex gnus-declare-backend
27186 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
27187 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
27188 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
27190 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
27191 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
27196 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
27199 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
27201 The abilities can be:
27205 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
27207 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
27209 This back end supports both mail and news.
27211 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
27214 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
27215 articles and groups.
27217 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
27218 true for almost all back ends.
27219 @item prompt-address
27220 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
27221 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
27222 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
27226 @node Mail-like Back Ends
27227 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
27229 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
27230 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
27231 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
27232 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
27235 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
27236 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
27237 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
27240 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
27241 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
27244 This function takes four parameters.
27248 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
27251 @item exit-function
27252 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
27254 @item temp-directory
27255 Where the temporary files should be stored.
27258 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
27259 performed for one group only.
27262 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
27263 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
27264 find the article number assigned to this article.
27266 The function also uses the following variables:
27267 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
27268 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
27269 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
27270 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
27274 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
27275 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
27279 @node Score File Syntax
27280 @subsection Score File Syntax
27282 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
27283 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
27284 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
27286 Here's a typical score file:
27290 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
27297 BNF definition of a score file:
27300 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
27301 element = rule / atom
27302 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
27303 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
27304 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
27305 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
27307 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
27308 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
27309 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
27310 date-header = "date"
27311 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27312 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27313 score = "nil" / <integer>
27314 date = "nil" / <natural number>
27315 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
27316 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
27317 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
27318 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
27319 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27320 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27321 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
27322 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27323 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
27324 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
27325 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
27326 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
27327 exclude-files / read-only / touched
27328 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
27329 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
27330 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
27331 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
27332 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
27333 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
27334 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
27335 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
27336 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
27337 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
27338 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
27339 eval = "eval" space <form>
27340 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
27343 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
27346 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
27347 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
27348 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
27349 one looong line, then that's ok.
27351 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
27352 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27356 @subsection Headers
27358 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
27359 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
27360 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
27361 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
27363 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
27364 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
27365 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
27366 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
27367 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
27368 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
27369 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
27371 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
27372 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
27373 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
27374 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
27375 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
27377 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
27378 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
27384 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
27385 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
27387 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
27388 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
27389 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
27390 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
27392 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
27396 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
27399 is transformed into
27402 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
27405 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
27406 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
27409 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
27412 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
27413 is slightly tricky:
27416 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
27422 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
27425 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
27431 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
27438 and is equal to the previous range.
27440 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
27441 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
27442 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
27446 range = simple-range / normal-range
27447 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
27448 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
27449 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
27450 number *[ " " contents ]
27453 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
27454 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
27455 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
27456 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
27457 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
27462 @subsection Group Info
27464 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
27465 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
27466 describes the group.
27468 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
27469 second is a more complex one:
27472 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
27474 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
27475 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
27477 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
27480 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
27481 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
27482 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
27483 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
27484 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
27485 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
27486 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
27487 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
27488 this section is about.
27490 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
27491 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
27492 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
27494 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
27497 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
27498 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
27499 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27500 group = quote <string> quote
27501 ralevel = rank / level
27502 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27503 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
27504 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27506 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
27507 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
27508 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
27509 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
27512 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
27513 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
27516 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
27517 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
27520 @item gnus-info-group
27521 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
27522 @findex gnus-info-group
27523 @findex gnus-info-set-group
27524 Get/set the group name.
27526 @item gnus-info-rank
27527 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
27528 @findex gnus-info-rank
27529 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
27530 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
27532 @item gnus-info-level
27533 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
27534 @findex gnus-info-level
27535 @findex gnus-info-set-level
27536 Get/set the group level.
27538 @item gnus-info-score
27539 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
27540 @findex gnus-info-score
27541 @findex gnus-info-set-score
27542 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
27544 @item gnus-info-read
27545 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
27546 @findex gnus-info-read
27547 @findex gnus-info-set-read
27548 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
27550 @item gnus-info-marks
27551 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
27552 @findex gnus-info-marks
27553 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
27554 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
27556 @item gnus-info-method
27557 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
27558 @findex gnus-info-method
27559 @findex gnus-info-set-method
27560 Get/set the group select method.
27562 @item gnus-info-params
27563 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
27564 @findex gnus-info-params
27565 @findex gnus-info-set-params
27566 Get/set the group parameters.
27569 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
27570 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
27572 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
27573 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
27574 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
27575 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
27578 @node Extended Interactive
27579 @subsection Extended Interactive
27580 @cindex interactive
27581 @findex gnus-interactive
27583 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
27584 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
27585 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
27588 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
27589 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
27594 The best thing to do would have been to implement
27595 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
27596 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
27597 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
27598 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
27599 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
27600 @code{interactive}.
27602 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
27607 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
27608 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
27612 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
27613 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
27614 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
27617 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
27621 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
27625 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
27631 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
27632 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
27636 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
27637 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
27638 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
27640 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
27641 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
27642 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
27643 Gnus, that's very useful.
27645 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
27646 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
27647 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
27648 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
27649 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
27650 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
27651 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
27652 following function:
27655 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
27659 (,function ,@@args))
27663 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
27664 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
27665 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
27668 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
27669 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
27670 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
27672 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
27673 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
27674 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
27677 @node Various File Formats
27678 @subsection Various File Formats
27681 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
27682 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
27686 @node Active File Format
27687 @subsubsection Active File Format
27689 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
27690 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
27693 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
27696 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
27697 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
27698 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
27699 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
27700 no.general 1000 900 y
27703 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
27706 active = *group-line
27707 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
27708 group = <non-white-space string>
27710 high-number = <non-negative integer>
27711 low-number = <positive integer>
27712 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
27715 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
27716 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
27719 @node Newsgroups File Format
27720 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
27722 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
27723 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
27724 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
27727 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
27728 Here's the definition:
27732 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
27733 group = <non-white-space string>
27735 description = <string>
27740 @node Emacs for Heathens
27741 @section Emacs for Heathens
27743 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
27744 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
27745 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
27746 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
27747 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
27748 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
27749 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
27753 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
27754 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
27759 @subsection Keystrokes
27763 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
27766 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
27769 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
27770 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
27771 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
27772 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
27773 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
27774 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
27776 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
27777 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
27778 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
27779 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
27780 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
27781 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
27782 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
27784 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
27785 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
27786 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
27787 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
27788 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
27789 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
27790 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
27792 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
27793 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
27794 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
27795 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
27796 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
27802 @subsection Emacs Lisp
27804 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
27805 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
27806 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
27807 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
27809 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
27810 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
27811 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
27812 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
27813 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
27814 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
27815 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
27818 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
27819 write the following:
27822 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
27825 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
27826 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
27827 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
27830 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
27831 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
27832 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
27833 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
27834 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
27836 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
27837 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
27838 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
27842 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
27846 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
27849 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
27850 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
27853 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
27856 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
27857 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
27860 @include gnus-faq.texi
27880 @c Local Variables:
27882 @c coding: iso-8859-1